Whether it’s Christmas, someone’s birthday, a new baby or an engagement gift, there’s always something you can find at a local market that makes a great gift.

Here’s 7 reasons I think shopping at a local market (complete with the cute awning) is great:

1. Support your local community – you’re helping someone in your neighbourhood make a living – and they’ll spend most of that money in your area, too, benefitting everyone.

2. Good for your environment - if they’re locally made artisan goods, there’s less carbon nonsense being accumulated via petrol and packaging for shipping. If it’s close enough that you can walk there and leave the car behind, bonus points.

3. Unique – you’re likely to find products that you won’t see anywhere else – certainly not stacked to the ceiling in Toys ‘R’ Us or Target.

4. Discovery/being in the know - ever heard about those hot clothing designers who started off selling their wares at local markets? How cool would you feel knowing you were there, helping support them from the start of their stellar career?

5. Lower costs means lower prices – market stalls cost from $40 and the money they save on renting a shop means they can keep prices lower which makes it affordable for you.

6. Personal contact – in today’s pre-packaged world, it is charming and delightful to direct meet the people who (hand)make the items you’re handing cash over for.

7. Fun – the markets are a day out in themselves. There’s always something new every week and the chance to pick up something amazing that you’ll know they just love.

Why do you like shopping at local markets for gifts?

It just keeps getting easier and easier. Online shopping, that is.

Visa has come up with an “electronic wallet” for online purchases. Competing directly with Paypal and Google Checkout, Visa has given Rightcliq some spanking new additional features of its own, ensuring it will never have an identity crisis.

As well being able to store your payment card numbers (just like you can with Paypal and Google Checkout) which makes it super-fast AND safe to shop online, Rightcliq also allows you to drag images of fabulous things you spot on retailer websites to the My Wishspace part of the account so you can create a handy wishlist for your upcoming birthday, for example. You can then get the low-down on these items from friends, via Facebook or e-mail.

Visa will target Rightcliq to “Young trendsetters” who want the latest products and interact via social media as they shop, and “Shopping enthusiasts” who are trendy, fashionable, love to shop and to be in the know. Together, these two segments represent 26% of online consumer retail spending.

There’s a browser plug-in to fill in your personal and payment info at checkout, too.

American customers can also use Rightcliq to track the delivery status and current location of goodies they’ve bought, courtesy of the US Postal Service. There’s also stacks of discount offers exclusively for Rightcliq users, something Visa also hopes will reign in new customers for online retailers and therefore help cement its popularity.

Can it get any easier? All you need is a credit card, a mouse and a finger to click with.

Do you have an upcoming anniversary, birthday, bridal shower, enagement, hen’s party or wedding that you’d like to delight someone with a romantic gift?
 
For a strictly limited time, you can buy an attractively boxed $99 LoveStars gift certificate for just $59 through Daily Deals!
 
Sign up with http://www.dynamicrewards.com.au/dailydeals/sydney (or enter your city) to receive this amazing Daily Deal.
 
Daily Deals work on group buying. A minimum number of people opt to buy the Daily Deal and once they reach that number, everyone gets the Daily Deal. Twittering, Facebooking, blogging or passing it on to your friends helps you reach that number.
 
After you buy your $59 boxed LoveStars gift certificate through the Daily Deal, Ill email you for your mailing address to send it to you (expiry 31 October 2010 or later).
 
You simply redeem your gift certificate at www.itsinthestarsonline.com for your own luxury hardcover 30-35 page LoveStars report delivered worldwide by Express Post.
 
Don’t delay – visit http://www.dynamicrewards.com.au/dailydeals/sydney now!

Swapping, selling and buying plastic gift cards is nothing new but here’s something I haven’t seen before…

Not only is CardsUWant.com is a fabulous online marketplace for buying gift cards at up to 40% off and for converting your unwanted cards into instant cash, but they’ve also got a great range of merchants who sell e-gift cards.

Instead of handing someone a plastic gift card for their birthday, Christmas or baby shower in person, e-gift cards are terrific for those who live on the other side of the world – and especially great for those who remember all-too-late on the day when it’s someone’s birthday.

The 16 merchants on there to date range from Bedandbreakfast.com to Zappos. The balances on the e-gift cards are low – $US25 and $US50 – but they should get you out of hot water celebration-wise when it absolutely, positively has to be there before you get an abusive phone call, text or email.

Two’s company, three’s a crowd and 20 or more can get you a great bargain!

In the case of shopping, that doesn’t mean pounding the malls in the company of like-minded shopaholics and bargain-hunters. All of that is soooo 5 minutes ago.

This group activity is much more fun in a pressure-slowly-building, clock’s-ticking, edge-of-your-seat kind of way. Oh, and did we mention that you can pick up some amazing bargains and discounts in the process?

The rub is that to get the deal, a certain number of people have to put their cyber hands up for it. Therefore, by roping in your friends, family, even colleagues, you’ll have the numbers and the deal will be yours. Simple. The power of the group never sounded so good.

Woot pioneered the one-deal-a-day model (although unlike the others, it didn’t depend on a set number of customers purchasing it to receive the deal) when it launched in Dallas in July 2004. Seeing it was a goldmine, Woot was bought by Amazon on 30 June 2010.

But probably the best-known group-buying website is the 400-pound gorilla of online deals, US Groupon which launched in Chicago as recently as November 2008 in time for the Christmas holiday season. The European deal-of-the-day website CityDeal was launched only a year later in December 2009 and by May 2010 was acquired by Groupon, which now has daily online offers operating in more than 140 cities in 18 countries.

The UK equivalent is Groupola, which offers some of the most fabulous bargains from theatre tickets, to glamour photography sessions, to personal training services to fashion, food and accessories at up to 90% off the regular prices.

And there are a few in Australia, such as Spreets, Ouffer and Zoupon, too. However, I’m not aware of any in New Zealand – anyone?

Anyway, you simply register to receive amazing deals in your city – and facebook and Twitter your friends like hell to make sure they pass it on. If enough people buy, you’re in.

Perhaps the US merchants have been lobbying hard, but the original deadline of 22 August 2010 for them to ensure all gift cards have five years expiry has been extended to 31 January 20111.

This new deadline takes it safely past a four-month holiday period when 90% of all gift card sales are made. 

Gift occasions on which gift cards are purchased include baby season (September/October), Halloween (31 October), engagement season (September-November), Thanksgiving (late November), wedding season (in Australia from November-December), and Christmas and New Year’s Eve (December) so merchants don’t have to destroy and replace an estimated 100 million cards which are already on the retail shelves.

Customers who buy gift cards during the six-month transition period between now and January 2011 will receive the full benefits of the new gift card rules.

This means no service fees or ATM fees can be charged until one year of inactivity (and then only one fee per month), gift cards have expiry dates of five years from the last load (aka deposit of extra funds), free replacement cards must be issued or the issuers can reimburse the cardholder, full T&Cs must be displayed and conspicuous disclosures regarding gift card use must be made prior to purchase.

Still, why would anyone wait five years? There’s inflation which will go up – but the value on your gift won’t – and the risk of the store closing, which happens.

I am quite sure the gift cards will outlast some relationships.

Mid-way through our southern hemisphere winter (one of the coldest for ages), there are a few online retailers having sales – and if you’d like to get a gift to cheer up a friend who’s expecting a baby, you have kids or you’re already thinking of tucking away a few Christmas gifts for your nieces and nephews, here’s what’s on:

My Baby Bump is having a sale on its fun maternity t-shirts – up to 60% off.

Everything Boys has repriced (read: reduced) its range of boys’ jeans and they will donate $5 from every pair of jeans sold between now and 1 August to Jeans for Genes Day.

Brand-new online retailer Avidiva sells handmade, eco-friendly and organic baby products. You can get 25% off store-wide until 21 July 2010 by entering ‘hip hooray’ at checkout.

Petit has a clearance sale on the winter baby range and the Bobinette boys winter range plus every order will receive a free gift.

By signing up to the Mother’s Toolkit newsletter, you receive a free Mother’s Shopping Toolkit packed with discounts and special offers from online retailers of products and services for mums.

Just in time for World Breast Feeding Week from 1-7 August, is the cutely striped Retro Awning breast feeding pillow from BabyBaby, reduced from $NZ89 to $NZ55. 

And New Zealand-based Chelsea Bee is having a 10% store-wide sale until 31 July and is offering free shipping worldwide.

Do you know of a children’s or baby gift online retailer having a mid-winter sale readers should know about? Tell us!

Many American retailers now give you the option to order your goodies online (in your pyjamas) but to save on shipping costs by letting you pick it up at their (nearest) store.

This is great when you have to get something in time for an urgent gift occasion. Locally, I’m doing it on Wednesday when the stock has come in on a fun t-shirt for my brother’s birthday from Well Spotted in Ashfield, NSW. Another place I regularly use the purchase-online-pickup-in-store option to get an out-of-stock book as fast as possible is from my favourite local bookstore,  Shearers Bookshop in Leichhardt, NSW.

Here are some other Australian stores which now let you order online and pick-up in-store, too.

Coles is trialling buy online and collect in-store in their supermarkets in Darwin, NT and Aitkenvale, Aspley, Cairns, Cannonvale, Elanora, Fairfield, Loganholme, Maroochydore, and North Ipswich, QLD (please oh please let it go nationwide!). This is a boon for those harassed mums whose children become heat-seeking missiles for lollies and chips when traversing the aisles in the supermarket.

Discount online department store www.OO.com.au lets customers pick up their electronics, perfumes, handbags, appliances, homewares, pet items, toys and NRL merchandise from their Rosebery, NSW showroom Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.

Storm London has has recently launched its Australian website at www.stormwatches.com.au which allows customers to purchase a watch online and collect it from one of two Storm London concept stores in Chadstone and Highpoint, VIC 7 days a week. Customers not only save on delivery but receive a free- watchfitting, too.

Eco-friendly baby product website www.flowerchild.com.au lets customers collect their online purchases from their bricks-and-mortar store in Collaroy, NSW.

Australia’s biggest collection of Thomas the Tank Engine toys, plus Lego and other treats can bought online at www.toottoottoys.com.au and collected from the store in Bentleigh, VIC.

Beautiful sterling silver jewellery can bought online from is www.ravishdesigns.com.au and collected at the showroom in West Lindfield, NSW.

Brindabella Baby lets customers buy their baby’s compostable disposable nappies, natural mother and baby skincare, baby slings and carriers, and shoes and toys from fair trade workplaces online and come to collect them in Pialligo, ACT.

Are there any others we should all know about? Let us know! Post a comment below!

Have you ever received a birthday present from say, your grandparents, parents or partner, which as you look at them with an offended expresson, they say,”I thought you might appreciate x item because…” and away they go, trying desperately to backpedal out of a sticky gift-giving occasion.

Usually these gifts belong to one of the Seven Deadly Sins:

Sloth
These suggest you are a lazy sod. It could be a universal remote (“so you can sit there and not have to move”), one of those remote, magazine and drink holders you slip over the arm of your sofa, a hammock or a satin eye-mask to wear while sleeping (which, since you do so much of it, you’ll want to look good while you snooze).

Gluttony
These usually related to your shape or weight. They can include, but are not restricted to, Spanx shapewear, exercise equipment, gym wear, gym memberships, diet books, books like How Not to Look Fat, and “healthy” cooking equipment that you’ve never used before and will probably never use. A rice steamer comes to mind.

Greed
They will give you what they can afford and you will be furious it is so stingy – god, only a $100 gift certificate?! You are not embarrassed to give people a long list of what you want for your birthday – and oh, you expect to get all of it.

Anger
This could cover everything from a boppo toy “to take out your aggression” to a GPS unit to, as Navman says, “stop carguments” when driving.

Envy
They want what you’re having/eating/wearing/reading. So they might slip up and mention that they liked it so much they bought an identical one for themselves. When really, they’re annoyed they have to give it to you at all…  Giving you a bowling ball, a power tool or a Nintendo – when you know full well they’ll be comandeering it back for themselves in no time - falls under this Deadly gift-giving Sin.

Pride
Be afraid, very afraid if someone gives you a mirror. It will prove you DO think you’re the fairest one of them all.

Lust
This tends to be the cheesy red lacy lingerie, explicit DVDs, sex manuals and toys, flavoured body paint and so on that a husband gives his wife for Valentine’s Day or their anniversary, hoping to spice up their marriage.

Naturally, if you buy any of these items for yourself, well, that’s OK then.

Not that I’m a travel agent, but if I was, there are some holidays I know certain Sun signs would love to take – or better yet, receive as an anniversary, birthday, Christmas or wedding gift!

So when I saw that Fairmont Hotels and Resorts had recently launched their Apprentice Trips program, which combines their globally famous luxury brand with a range of accommodation-based activities that relate directly to the culture or landscape of the locale, and, with hotels in 16 different countries, well, that’s a lot of “experiential” packages to choose from.

Talkative Geminis keen to parlez avec vous might enjoy booking the seven-night French Immersion Package at the historic Chateau in Quebec City while environmentally-aware Aquarians could rush for the Eco-Learning Package at the Faimont Kea Lani in Maui. They can choose from one of five eco-learning activities at the resort, which include organic farming in a rainforest, and helping to preserve Hawaii’s archaeological sites by planting native species, among others.

Cancerians may either thrill to Shop With Chef at local markets in Toronto while enjoying a two-night stay at the Fairmont Royal York, or harvesting and hands-on cooking of ingredients from the Secret Garden package in the Fairmont Singapore.

No need for Taureans to book in overnight for the four-hour-plus Sweet Designs package at the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver – they can have their chocolate (or cake) – and eat it too.

Virgo golfing nuts might enjoy a Tees to Greens stay at the Fairmont Scottsdale where they receive helpful golfing techniques and a behind-the-scenes look at how golf courses are kept so pristine!

In the United Arab Emirates, the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr offers a four-night package for guests to master the regal skill of falconry (the falcon is the UAE’s national bird). I can see this appealing to Leos who think they’re a bit sheik.

In Monte Carlo, guests interested in perfume and exotic oils can broaden their knowledge with the Magic of Aromachology Package, which also includes a 60-minute aromachology massage for two. Wonderful for Pisces.

Librans can choose from taking their favourite best friend with them to Fairmont Turnberry Isle in Miami for the Gal Pal Experience, learning how to do proper back rubs, facials and foot massages, or to learn The Art of Buying Art at the Fairmont Dallas. Since they have a keen eye for art, this one might appeal.

Novice hikers and mountaineers can head to the Fairmont Yangcheng Lake resort in Kunshan, China for the Adventure Awaits package. Gotta-be-first Aries and explorer-mad Sagittarians would love to try this out!

Even politics gets a look-in, with the How to Pass a Bill in Washington Package at the Fairmont, Washington D.C., where a Federally registered lobbyist will advise participants on the crafting and promoting of an agenda. Constitutionally, a bill only requires three steps to become law in the US. Who would have thought that first step could take place while you were on holidays? This is just perfect for power-broking Scorpios and Capricorns.