You’ve probably heard the word “tariffs” more this year than ever before. For months, it’s been one of the biggest (if not the biggest) factors impacting retail prices and consumer spending, and this holiday season will be no different. “Almost everything we traditionally gift in the United States is affected by tariffs,” says Erik Guzik, an assistant clinical professor of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Montana College of Business. “Such a large percentage of our imports are now composed of consumer goods, so it’s difficult to find a category that’s not impacted by tariff policy.”
Long story short: gifts cost more right now — it’s unavoidable. And shoppers are worried about it — in fact, 45% of consumers say it’s a holiday planning-related stressor, according to RetailMeNot. To help you understand exactly how tariffs are impacting holiday shopping, and what you can do to save money, I talked to economic, retail and supply chain experts below.
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Will gifts cost more this year?
Yes, gifts will generally cost more this year because the higher tariff rates imposed throughout 2025 make it more expensive for retailers to import products, according to all the experts I spoke with. Fully absorbing these duties would significantly shrink their profit margins, so most companies have opted to pay a portion and pass the rest on to consumers by raising prices. In other words, many retailers now bake a percentage of the tariff fee into how much their products cost, so you’re paying more for them, says Joe Adamski, a senior advisory director at ProcureAbility. Overall, consumers are disproportionately shouldering the burden of new tariffs — in June 2025, for example, 70.5% of new tariffs were passed on to consumers, and retailers paid the other 29.5%, according to The Budget Lab at Yale.
What gifts will cost more this year?
Of all the items subject to price hikes, some of the most popular gifting categories are getting hit the hardest, says Guzik. LendingTree recently analyzed which products are expected to have the biggest tariff burden per shopper during the winter holidays (meaning how much more shoppers are estimated to pay for gifts on average per category due to tariffs), and the top eight are:
- Electronics (+ $186)
- Clothing and accessories (+ $82)
- Home decor and furnishings (+ $81)
- Other, which includes jewelry, books, media and more (+ $59)
- Sporting goods and leisure (+ $31)
- Toys (+ $14)
- Personal care and beauty (+ $14)
- Food and candy (+ $12)
Guzik says it makes sense that the top two categories above are electronics and clothing. The U.S. imported about 69% of electronics and 88% of apparel and footwear during the 2024 winter holidays, according to LendingTree — the experts I talked to predict 2025 numbers to be about the same, which means it’s still challenging to buy a sweater, pair of sneakers, doll or block set entirely made in America.
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Holiday gift ideas less likely to be impacted by tariffs
It’s almost impossible to completely avoid tariffs while shopping for holiday gifts, but the experts I spoke with say the following categories are less affected by related price hikes than most imported consumer goods. To round up examples of products in each category, I recommended options the NBC Select team gifted, received or has on their wishlist.
Gift cards
“When you buy someone a gift card, you’re kicking the can down the road in terms of who’s making the buying decision,” says Adamski. “It’s on the recipient to figure out how to spend that money, and you don’t have to pay extra for something on their wishlist.” Some people feel that giving loved ones gift cards isn’t thoughtful, but I disagree — if you get someone a gift card to a store they love, a brand they’ve been wanting to shop from or a business that makes their life easier, they’re sure to appreciate it.
“I technically read all my books on my Kindle, but any avid reader with an e-reader still loves to go to a bookstore so they can fill up their libraries,” says NBC Select editorial projects manager Rebecca Rodriguez. “There’s something special about having the physical copies of your favorite books, and there’s definitely some gaps in my collection I’d love to fill.” The avid reader in your life can use their Barnes & Noble gift card on any book (or book-related accessory) they want in-person at their local store or online. You can choose to add $10 to $500 to the card, and buy physical or e-gift cards, the latter of which Barnes & Noble sends to your recipient’s email address.
I think we can all agree that not worrying about cooking dinner or paying for takeout is a gift. Because I find gift cards to food delivery services like DoorDash so useful, I commonly buy them for my loved ones, especially those who work long hours or are in school. They come in different denominations, and you can choose from a physical gift card or a digital gift card, the latter of which DoorDash sends to your recipient’s email address.
Domestically-made products
Products made in the U.S.A. aren’t totally immune to tariff-related price increases. Even if items are assembled in the United States, they may rely on imported ingredients and parts, or get built using imported machinery, all of which has gotten more costly this year. That said, you likely won’t see dramatic price increases when it comes to domestically-made goods, so they’re a safer bet than imported goods. Adamski says books are a particularly good option: “Most books are produced domestically because they’re heavy and hard to move. A lot of that production is in the Midwest.”
You can find domestically printed coffee table books that align with almost any of your loved ones’ interests, as well as puzzle books with brain games and books that teach them something new, like cooking, for example. NBC Select commerce editor Cory Fernandez swears by Ina Garten’s cookbooks for their recipes and beautiful photos. “I love all of Ina Garten’s cookbooks, and this one is particularly great because it has a ton of familiar dishes that are easy to make, but they have elevated ingredients and techniques,” he says. “Her recipes are never too fancy or unattainable, and she even gives a lot of tips throughout the book, such as ways to use leftovers.”
Spade to Fork is a family-run, organic farm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and you can buy its seeds and other gardening supplies online. The company’s seed kits are one of NBC Select senior editor Nikki Brown’s favorite gifts to give loved ones, whether they’re avid gardeners like her or not. “Even if the recipient isn’t looking to grow food permanently, Spade to Fork can still be a fun, one-time experiment,” she says. “The guides that each kit comes with are very easy to follow, and the kits themselves aren’t too intimidating or too small to justify purchasing. I’d recommend the Organic Culinary Herb Seed Kit for something more practical and the Organic Edible Flower Garden Seed Kit for the more adventurous recipient.”
Food and beverages
Food and beverage prices are rising, but they’re at the bottom of LendingTree’s list of products that have the biggest tariff burden per shopper during the winter holidays. You’re also less likely to encounter tariff-related price hikes if you buy from brands that produce items in the U.S., says Adamski. NBC Select editorial director Lauren Swanson recommends putting together a basket of foods and drinks from your favorite local cafes, bakeries and restaurants for loved ones, making it more meaningful than a random selection of goods from the market.
Brightland grows its olives on family-run farms in California’s Valley before harvesting them and cold-pressing them into olive oil. I always keep the brand’s pantry staples in my kitchen to use while sautéing vegetables, roasting fish, dressing salads and making sauces. You get two types of olive oil with this set: Awake, best for finishing and dipping, and Alive, best for drizzling and dressing. The bottles are beautiful enough to put on display at all times, and the oils come in a nice box, so you can add a bow and ditch the wrapping paper.
Goldbelly partners with restaurants, cafes, bakeries and grocers across the country (many of which are small businesses), so it’s my go-to destination for gifting loved ones their favorite foods. For example, I’ve sent my grandparents lobsters from Maine for Hanukkah since that’s where they vacation every summer. If you can’t decide exactly what to send your giftee, New York City bagels are always a crowd pleaser, in my experience, and Orwashers is beloved among NBC Select’s Manhattan-based staff. “Orwashers is my go-to spot in my neighborhood for quality bread,” says NBC Select senior editor Lindsay Schneider. “Everything is fresh and simply delicious. It doesn’t get enough attention or love, in my opinion. I’m a huge fan.” You can choose from four types of bagels — plain, everything, sesame and multi-grain — and opt to add cream cheese and lox, too.
Experiences and services
Gifting experiences and services rather than imported consumer goods is one of the best ways to avoid tariff-related price hikes around the holidays, says Guzik. “Maybe getting someone a gift card to a golf simulator becomes an interesting alternative to buying them a new golf club, for example,” he says. Some of my favorite experiences and services to buy loved ones are spa treatments, cooking classes and theatre tickets, for example. Experts also recommend giving travel vouchers as gifts or planning trips with the people most important to you.
Spafinder works with spas and beauty-related studios across the country, so by giving your loved one a gift card to the service, you let them pick exactly how, when and where they’d like to be pampered. You can add any monetary value you’d like to the card and choose a physical or e-gift card; the latter is emailed to your giftee.
“My general gift philosophy — or at least what I aspire to do more of — is gifting experiences instead of things. A cleaning service is something that pretty much anyone would appreciate, although I would especially recommend it for new parents and those with chronic illnesses or disabilities that make general upkeep challenging,” says Brown. “Confession: I’ve gifted myself with a Taskrabbit cleaner on occasion. Sometimes, you just need a break from chores, especially when life starts life-ing.”
Digital subscriptions and memberships
Digital subscriptions and memberships to educational services, media outlets and entertainment platforms, for example, are another relatively tariff-proof gift. You can usually buy your loved one a year-long subscription or membership for a flat fee, and you don’t need to pay for shipping — you put their email in at checkout and the company sends them access information.
An annual MasterClass membership is ideal for anyone in your life interested in learning something new or furthering their knowledge about a specific topic, be it related to cooking, sports, business, film and TV, writing, science, food or government. It gives your giftee access to the platform’s over 200 classes, each with around 20 video lessons about 10 minutes long. They can take the classes on their phone, computer or TV, as well as download courses offline (which is great for the plane) or listen to select courses in audio-only mode.
“I have truly never had a gift that keeps on giving as much as an AMC A-List membership does,” says NBC Select associate SEO reporter Ashley Morris. “I can see movies whenever I want to, I get discounts on snacks, and I can skip the lines — all for the cost of less than two movie tickets. Not only is it affordable and totally worthwhile, but it’s also the ideal gift for the tricky giftees on your list — so long as they like movies, they can tailor their experience to their liking by picking and choosing their faves for their four weekly viewings.”
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What’s going on with the de minimis exemption?
The de minimis exemption, which ended this summer, previously allowed international shipments of goods less than $800 to enter the U.S. tax-free. It sped up the customs process, which is typically the most delayed by agents checking if tariffs are collected on the package, and allowed for growth in cross-border e-commerce, says Henry Jin, a professor of supply chain management at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business. “Low-value packages used to be able to clear customs very quickly, and get to you quickly,” he says. “But now that the rule has come to an end, someone has to pay the import tax. Many retailers are requiring shoppers to pay for it in advance so the package gets through customs a little faster.”
If the retailer doesn’t require you to pay an import tax at checkout, you’ll likely get a tariff bill from the carrier shipping it, like DHL, UPS or Fedex, before your package gets delivered. The carrier won’t deliver your package until you pay the tariff fee, so make sure you do it promptly — if you don’t, there’s a high likelihood that whatever you ordered will get lost in customs and never make it to you, says Jin.
With all of this in mind, is it even worth buying holiday gifts from international retailers at this point? “You’ll need to tolerate a little bit more shipment and logistical uncertainty, and your purchase should not be time sensitive,” says Jin. He recommends triple-checking where products are being shipped from before you click buy — sometimes retailers disclose this information on product pages, while others show it at checkout
How to save on holiday gifts
- Take advantage of sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Some retailers host end-of-year sales during the second half of December, but deals are nowhere as good as Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts, says Guzik. If you know exactly what your loved ones have on their wishlists, you can use extensions like Honey and CamelCamelCamel to set up price-drop notifications so you know when to buy. Some retailers, like Amazon, also let you create wishlists and set up price-drop notifications in their apps.
- Shop as early as possible: Before higher tariff rates are implemented, retailers overstocked their warehouses, ensuring ample inventory to sell at pre-tariff prices. As we get closer to the holidays, that inventory is running out, which means you might see products, regardless of how popular they are, go out of stock sooner than in previous years, says Adamski. That’s even more true when retailers host sales. Shopping as early as possible gives you a better chance of finding exactly what you want, especially if you’re looking for a specific color, size or style.
- Use cashback extensions: When you shop through cashback extensions like Honey and Rakuten, you may be able to get money back from participating retailers with each purchase, which puts money back in your pocket.
- Have a conversation with loved ones: If you’re worried about buying gifts for them this holiday season, experts recommend talking to them and working together to come up with a plan. “Maybe your friend group decides to meet in a nearby city for a weekend instead of giving everyone gifts, or you decide not to do gifts all together,” says Adamski.
Meet our experts
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also ensure that all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and with no undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
- Joe Adamski is a senior advisory director at ProcureAbility.
- Erik Guzik is an assistant clinical professor of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Montana College of Business.
- Henry Jin is a professor of supply chain management at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business.
Why trust NBC Select?
I’m a reporter at NBC Select who has been covering tariffs since early 2025, as higher rates went into effect in the U.S. I’ve also been writing gift guides for about five years. For this piece, I interviewed three experts about how tariffs are impacting holiday shopping, and rounded up gifts that are less likely to be impacted by related price hikes.
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