It’s probably no surprise to you at all, since exercise equipment such as elliptical machines, treadmills and the like, are pretty high ticket items, with the economy the way it is now, that the amount of larger exercise equipment pieces that are being sold as gifts has been on the wane, not only last year, but so far this year too.
It used to be a much more popular gift, and even one of those gifts that you can give to your loved one that you live with, and you can enjoy the fruits of it as well! Ok, so maybe it’s a bit of a cheat to buy this sort of thing for your partner when you know you’re the one who really wanted it, but more and more couples these days are going in on one single gift to sort of “give to eachother” when it comes to bigger items.
I know several couples who do this type of thing. For example, if you’ve had your eye on some huge flat screen TV or maybe a nice new desktop computer, you can maybe make it a group gift to eachother instead of spending money on one another separately. It’s a great way to build a household of items that you really need and want, or both, without busting the bank in addition to buying gifts for the various holiday for eachother.
When you consider that large cardio exercise machines can range anywhere from $400 to over $1,000, it’s no wonder that these items have fallen slightly out of favor as gifts. It doesn’t mean that people don’t still want them, it just means that, as with a large amount of other consumer goods, we Americans have rearranged our priorities, and where once exercise machines may have been a priority, now more primitive things like food and shelter have become our focus since those things we have taken for granted are lost to so many now.
Also, one word on charity. It was awesome to see the place where I work come up with a goal-breaking number of coats in the Coats for Kids drive this year. I know that people aren’t making a lot of money this year, but for charities like that to still be raking in donations, I think, really speaks to the resilience and generous nature of Americans.