No, not the Christmas version of the petrol-station flowers on Valentine's Day! Even small branches of big chains have a few gifty items, and big stores have aisles devoted to the season.
Have a browse through the catalogue, or give yourself an e
xtra half-hour next time you're in the store to look around. There are often offers, too – buy two, get a third free on gift box sets, plus short-term promotions on some items.
CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME: Obviously badly damaged goods should be avoided unless you can work miracles, but the quality of goods in charity shops is getting higher all the time.
Got a friend who loves ducks? If you've made the effort to buy something she'll love, will she mind that the china quacker came from Oxfam? As an avid reader and fan of the James Bond films, one of the best Christmas gifts I got as a teenager was a bagful of Ian Fleming's novels. They were all secondhand, but my dad spent a couple of months going round secondhand bookshops on his days off and collected a full set.
PUT THE BOOT IN: The car boot, that is. As with charity shops, there are gems to be found at car boot sales and fleamarkets.
If your girlfriend wears jewellery, try looking for ring-holders, or dressing-table sets to keep her pieces tidy; a few pounds will get you a bud vase for your mum, with another few pounds spent on Christmas Eve getting the buds to put in it.
If you're in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayr or Stirling, check out Scotfairs antiques fairs ( www.scotfairs.co.uk); Edinburgh's Greenside Place car boot sale is one of many ( www.boot-fairs.co.uk) and for those in the west, Clydeside Antiques ( www.clydesideantiques.com) has 30 dealers all under one roof.
SALE OF THE CENTURY: Keep your eyes open for those lovely "Reduced!" and "Special Offer!" signs because they can be very handy.
These offers, like the "Buy one get one free" beloved of supermarkets come into their own at Christmas – if you've got a few friends with similar tastes who don't know each other, feel no guilt when you buy them all the same thing.
CAST-IRON RULE: Buy it when you see it. Whether you're on holiday in Spain at half-term or taking a trip across town to see your granny for the afternoon, if you spot something you think would make a nice gift, then for goodness' sake buy it! You'll either never go back or go back only to find it's not there.
