The 23 best websites for discovering unique gifts

Mark & Graham

Shop unique gifts at Mark & Graham

Best for: Tastefully monogrammed gifts

For a high-quality gift with a touch of personalization, look no further than Mark & Graham. The brand can monogram anything from custom leather handbags to cheeseboards, making a genuinely useful gift a little more sentimental.

Uncommon Goods

Shop unique gifts at Uncommon Goods

Best for: Fun, unusual gifts

As the name suggests, Uncommon Goods specializes in more unusual products, whether it's a QR code mug with a daily dad joke, an edible butter candle kit, or pajamas you can color on. They even host virtual classes you can gift, ranging in topics from a couple's map-making class to astrology readings.

Bespoke Post

Shop men's gifts at Bespoke Post

Best for: Unique gifts for men

Bespoke Post is an online marketplace of small brands, but with a focus on items for men. If you're curious about where to start for the man who seems to have everything, you'll find dedicated pages of axes, knives, and tools alongside top-quality kitchenware and home decor. The brand also offers a curated subscription box if you'd like someone else to do the shopping for you.

Wonderbly

Shop personalized books at Wonderbly

Best for: Personalized books with minimal effort

Wonderbly creates giftable, personalized books for all ages and interests — from kids' stories to cookbooks. Personalizing a book for your recipient only takes a few minutes, and the site guides you through the process with prompts and questions. The result is a keepsake you can make in minutes, yet still feel unique and special.

Coming Soon

Shop unique gifts at Coming Soon

Best for: Truly unique, arty home pieces

Imagine if the coolest art friend you know opened a boutique: that's the vibe of Coming Soon, an NYC-based gift and homewares store. Color, playfulness, and curved lines are the basis for most of the shop's items, including a pill bottle-shaped wine cooler and whimsical glassware. The shop also sells some small delights, too, like arainbow kitchen sponge, a$40 surprise ball shaped like an orange,and a$5 Brat-Pitt lighter.

Cratejoy

Shop unique gifts at Cratejoy

Best for: Curated gift boxes and subscriptions around themes

Cratejoy is a marketplace for discovering monthly subscriptions that celebrate hobbies and interests, ranging from beauty to cocktails. Most of the boxes are curated from small businesses. However, you don't have to commit to a full subscription and can also purchase most boxes individually.

Some of the most popular crates include an adult crafting kit, a personalized box of books with a few novelty trinkets, a mystery escape room-style box, an under-$50 self-care box, a cocktail set, or a curated vintage box tailored to their style preferences.

Flamingo Estate

Shop unique gifts at Flamingo Estate

Best for: Highly curated, slow-living little luxuries

Flamingo Estate started as a collection of sundries from one man's California home and has grown into a brand focused on bespoke, expertly sourced and crafted delights for the home and kitchen. You'll find plenty of beautifully packaged items with a small-batch, California-local focus. Some favorite finds include a bottle of California olive oil that can be customized with a hand-written label, its viral heirloom tomato candle, and a spicy strawberry fruit snack.

Wolf & Badger

Shop independent brands at Wolf & Badger

Best for: Unique finds from small brands

Wolf & Badger is an online marketplace where small, independent brands from around the world can sell their products to a global audience. Think of it as an online department store specifically for small brands: It's a great destination to discover unique products, including handmade and artisan gifts, homewares, and clothing for men and women. No matter the category, you're bound to find something you've never seen before, like charming cottage-core designs from Fable England or silly kitchenware from Jimbobart.

Etsy

Shop unique gifts at Etsy

Best for: Highly specific, original gifts

Whether you want a non-corporate greeting card, a digital couples portrait, or a personalized sweater, Etsy probably has every gift you could possibly come up with, and some combinations you'd never believe you could find.

Abbode

Shop customizable gifts at Abbode

Best for: Custom embroidery

Almost everything from Abbode — a NYC-based small business — can be customized with embroidery. You can add a monogram to a vegan crocodile pouch, memorialize a special family recipe on a tea towel, or emblazon a pillowcase with a loved one's initials. The brand also has plenty of pre-set designs to choose from, whether you want to add a tiny martini glass to a set of cocktail napkins or a dog on a custom tank top.

Goldbelly

Shop unique gifts at Goldbelly

Best for: Gifts for foodies

Rather than offer gift baskets of snacks, Goldbelly ships regional foods all over the country, whether it's Maine lobster rolls or Memphis BBQ. If you don't want to send food directly to the recipient, you can also opt for a simple gift card and let them pick what they're craving or a subscription to surprise them with a recurring treat.

Read our review of Goldbelly here.

MET Museum Store

Shop unique gifts at the MET Museum Store

Best for: Artsy, curated gifts

The Metropolitan Museum of Art boasts one of the best art collections in the world, so it's no surprise that its gift store offers an equally curated array of gifts at surprisingly affordable price points. You'll find beautiful, arty gifts for all ages, including jewelry, prints, and coffee table books. Take a look at the unique collaborations, like a LEGO build of Monet's Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies or a sweet Miffy Degas Dancer Plush Toy.

Fred

Shop unique gifts at Fred

Best for: Whimsical trinkets and housewares for the people who don't take life too seriously

Browsing through Fred is a little bit wacky and a lot joyful. There's something for everybody, like the Buff Baby Rattle for your friend's baby shower, a cheeky Daily Desk Plaque for your boss or coworker, or an animal-shaped tea infuser the next time you need a cheap birthday present.

Shutterfly

Shop unique gifts at Shutterfly

Best for: High-resolution photo gifts

Whether you want to create a straightforwardphoto bookor an elaborate three-piece wall photo, Shutterfly is one of our favorite places to make custom photo gifts. The photo editor is incredibly simple to use — all you need are high-res photos to upload.

Greetabl

Shop unique gifts at Greetabl

Best for: Fully customizable gift boxes

Using Greetabl's simple gift builder, you can craft a custom gift box in minutes by selecting everything from the packaging to what goes inside. You can choose from an assortment of things like candles, candy, skincare products, gift cards, and other small trinkets like keychains or socks.

Big Night

Shop unique gifts at Big Night

Best for: Foodies, plus housewarming and hostess gifts

While Big Night maintains three brick-and-mortar locations in NYC, you can still shop the expert curation of gourmet pantry goods and funky housewares from afar. Built for those who love to entertain or are always planning their next dinner party, Big Night is your destination for a tablescape that wows, or your next hostess or housewarming gift.

In addition to sought-after indie brands like Sophie Lou Jacobsen and Fishwife, they have several exclusive designs of their own, from adorable cheese spreaders to a dinner party planner. Pick up their specially concocted "Glitter" aka trail mix or tinned fish. If you don't know where to start, consider one of their curated gift boxes.

Ten Thousand Villages

Shop unique gifts at Ten Thousand Villages

Best for: Ethically-sourced, globally-inspired gifts

Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit, fair trade organization that sources its wares from more than 20,000 skilled artisans across 30 countries. Globally-minded giftees will appreciate its sustainable gifts, like Serpentine stone earrings from Peru, a berry colander from Nepal, or a travel journal woven out of recycled Sari cloth

The Unemployed Philosophers Guild

Shop unique gifts at The Unemployed Philosopher's Guild

Best for: Smart and funny gifts for the deep thinkers with a sense of humor

If they love to have their head buried in a good book or are eager to debate Socrates, they'll appreciate the eclectic and smart assortment from The Unemployed Philosophers Guild. You can browse by product categories or subjects that are as broad as Americana or as specific as Monty Python. We got excited about the selection of heat-transforming mugsand the site's fixation on Freud.

And if you find yourself short on time before you need to hand over your gift, you can also print out these cheekygift announcement templates.

Bessette

Shop unique gifts at Bessette

Best for: Curated vintage homewares and custom embroidery

If they love spending their day at estate sales or are interested in all things vintage, Bessette is the perfect destination for one-of-a-kind gifts. Bessette sources a curated assortment of vintage homewares, accentuated by perfectly stylized photography and visuals at palatable pricing. It's finding treasure, without the hunt.

In addition to new inventory and seasonal collections that feature themes like Palm Beach or Americana, Bessette offers custom embroidery on napkins, ribbons, and more. Everything arrives perfectly wrapped and giftable, with blue gingham ribbon.

Personalization Mall

Shop unique gifts at Personalization Mall

Best for: Maximum gift personalization

Personalization Mall fits its name perfectly: it offers a wide array of products — from blankets to wind chimes — that you can customize with someone's name, photos, or a special message.

Maisonette

Shop unique gifts at Maisonette

Best for: Whimsical children's toys and decor

Maisonette highlights independent brands for kids, with an emphasis on beautiful design and toys you won't find at your typical big box store. There's a large toy selection spanning outdoor to imaginative play for all ages, from infants to tweens, and essential baby gear for new parents. From these Bauhaus-inspired stepping stones (that can also be rearranged into a place to sit or store things) to a kid-friendly pottery kit, there's no shortage of gifts that delight and inspire the imagination. There's also a great section of personalized gifts, like monogrammed Petite Plume pajamas, custom puzzles, and coloring books.

Minted

Shop unique gifts at Minted

Best for: Stationery and wall art

Whether you want a simple, cute greeting card or unique wrapping paper, Minted offers both ready-made stationery and home decor, along with some customization options. It's also great for specific collections, such as wedding gifts and Disney art.

MoMA Design Store

Shop unique gifts at MoMA Design Store

Best for: Colorful, design-forward gifts

NYC's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has one of the best gift stores in the world, and you can shop the whole thing online. The selection is highly curated: each item is assessed against MoMA's eight criteria of good design before it is included in the store's offerings. While you'll find plenty of books and art prints, there's also a strong focus on lifestyle items that blend form and function.