Mary2e

I hate to say this because there are some great ideas in this thread but....

are you certain they will be able to accept a gift valued at $50? Many companies have strict limitations of about $25 on the value of gifts received from outside the company. If my husband was given something worth that much he would have to refuse it.

Perhaps a call to their corporate office could get you the official policy.

747_not_777

It's a very good point - we will do some digging to check...

Romelle

http://www.travelsmith.com/50-2f2000...essories/13528

Romelle

Danthecran

I want to second the idea of the Red Oxx aviator bag, if they could do a custom logo that could be a great gift. A travel adapter set is probably something they already have if they have a use for it since they are frequent travelers. If you have their names, maybe get a monogramed passport holder?

CUTiger78

I know your heart's in the right place, but $50 worth of swag? Good luck hitting the "I love it!" bullseye for 12 people.

How about a nice, crisp fifty dollar bill in a new years card?

tentseller

The easy way is $50 BestBuy gift-card. You can order them online and they are delivered individually (to different address).

But you should check corporate policy re:gift and IRS definition and treatment of them for income tax purposes.

BearX220

Tacky. These people aren't your kid nephews.

kapmap

You can give a gift of any value to someone else for business. HOWEVER the tax law says the maximum total value of gifts that can be given to one person in a year and DEDUCTED on the tax return is $25. That low limit was set years ago -- back when $25 meant something -- and has never been adjusted for inflation etc.

If given to an employee then you can add the excess into the W-2 and it would be treated as compensation and fully deducted.

If to a client you just give it to them and limit the deduction to $25 on your tax return.

As for company policies against accepting gifts -- that is a company by company issue and not an IRS issue.

If you do something like a nice gift basket to an office you should not have an issue with the IRS on the deductibility.

tfar

Interesting topic. Learned a lot. Thanks.

I must say I find the flashlight the best solution. It is universally useful, whether you travel or not. It is easy and idiot proof. It could be engraved with each person's name or your company's name. Perhaps both? It should be within budget. Many (most) people will not have a rather high-end flashlight. It will be a nice novelty for them and thus make a good impression because most people are quite surprised by the difference to a run-of-the-mill torch.

It is also easy to package and send. One doesn't need to make any changes with it. A strap you have to change your original strap to the new strap. A flashlight you throw it in the bag and it's there. An electrical adapter can have a mishap. Imagine it fries your client's laptop. Bad. The flashlight will not have any influence on their equipment. No liability. But it can have a really positive influence on their travel experience. When you need a flashlight it is typically some kind of real help in an emergency situation (anything from power outage to hotel fire) or a mere convenience like not having to turn on the big light to go to the loo, thus falling asleep again easily, because your eyes weren't disturbed by the big room light. Whether it's convenience or help in a tricky situation, your company's flashlight saved the day. That's a good connotation to have.

Do the flashlight.

Till

hfly

How anal. Who is to say that a gift is worth $5, 10 or $50, unless there is a receipt provided there is no way of knowing, and for that matter as it is a corporate gift no one would have any idea what the bulk or wholesale value is or was. As the Tumi vs. Kensington charger example illustrates, the actual value of a good is spurious at best and as long as the gift does not have an absolute high value which is indisputable, on such a paltry pittance of an amount (we are talking $25 vs. $50 here, not $25, vs $1000) this all means nothing.

An idea would be one of those new age travel speakers that turn the surface of a desk/window or whatever into a speaker. Branded ones can cost any amount, unbranded ones can be had for $10.

bpo26c

These are great ideas, I might actually by 1&2 for myself!

deirdre

Yeah, I was going to go get the Monster Outlets-to-go myself. Thanks for the suggestion, it's exactly what I needed to pick up.

oldpenny16

We use many Red Oxx Aviator bags in various sizes both regular and mesh fabric for hauling our consider amount of gear around especially for exhibits and shows. Aviator comes in black only and is basically indestructible.

We are use the Red Oxx Lil Roy bags ($25) for color coordinated storage of our tools and odd bits so that when we get all the gear in the Aviator bags to our locations we know which Lil Roy bags have our tools, connectors and odd bits of necessary stuff.

Before we found Red Oxx (thanks to FlyerTalk) we considered bags to be something that had to be frequently replaced due to wear and tear. No longer an issue for us and the Red Oxx stuff just keeps going.

Made in Montana USA.

oldpenny16

UPDATE: I just finished my office 'gifting' by shopping with Red Oxx online.

Today is the last day for guaranteed arrival by ground shipping for Santa.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Yeah. That's a pretty good idea. I'm always spreading my electronics all over the hotel room because they don't have lots of plugs in one area. It shouldn't be a problem too since most of my devices are low power.