A $25 gift card and a $24.99 two-jar marmalade set ring up the same, but they don't cost the same to give. The card arrives by email with no postage at all. The jars are glass, so shipping comes on top. For a client gift under $50, compare delivered cost, then pick something the client will use up.
That delivered figure is the one that matters to a budget line. A gift that fits $50 on the product page can land at $65 once it's boxed and posted, and a heavy one can lose a third of its budget to the post office before it reaches the client's desk.
What shipping adds to a client gift
Postage runs roughly $10 to $25 a parcel at 2026 retail prices, and weight and distance move it more than people expect. These are the retail prices in the USPS price list that took effect on July 12, 2026:
- USPS Ground Advantage, up to 1 lb: $9.55 to the nearest zone, $12.90 to the farthest.
- USPS Ground Advantage, up to 2 lb: $10.80 near, $19.05 far.
- Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box: $13.65 anywhere in the US.
- Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box: $24.80.
A client across the country in a Medium Flat Rate Box costs nearly as much to reach as the gift inside it. Glass is the usual culprit. An 11 oz jar means 11 oz of marmalade, before the glass and packing are weighed, so price a jar at the 2 lb line until you've put the packed parcel on a scale. On our orders, standard shipping is complimentary in the US at $50 or more, but heavy or glass-packaged items such as marmalade are excluded and may carry extra charges. Anything else is priced at checkout.
Client gifts by delivered cost
The table sorts gifts by how they travel, because the price tag leaves out the post office. Every physical gift below sits under our $50 threshold for complimentary standard shipping, so postage comes on top.
| Gift | Price | How it travels | Delivered cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gift card, $10 or $25 | $10–$25 | Email, scheduled for a date you pick | The face value, nothing more |
| Gill Orange Soap, one bar or three miniatures | $8 | A small, light box | $8 plus postage |
| Citrus Variety Lip Balm 4-pack | $12.99 | Four 0.15 oz tubes, almost weightless | $12.99 plus postage |
| One 11 oz marmalade | $12.99 | Glass, excluded from complimentary shipping | $12.99 plus glass postage |
| Orange Blossom Eau de Parfum, 0.25 oz roller | $15 | Ground only | $15 plus postage |
| The Medalists, two 11 oz jars | $24.99 | Two glass jars, excluded from complimentary shipping | $24.99 plus glass postage |
| Any of our four eaux de parfum, 0.5 oz | $25 | Ground only | $25 plus postage |
| Any eau de parfum, 1.5 oz | $49.99 | Ground only, a cent under the free-shipping line | $49.99 plus postage |
| Gift card, $50 | $50 | $50 |
Watch the 1.5 oz bottle. At $49.99 it sits a cent under the $50 line, so on its own it doesn't qualify for complimentary shipping and lands above $50 once postage is added. Perfume bottles are glass too, and our policy lets glass-packaged items carry extra charges at any order total, so read the shipping line at checkout before you pay.
Which gift suits which client
Food is the safe choice when you don't know the person well: a jar of marmalade gets opened at breakfast or put out with cheese, and it's gone within weeks instead of sitting on a shelf. It also travels with its own talking point. The Medalists holds two jars that took three medals between them at the 2026 World Marmalade Awards (the Navel Orange took Silver; the Minneola Tangelo took two Bronzes), which gives the card inside something specific to say.
Scent is a gamble with a stranger and a good gift for a client you've worked with for years. At $15, the Orange Blossom roller keeps the stakes low. It's a soliflore, a perfume built around a single flower, here the orange blossom that fills the Redlands groves each spring, which in our view makes it an easier pick for someone else than a complex blend.
A client team in one office is a different problem. One larger gift for the break room beats five small ones, and it counts as one parcel instead of five.
The gift card is the honest answer when the client's taste is a mystery or the deadline is tomorrow. It carries no postage and can be scheduled to arrive on a set date, with a short message from you.
Does postage count toward the $25 business-gift limit?
No. IRS Publication 463 caps the deduction for business gifts at $25 per recipient per tax year, and it generally leaves out incidental costs, naming "packaging, insuring, and mailing" among them, when it measures a gift against that limit. A $24.99 gift stays inside the $25 even when its shipping costs more than the gift.
The client's side is another matter. Some employers cap what their staff may accept, and a few count retail value. If you don't know the policy, ask your contact's office before you order. Your accountant decides how the gifts are booked.
Ordering for a list of clients
For more than a handful of clients, the time goes into addresses, not choosing. Our multi-address shipping takes the whole list in one cart and one payment, and you type each client's address at checkout. Longer lists qualify for bulk pricing: send your quantity and delivery date through our corporate gifting page and we'll send a quote. The rest of the range, including gift sets above $50, is in gift sets.
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash.
