New Year Client Gifts: A Thank You for a Great Year That Arrives After the December Rush, Plus Card Messages

New Year's Day: Friday, January 1, 2027

Order by Monday, December 21 for delivery in time.

Send this gift

We sell a $35 logo mug gift box, printed, packed and shipped to each person's address. This guide covers the other options too.

Key facts

• December is crowded. US Google searches for "gifts for clients" peaked from about November 30 to December 13 and fell away after December 20, in every season from 2021 to 2025 (Google Trends).
• New Year gift searches peak late. US searches for "new year gifts" peaked in the week of December 28, 2025 to January 3, 2026 (Google Trends).
• Thursday, December 17 is USPS's recommended Ground Advantage send-by date for expected delivery before Christmas in the lower 48 (USPS, as of Oct 29, 2026). Past it, or past our Christmas date of Tuesday, December 15, a New Year gift is the fallback.
• Personalized Gifts Delivered: $35 per box delivered, no minimum, each box shipped to its own address in the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now.

Is It Rude to Send a Client Gift After Christmas?

Emily Post's timing guidance is for holiday cards, not gifts: cards are usually sent "anytime from Thanksgiving until a couple weeks into the New Year," and "Sending a card early in the new year can also de-emphasize the religious aspect of the season" (Emily Post).

The one rule: write the card as a New Year thank-you, not an apology for being late (our suggestion). "Thank you for a great year" reads as intentional. "Sorry this is late" reads as a miss.

When a New Year Gift Beats a December Gift

We found no study that compares the two dates for client gifts. This table is reasoning from the sources above.

When Should a New Year Client Gift Arrive?

Between the last days of December and mid-January. If a client's office is closed between the holidays, a box can sit in a mailroom until it reopens; ship to the client's home, or ask where they'd like it. A commenter in a 2022 r/smallbusiness thread about a "Happy New Year" gift to a client put it simply: "Send gifts to people not companies" (r/smallbusiness).

Can I Pack New Year Gifts Myself?

Yes: New Year gives you more time than Christmas, but the same work. By our estimate, 25 logo mug gift boxes take about 9 hours of hands-on work, about 3½ of them packing, plus a week or more waiting for supplies. For boxes to land by New Year's Day, that packing falls in the days before Christmas. It costs about $38 a box with USPS counter postage and about $34 with commercial postage, with $1,192.84 up front for the mugs, the supply packs and 25 postage labels, and leftovers (DIY vs ordering, as of Oct 29, 2026). Per box, that comes out about even with our $35, before your time.

Ordering from us, the week before Christmas stays yours. Add your logo (or type your website and we'll find it), or a photo or a few words for a personal gift; check the preview of your mug and card; add your address list; and pay $35 per box. We print, pack and ship each box to its own address. Start from the client address spreadsheet template.

For the New Year, order by Monday, December 21. Ships within 2 business days of a complete order (your design, your address list and payment). Ships by USPS Ground Advantage or UPS Ground, with tracking, and usually arrives 2–5 business days after it ships. Delivery dates are carrier estimates, not guarantees, and run slower in mid-December. We ship from New York to the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now; P.O. boxes are fine. Every date in one place: 2026 holiday order-by dates.

Which Tax Year Does a January Client Gift Count In?

"You can deduct no more than $25 for business gifts you give directly or indirectly to each person during your tax year."

(IRS Publication 463, the 2025 edition, "For use in preparing 2025 Returns", read Oct 29, 2026)

The same publication says "Incidental costs, such as engraving on jewelry, or packaging, insuring, and mailing, are generally not included in determining the cost of a gift for purposes of the $25 limit", but also that "A cost is incidental only if it doesn't add substantial value to the gift." And: "the purchase of an ornamental basket for packaging fruit isn't an incidental cost if the value of the basket is substantial compared to the value of the fruit."

The limit runs per person, per tax year. Pub. 463's gifts section doesn't say whether the order date, the ship date or the delivery date decides which tax year a gift falls in. If you send the same client a December gift and a New Year gift, ask before you assume they count in different years.

This is information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rule (or ask your tax professional) before you send. Full explainer: are client gifts tax deductible?

What to Write in a New Year Card to a Client

Thank them for the year, name one specific thing, and look ahead. Replace the brackets: on a Personalized Gifts Delivered order, [Name] becomes each client's first name, and anything else you type goes on every card in that order. Every message below fits our printed card, which holds up to 300 characters, and none assumes a religious holiday.

For clients

We waited until the rush was over so this would get your full attention. Thank you for a great year, [Name]. Here's to the next one.

Thank you for a great year, [Name]. 2026 was better because we got to work with you. Here's to 2027.

Happy New Year from all of us at [Company]. Thank you for [specific thing] this year. It made a real difference.

For a long-time client

Another year together, and we're still grateful. Thank you for [Number] years, [Name]. Happy New Year.

For a new client this year

Our first year working together, and we're glad it was with you. Thank you, [Name]. Here's to the next one.

For your team

Thank you for everything you did in 2026, [Name], especially [specific thing]. Take a quiet minute with something warm before the new year gets busy.

For vendors and partners

Thank you for making our year easier, [Name]. Wishing you and your team a happy, healthy 2027.

For a mixed list

Season's greetings and a happy New Year, [Name]. Thank you for being part of our year.

More wording: holiday card messages for clients and "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"?

What to Know Before You Order

• Gift limits. Each box is $35, delivered. 5 CFR 2635.204(a) lets federal employees accept gifts worth "$20 or less per source per occasion" from a prohibited source, and some employers and industries cap the gifts their people may accept; the limits, quoted from their sources: client gift limits by industry.
• Where we don't ship: Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, other US territories, APO/FPO, international addresses and, for now, Texas.
• The treats: LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels. See the allergy and diet checklist.

Where Personalized Gifts Delivered Fits for the New Year

A New Year gift has two jobs: thank the client for the year, and stay on the desk. For the first, Personalized Gifts Delivered does everything before the carrier: order by Monday, December 21, and we print your logo on an 11 oz white ceramic mug, pack a 1.5 oz packet of Ghirardelli premium hot cocoa and 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles inside it, close the black tissue with a gold "Happy Holidays" seal, and lay your printed card on top of a matte-black gift box with a magnetic lid: a custom logo mug gift box, shipped to each client, no minimum, $35 per box, delivered. That date allows for the slow end of our 2–5 business-day estimate; delivery dates are carrier estimates, not guarantees. Nothing in the box names Christmas, so your New Year words carry the card.

For the second, a mug gets kept: in ASI's 2026 Ad Impressions Study, a promotional-products industry survey, 87% of end-users said they would keep a branded drinkware item because of its usefulness (ASI). You see the mug and every person's card before you pay, and the shipping email lists every tracking number in one spreadsheet.

Every occasion and its order-by date: the gift calendar. Ready now? Start a New Year order.