You have an idea for a great gift, but you need some information from the recipient. How can you find out without giving away your surprise?
GET PEOPLE TALKING
Most people talk about themselves easily. Want to be sure the socks you knit will be the right size? When I wanted to knit a pair for a co-worker, I complimented her shoes by saying, "Those look so cool! Do you know if they come in size 10s [my size]?" Just as I'd hoped, she responded, "I don't know...these are 7s." She told me where she bought them so I could find out, but I'd already found out what I wanted: her shoe size.
Most people also like to give advice. Be subtle. Recently, I wanted to buy my husband a dashcam. He'd mentioned wanting one, but I knew he'd want certain specifications. So I asked my brother to pretend he was in the market for a dashcam and ask my husband which one was best. My brother reported back to me, and I knew what kind to get.
Look for openings to ask leading questions, but try to not be too obvious. You don't want to make your recipient feel uncomfortable.
ENLIST HELP
You can often get in touch with a person's parents, siblings, or roommates to find out clothing and shoe sizes, and whether they already have the latest book in a series or a subscription to a particular service. This is also a great way to check for allergies, intolerances, and other reasons that your idea won't fit as well as you thought.
Do be sure to specify that you're looking for gift ideas--maybe the person helping you will think your idea is perfect and get a duplicate!
CHECK ONLINE
Does your recipient have an online presence? Check out Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and other profiles to glean information on favorite colors, books, movies, brands, foods, and styles. Some people even belong to online gift exchange groups, and keep up a list of ideas for them.
MAYBE...SKIP THE SURPRISE
If you really need to know specific information and can't find out through other channels, you'll need to either get a different gift or go directly to the source. It's not a GOOD surprise if the gift ends up something the recipient can't use.
For my dad's last birthday, one of my brothers suggested a ladder. Dad had seen my brother's and commented that he should replace his with the same kind...just as he said to my other brother, and to me, when saw each of our ladders--newer and more versatile than his. I first called our mom to confirm that Dad hadn't already bought himself a ladder in the past few months. He hadn't, so we agreed ladder was the way to go. Then my other brother found a fantastic sale; the ladder was discounted from $170 to $95. But it was a foot shorter than the model my brothers and I have... I put in another call to Mom, but she wasn't sure the height of Dad's current ladder or how tall he needed it to be. The sale only lasted another day, so my brothers and I decided that since we couldn't really wrap a ladder anyway, we'd just tell him what we were getting him and make sure we got the right size. It would do no good to save money on a ladder that he couldn't use. The shorter ladder DID turn out to be tall enough for what he needed, and we were able to take advantage of the sale (and the free delivery), and most importantly, Dad was happy with his gift: something he needed and wanted, but couldn't justify getting for himself.
And he really liked the gift too!
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