I know, I know... it's still spring. But we need to talk about Christmas Shopping.

We both know you haven't always been the most organised elf. But this year's your chance to change all that and finally live up to mum's epic expectations.

Wanna know how to finally be the best gift-giver in your unit?

Simple. Break it down into easy steps, and buy everything you need from The Muses. (It's our blog and we'll plug ourselves shamelessly if we want to.)

Today, I'm gonna give you my tips - and a few gift ideas too - so you can get it done and dusted. 

TIP #1: Decide on your overall budget.

For most of us, money's a finite resource. Decide on the total amount you have to spend on all gifts this season, then make a list of each person and allocate a rough individual dollar amount.

TIP #2: Choose a gift type for your kin that
a) is something they'll like and
b) fits the budget

And if you can't do both then at least do option b. Here's some gift types for tiny and massive budgets alike:  

$10 to $35: CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays

$40 to $65: Blu-rays, vinyl records
 
$50 to $250: Box sets (CD, DVD or Blu-ray box sets: musical, movie or TV series)

$200 to $500: Vinyl box sets, vinyl record players (turntables)

$500+ Vinyl box sets

Any budget: The Muses Gift Certificate

TIP #3: Keep the details simple.
What will they #treasure? Find #useful? Be #grateful for? Buy THAT.

Don't succumb to Analysis Paralysis. Gift buying doesn't need to be complicated. 

• If your mum wants more time to herself (trust me, she does), get her an instructional yoga DVD or a relaxation CD she can listen to in the bath.
• If dad's a music lover but you think he's already got all his favourite studio albums, go with a live performance of his favourite band (on vinyl or CD, or DVD or blu-ray). Search for the band name and the word 'live' in our store.
• If your sister's just started collecting records, then she'll need a player. A cute portable is a no-brainer and she'll love your forever, I promise. 
• If your brother is an anti-social TV series addict, there's plenty on blu-ray to keep him happy over the hols.

But eh, I could be wrong. Maybe you should ask 'em what they want before you go with my suggestions! 

... Or maybe your family already uses an online gift registry (like ours does), so they can tell you *exactly* what they want (we use mygiftlist.com but checkedtwice.com is good, too). Sure, it removes the surprise element when it's time to give your gift, but it's so sensible that we just can't stop. Noone ever ends up with stuff they don't want anymore = winner winner turkey dinner.


There are two ways to find the gifts you're after on our site: 

1. You could use our orange tab menus on the home page to browse within categories 

OR 

2. If you know the title you're after, you can type it right in the search bar.


If you're still struggling, just give up and buy everyone a Muses gift certificate. We've got Australia's largest range of music and movies so your rellies will always find something they'll love in our store.

TIP #4: Do it NOW. 

Find the bits you need. Add 'em into your cart. Pay. Done. 

Procrastination's not your mate this time of year. Get it all over with in one swift shopping session and take advantage of the fact that purchases over $50 include free shipping.

Oh - and for your best chance of receiving your goodies in time, place your orders on the website by the following dates:

Customers outside Australia: TUESDAY 29th NOV 2016

Customers in Australia: TUESDAY 13th DEC 2016

Hey, maybe you should pop our shipping cut-off time in your iCal/Google calendar now, with a reminder set to go off a few days beforehand? (Just a safeguard so it doesn't slip your mind. We know you're busy!)

Important: Your payment method.

Online shopping at Christmas can be fraught with delays. When you go through our checkout, choose a payment method that'll settle fast, like Credit Card or PayPal. Bank deposit takes a few days to reach us, which can cause your order to take longer to process.

Before I go, I wanna explain again why we generally don't offer Express Post.

At the moment, our orders attract a processing time of 2 business days (give or take). If we offered Express Post, it'd give people the expectation that their order will ship that day (which it won't). Also, it only shaves time off delivery for customers in metro areas. If you're in the sticks, the service you receive is about the same as regular post anyhow.


The solution? Be organised. Buy from us ASAP.

That said, if you're up shit creek without a paddle and it's getting closer to Turkey Time, talk to us. We'll definitely help if we can. And if we can't, then we'll be very very sympathetic.

OK. That's all I got!

Did this help?

A bit? A lot? Not at all? I wanna know! Email me.

Tori Xx