Gift Like You Mean It

There are two kinds of sex toy gift and they are not interchangeable. One gets opened in front of people, at a bachelorette or a birthday, so it needs to be funny rather than personal. The other is for one person who will actually use it, and that one needs you to know their taste.

Sets and kits are the safe answer for most people. You get several things in one box, so you are not betting the whole gift on guessing one preference, and nobody has to react to anything too specific in front of a room.

The mistake people make is buying something too specific. A single toy guesses at anatomy, experience and taste all at once, and you only have to be wrong about one of them. Lube, massage oil, a card game, a coloring book or a mixed set works for almost anyone. Buy narrow only for someone whose drawer you have actually seen.

Sorted by the occasion and by who is opening it.

• Valentine's Day: the biggest gifting week of the year here, split into lingerie, kink, toys and games so you can shop the one you mean.
• Christmas and holiday: stocking fillers through to the bigger box under the tree, including everything that works as a white elephant gift.
• Gift sets and kits: several pieces in one box, which takes the guessing out. The safest thing to give anyone you do not know intimately.
• Gifts for her: the wider range beyond the curated picks on this page, sorted by what sells.
• Gifts for him: strokers, rings and grooming, plus the novelty end for anyone who will open it in company.
• Games, books and novelties: card decks, playbooks and coloring books. These are the ones that read across a room, so they carry a party.
• Bondage bears and stuffies: plush in cuffs and harnesses. Given far more often as a joke than as gear, and they land every time.
• Stoner gifts: grinders, glass, stash bags and weed-themed toys, so a gift can come from either side or both.
• Lingerie: the one category where you need a size, so it is a gift for a partner rather than for a friend.