10 presents you can still buy on Christmas Eve

Ahh. It’s Christmas Eve. Your stocking’s hung, your pies are minced, and John Lennon’s on the radio. All is calm, all is… wait, you didn’t get a present for Uncle Keith and it’s literally Christmas tomorrow.

Panic sets in. You consider re-gifting him your office secret santa present, even though it’s a framed photo of you and your boss. And then you pull up this article, and all is well again, because everything here can be bought as late as Christmas Eve, and in some cases, the day itself. Ho ho hope they like it.

1. Gig tickets

When it comes to thoughtful gifts you can buy anytime, nothing quite beats a pair of tickets to something. It could be for music, comedy, or even a festival – and you can print them out and put them in the Christmas card you hopefully remembered to buy. If not, Ticketmaster sell e-gift cards that your giftee can use for anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Chocolates or alcohol. Or alcoholic chocolates.

Pretty much everyone likes either booze or chocolate, and most of us like both. It might seem like an easy way out, and it is – but needs must, and you can still go out and grab either of these presents on Christmas Eve from your local supermarket. Opening times will vary from branch to branch, but Tesco Expresses all over the country will be open until at least 10pm.

Obviously, don’t buy alcohol for people who are underage, don’t drink, or have issues with overdrinking. Obviously.

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3. Games

Games are an ideal gift because you can buy them at your computer any day of the week, including Christmas Day, and have them played that afternoon. There are a number of ways you can do it, but the best ways are to buy through Steam, or from the digital side of the GAME website.

Steam already has a feature in place that lets you buy a PC game as a gift and send it to someone else’s account, and since Christmas Day will be right in the middle of a sale you’ll be able to get extra bang for your buck.

If the intended recipient is a console owner, then GAME is the way to go. They’ll send a code via email that can be redeemed on the console and immediately downloaded.

4. A Subscription Box

There are a phenomenal number of subscription boxes out there, covering almost every single niche or interest imaginable. And since subscription boxes come on a monthly cycle, you don’t even need to feel guilty about it not being there on Christmas Day. A few examples include Graze, Glossy Box, Lootcrate, and Beer Hawk’s Beer Club. We recommend printing out your order confirmation and a bit of info about what they can expect from their first box, and popping it in a card.

5. Driving Lessons

It’s a little more restrictive than any other last minute options, but if you forgot to buy a present for someone who is looking to start learning to drive then buying them a few lessons isn’t a bad way to go. Rather than just saying you’ll buy them some lessons, you can actually buy vouchers thanks to an app called miDrive. You can then use the app to find one of over 3,000 driving instructors across the country, and your giftee can redeem them when the time is right.

6. A donation to charity

Depending on what kind of person you’re buying for, this might go down really well or really badly. But no one can really complain about a charity donation in their name without being labelled a Scrooge. Virtually every charity takes online donations – try to choose a cause close to the recipient’s heart.

7. Music

Everyone loves music, and while buying someone an iTunes gift card is a bit impersonal, buying them an album is not — even if it does only exist as a collection of ones and zeroes on a hard drive. You can buy digital music albums pretty much everywhere, but only iTunes seems to give you the option of buying one as a gift. It’s easy enough to do: once you find something in the iTunes store, instead of clicking ‘Buy’ you click the drop-down arrow and select ‘Gift This

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If they’re not an iTunes user, you can also buy them a Spotify Premium subscription online.

8. Films and TV

Giving a Blu-Ray or DVD is considered acceptable, so why not buy someone a more convenient version? Digital versions of films and TV shows are available all over the place, but once again iTunes seems to be the only place where you can purchase them as gifts. The process is the same as before, instead of clicking ‘Buy’ you click the drop-down arrow and select ‘Gift This [film]’

You can also get gift cards for things like Blinkbox and Google Play in many physical shops, including Tesco and Wilkinson’s, if you’ve got time to get there. Bafflingly, they don’t sell gift codes online.

9. eBooks

A beloved book makes an excellent gift. Sadly, giving digital books still hasn’t quite made the leap into total acceptability, but at this late stage, you haven’t got much choice. Amazon doesn’t let you buy eBooks as gifts in the UK, but Gift an eBook does.

Your recipient doesn’t need an e-reader to enjoy their gifted tome, either – just a web browser. Books are saved offline as well, so they won’t be cut off if the hamster eats through the router cable again.

10. A magazine subscription

Choose a title that aligns with their interests and buy them a subscription. My Favourite Magazines, iSubscribe, and MagazineSubscriptions.co.uk all sell subscriptions online, or buy this month’s edition from your local corner shop and say “if you like it, I’ll buy a year’s worth”. Easy peasy.