Need business Thank You gift - for a PO Box

September 20, 2017 2:35 PM

I want to send someone a thank you gift for giving me repeat business. But the only mailing address I have available is a PO Box. That means I can't send chocolates (melty) or flowers (wilty). Do you have a suggestion for a small, business-appropriate gift that costs less than $50 and can sit in a PO Box for a few days without being ruined?
posted by bq to Shopping (13 answers total)

Fancy salts or a box of spices (recommended: Penzys brand).
posted by slateyness at 2:39 PM on September 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

Post offices are air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. Chocolate would sit just fine in a Post Office. If they have a small PO Box, then the postal worker puts the package in a temporary bigger PO Box, and leaves a key to it in the smaller box. So there are no worries, except for really perishable items, like flowers, or cut fresh fruit. A pre-wrapped box of chocolates is perfect. There are also gift certificates if you know anything about the person, $50 bucks worth of cups of coffee and pastry goes quite a ways. Gift certificate to a movie chain goes a ways too.
posted by Oyéah at 2:42 PM on September 20, 2017 [4 favorites]

Fancy consumables:
- coffee beans, if they drink coffee
- tea, if they drink tea
- individually-wrapped candies
- snacky foods, like spiced or candied nuts
- preserved fish or meats, like smoked salmon maybe (?)
- artisan sauces, jams, mustards, etc

Paperweight, letter opener, mug, or other similar desky item from your local craftsperson or with your famous local specialty (like if you're from a place that historically had glassblowers or whatever)
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:53 PM on September 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

Bergamot candies from France
Fancy tea
Some cool pencils or pens
socks
posted by amtho at 3:30 PM on September 20, 2017

ditto to the appropriateness of sending chocolates to a po box. i have a post office box specifically so that records sent to me don't sit on our porch in the summertime heat.
posted by noloveforned at 3:43 PM on September 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

I totally agree that Penzey's might be perfect for this. They are such a great company and do a nice job with their gift boxes. Nicely packaged, high quality stuff that is very business-appropriate.
posted by belau at 6:13 PM on September 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

If you are worried about melty chocolate, how about hard candy. Lofty Pursuits makes candy with little pictures that you would have to be dead inside to not be charmed by.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:57 PM on September 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

If food, make it as universally edible as possible – a gift the person can't eat is awkward. (Not meat/fish, not nuts, not super strong or spicy tastes.)
posted by kalapierson at 10:40 PM on September 20, 2017

I think that a gift card is a very business-appropriate gift, and you don't have to worry about it melting in the heat.

You might want to find a gift card to a business that's local to your customer.
posted by SteveInMaine at 5:30 AM on September 21, 2017

Coffee mug packed with treats of some sort are appropriate, whether those are packets of tea, nice coffee, chocolate-covered espresso beans, or hard candies. During holiday gift exchanges at the office, I've seen "coffee mug with snowmen, and a white sparkly scarf packed inside."

Scarves and pull-on hats are appropriate in winter; it might be odd to get one in autumn. (Well. Lighter scarves are appropriate for women in autumn; don't give one to a guy unless you know he's the kind who would enjoy it.) Mini-umbrellas are nice if local weather is prone to rain.

Business gifts should follow the same general rules as business swag: it should be designed to fix a problem, not show personal affection. ("What shall I have for lunch" is a common business-related problem, hence the ubiquity of small treats as business gifts.) This was explained to me in a discussion about swag and why a company wasn't using branded lighters: because they don't want their clients fixing problems by setting things on fire. A loyal-customer gift can be a bit more personal than generic convention swag, but should still be related to working situations.

Desktop decorations are reasonable - the little zen-waterfalls, or kinetic sculptures, or something like the Infinity Cube. If you know the client is geeky in any particular way, there are probably hundreds of small gift options.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:32 PM on September 21, 2017

Do NOT get them Penzy's. Someone got me a Penzy's gift once and Penzy's then spammed that mailing address.
posted by aniola at 7:41 PM on September 21, 2017

Do you have a local crafts fair / farmer's market that sells gifts? That would be a good place to find something.
posted by aniola at 7:42 PM on September 21, 2017

Response by poster: Thanks very much for all the suggestions! I was unable to send chocolate as my preferred vendor explicitly does not ship to PO Boxes. I decided on a gift basket of items made in my state which was very well received.
posted by bq at 2:39 PM on October 18, 2017