How to Choose between Homemade Gift or Store-Bought Gift

When you have a talent, it is tempting to want to share that talent with everyone through a homemade gift. BUT – homemade gifts are not always appropriate, and not always the best option for you as the gift-giver either. That is why it’s so important to know when to make a homemade gift and when it’s best to buy.

If you can and enjoy making something with your hands, there has likely been a time when you’ve made a gift rather than bought one. Homemade gifts can be special, thoughtful, even priceless. However, they can also be time consuming, underappreciated, and at times, expensive. There are pros and cons to both homemade gifts and purchased gifts, and it can be tricky to determine which route to go. If you are contemplating making a gift vs. buying one, we’ve outlined the top things to consider when making your decision.

4 Reasons to Make a Homemade Gift

Someone Specifically Asks You for One

This sounds like common sense, but it is worth saying. If someone has seen your homemade items and specifically mentions they’d like one or asks you to make them one, that is a great not-so-subtle hint for a future gift option for that person. You might feel inclined to downplay your talents, but don’t! If someone said they’d like something you make, don’t hesitate to share your talent with others.

The Gift is Less Expensive to Make than Buy

Homemade gifts are a great option when you are on a budget and making the gift will save you money. You’ve probably felt the additional strain at the register in this economy. Every little bit helps, so if you can make something and it is less expensive, that could help. When making a gift to save some money, be sure to double check the materials are still within budget, and that the materials are less expensive than the finished product from the store. If it passes these checks, making the gift is a great way spare the bank while giving an awesome gift!

You Can’t Buy the Gift Option in a Store

Sometimes you have that perfect personalized gift idea, that inside joke or something so uniquely that person that you can’t find what you are looking for in the store. Stores also don’t always carry the same kind of items that historically are handmade. Perhaps, the store quality isn’t what you were hoping for. Whatever the case may be, when you can’t purchase the gift you want but you have the capability to make it, don’t let that great idea go to waste!

You Want to Give a Homemade Gift

When you make something, it can feel like you are leaving a part of you in the project. In some circumstances, a homemade gift made with your precious time, blood, sweat, tears, love goes an extra step to show your care. The phrase “made with love” doesn’t scratch the surface of the thought, time, and dedication a homemade gift takes. It truly is a labor of love. If you have that urge to share a labor of your love and make a gift, then you totally should.

4 Reasons to Buy a Gift

There is a Registry

Don’t get me wrong, as a crocheter, I love to gift a handmade baby blanket for Baby Showers. However, I only do this in addition to what I would normally purchase off of their registry. The registry is the list of explicitly wanted items that they’ve painstakingly picked out for themselves. There is a lot of thought and planning that goes into a registry, so use it when it’s available!

You Don’t Have Time to Make Something

It starts with the best intentions. You totally believe you have enough time to make that gift. But then life gets in the way. You get started too late, or you start early enough but other priorities take you away from the project. The event creeps up on you. Then, you are either scrambling, rushing the homemade gift while stressing and pulling your hair out, or running to the store to buy something anyway, with a half-finished project at home. Be realistic about your timeline and your own commitments. If you cannot make the gift in a low-stress way within your schedule, plan for a purchased gift instead.

The Material Cost is Over your Budget

We tend to associate homemade gifts with cost savings, and in some cases that may be true. However, the cost of everything is up these days, including the costs of materials to make homemade gifts. If you are planning a project and the cost of the materials are over what you would normally spend, then that homemade gift is out of your budget. Instead, find a nice gift within your budget to purchase from the store!

What You Make Isn’t Something They’d Want/Use

At the end of the day, not everyone has the same appreciation for homemade gifts. What you make might also not be applicable to them, or appropriate for the occasion. Just because you can make something, doesn’t mean you always should. It is important to consider your relationship with the person, their interests and whether you are considering a homemade gift because it is something you think they’d like, or just because it is something you can make. If the only reason you are considering it is because you can make it, that is a good indication you should consider a purchased gift that better fits the recipient and occasion.


There are many factors to consider when deciding to make a gift or buy one. A homemade gift can add a layer of sentimentality, uniqueness and a personal touch that often cannot be mimicked by a store-bought gift. Purchased gifts also have their perks, especially when it comes to time savings and the variety of items available for purchase. Ultimately, your decision should prioritize how meaningful a homemade gift would be received, how the gift fits in your budget, and what best fits the occasion and recipient.