Zoë Scharf calls it the “gifting gap.”
On one side of the gap are your loved ones, the close friends and family at the top of your Christmas list. On the other side are acquaintances: coworkers, friends of friends, people who’ll be satisfied with a simple card.
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But when it comes to buying gifts for the holidays, what about the people in between in the dreaded “gift gap,” where a greeting card isn’t enough but a pricey gift is too much? For friends who aren’t quite BFFs, neighbors, or close professional relationships, how do you give a thoughtful gift without seeming excessively affectionate or breaking the bank?
That’s where Greetabl comes in. Co-founded by Scharf, a Washington University graduate, Greetabl lets customers choose from a curated selection of small gifts and send them in beautifully designed mini-boxes that fold out to reveal personalized messages and detachable photos, all in the $10-30 range.
“We’ve chosen gifts that have inherent sentiment to them,” such as a wine-flavored lollipop or confetti, Scharf tells SLM. “We really just tried to do the most work for people possible so it’s the most honest-to-god easy product possible.”
Giving a Greetabl starts with choosing the design for the box. The St. Louis startup offers eight design options, each with a photo and description of the artist who created them.
“People really want something made by a maker. They want to know the backstory,” Scharf says.
Printed on the inside of the box are three photos (two of which are detachable) and a personalized message. Not a writer? Don’t worry. Greetabl offers some easy message templates to customize.
“That’s why people bought greeting cards for decades and decades, because people don’t always know what to write,” Scharf says.
Once you’ve designed a box, you can select one of twelve gifts to put inside. The gifts range in size and price, and Scharf says the cabernet lollipop ($3) and silk sleep mask ($25) are two of the most popular options. The messiest option is the confetti ($2) Greetabl makes itself out of textured paper and gold pieces. (See above for photos.)
For the holidays, Greetabl offers three special gifts: handmade chocolate bark from St. Louis shop Kakao Chocolate, a pine and spruce Christmas tree candle from Brooklyn Candle Studio and tiny copper Moscow Mule mugs.
Greetabl gifts aren’t just for the holidays. Scharf calls her target demographic “The Giver,” people who give more than 20 gifts a year and need a convenient, online place to find them.
After all, there’s nothing worse than dropping a wad of money on a gift for a recipient who won’t use or appreciate it. Instead, “I would rather get a really nice message, some pictures I’m going to keep and a small gift I can appreciate,” Scharf says.
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at [email protected] or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
