10 Obscure Sites For Great Holiday Shopping

Richer Poorer
You'd have to dig another ocean to hold tears shed by children who got pairs of socks on Christmas day.

The utilitarian sock is a child's sworn enemy on Christmas morning and the favored holiday faux pas of oblivious parents everywhere. Why not just give a kid toilet paper, water or a bag of flour? They need those too and will be just as disappointed to see you've wasted wrapping paper on those everyday needs.

Fortunately for the poor, unloved sock, the tide turns in adulthood. Suddenly, a good, wooly, fuzzy, colorful pair of socks is a welcome addition to a drawer full of black and white also-rans. It's a potential comment in the workplace, a colorful accent to a night by a cozy winter fire or screen-lit couch. It's a warm beautiful break from the soul-sucking tedium of your adulthood. Yes, socks mean that much, and Capistrano, Calif.-based Richer Poorer has them in droves -- all for $12 a pair. Stripes, trees, crosses and polka dots in myriad colors are just waiting for you to stuff a stocking with a stocking.

When the only toys you seem to get during the holidays anymore require a Wi-Fi connection and your favorite holiday treat only leaves you hungover on Christmas morning, the once-hated sock can provide the warm hug you're looking for.

BeerJobber
To craft beer lovers, this site is Santa Claus.

There's a whole lot of great craft beer out there, but fans of it are often limited by what their store will carry or what local distributors will supply. BeerJobber took a step away from that model a few years back by partnering with craft brewers and subsidizing shipments of their beers across the country.

This works out great for beer lovers, who can ring in the holiday season with a case of spicy Vinter Varmer from Portland, Ore.-based Laurelwood Brewing, the fruity Belgian-style Blitzen from Arrington, Va.-based Blue Mountain Barrel House or a variety pack of holiday beers from brewers across the country. It's also a pretty good deal for folks with beer lovers on the gift lists who might enjoy medal-winning brews from this year's Great American Beer Festival or mixed variety packs from brewers across the country.

It's not the cheapest proposition, as six packs start around $20, but the $5 shipping fee stays flat regardless of the size of the order. Shipping can also be an issue, as Beerjobber says it's able to ship to 83% of the country but means it can't ship to Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah or Wisconsin. While a lot of craft beer's big names are missing, the inclusion of heavy hitters such as Seattle's Elysian Brewing; Long Island's Blue Point; Philadephia Brewing; Lexington, Va.'s Devils Backbone; Asheville, N.C.-based Highland Brewing; Albuquerque, N.M.'s Marble Brewery; and Novato, Calif.-based Moylan's make BeerJobber worth a visit from any beer-loving holiday shopper.

-- Written by Jason Notte in Portland, Ore.

>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Jason Notte.

>To follow the writer on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/notteham.

>To submit a news tip, send an email to: [e-mail].

RELATED STORIES:

>>10 Small Web Sites For Big Holiday Shopping

>>10 Eccentric Holiday Shopping Sites

>>10 Best Holiday Beer Buys of 2012

Jason Notte is a reporter for TheStreet. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Esquire.com, Time Out New York, the Boston Herald, the Boston Phoenix, the Metro newspaper and the Colorado Springs Independent. He previously served as the political and global affairs editor for Metro U.S., layout editor for Boston Now, assistant news editor for the Herald News of West Paterson, N.J., editor of Go Out! Magazine in Hoboken, N.J., and copy editor and lifestyle editor at the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, N.J.

« First ‹ Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6