Choosing and sending a festive present someone will love

Most presents are bought in a few busy weeks of the year.

Many are posted, and some are not opened until long after they were bought.

These notes cover the practical side of a good present. They look at personal touches, ordering in good time, gift receipts and sending a present across a border. They follow guidance from Citizens Advice, Which? and GOV.UK.

Start with the person

The best presents usually begin with what the person enjoys, not with what is on offer this week. A name, a date or a few words of your own can make an ordinary thing feel chosen.

It is worth getting a personalised order exactly right before you pay. Items that are personalised or made to order have no online cooling-off period, so a misspelt name cannot simply be sent back.

The same goes for food, flowers and other things that go off quickly. They suit a present that will be opened soon after it arrives.

Give yourself time

When you buy from a business, getting the item to you is the seller's job. If they use a courier, the seller should chase it.

If the present is for a particular day, tell the seller the date you need it by when you order. If that date is missed, you can cancel and ask for your money back.

For things bought online, the 14-day cooling-off period starts the day after the order arrives. Ordering early gives you time to look the present over while you can still change your mind.

A gift receipt keeps their options open

Which? suggests always getting a gift receipt, so the person you give it to can return the present if they need to.

Some shops will only refund to a card when the card holder is there. Many still let the person who received it swap a present for a gift card, voucher or credit note, as long as it was marked as a gift when it was bought.

For online orders, sometimes only the buyer can ask for a refund or exchange. Ticking the gift option when you order may let the recipient return or exchange it under the shop's policy.

Many shops also extend their returns policy over the festive period.

Presents posted to Great Britain from abroad

If family overseas are sending a present to someone in Great Britain, the value matters. VAT is not charged on a gift worth £39 or less.

A gift worth more than £39 can leave the person receiving it with VAT to pay to the delivery company. Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier sends a bill and normally holds the parcel for about three weeks. If the bill is not paid, the parcel goes back to the sender.

Picking a safe present for a child

The Office for Product Safety and Standards publishes alerts and recalls for unsafe products, including toys. You can search the list before you wrap something for a child.

Button and coin batteries are found in small toys, remote controls and key fobs. If a child swallows one, it can do serious internal damage, so it is worth checking how the battery is held in.

If something does go wrong

If there is nothing wrong with a present, there is no automatic right to money back, and it is up to the shop what it offers. Many allow returns within 14 or sometimes 30 days if the item is unused, and the receipt and original packaging help. Vouchers offered instead can carry an expiry date and could become worthless if the shop goes bust.

A faulty item can be refunded in full within 30 days. Between 30 days and six months the seller gets one chance to repair or replace it first. You can also cancel if an order has not arrived within 30 days of buying it. Paying by credit card for a single item over £100 may let you claim from the card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

A text asking you to pay to rearrange a delivery is usually a scam, because delivery companies do not ask for payment through a link. On a shop you have not used before, look for a street address and read reviews on other websites. A padlock in the address bar does not prove a shop is real.