Closing Gifts for Buyers and Sellers: What Realtors Give and Spend, and Why 4–6 Weeks Later Beats Closing Day

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

• No survey of realtor closing-gift spending turned up in our research; agents on r/realtors name amounts from a "$35 fudge/candy assortment" to "$50-100" (r/realtors).
• On gifts from a settlement service provider to a consumer for using its services, the CFPB answers "Generally, yes" (CFPB RESPA FAQs, updated Oct 7, 2020).
• The IRS caps the business-gift deduction at $25 per person per tax year (IRS Publication 463).

This page is part of our client gifts by profession guide. Loan officers: see loan officer closing gifts for borrowers.

What do realtors give buyers and sellers at closing?

Whatever fits the move. In a 400-comment r/realtors thread, an agent whose $300 baskets, gas grill and TV drew little thanks asked what others give; two of those clients "asked me to return the items and just give them the money instead" (thread, Jun 2025). The replies pointed smaller and more personal: "I used to do this too and then started doing a small $35 fudge/candy assortment from a local place and get way more praise on that than customized expensive baskets," one agent wrote.

Things that last get used: "Last time I purchased a home the realtor gifted some engraved Yetis and some candy for the kids. We still use the Yetis years later," a buyer wrote in the 400-comment thread.

How much should a realtor spend on a closing gift?

We found no survey of what agents spend on closing gifts. What agents say in public:

• "$100-200 on baskets," cut to "a $35 goody box" (r/realtors).
• "I keep it $50-100. Regardless of price point" (r/realtors).

More money doesn't buy more thanks. Givers expect pricier gifts to be appreciated more, but recipients' appreciation isn't linked to price (Flynn and Adams, 2009). Our suggestion: a card at the closing table, and the gift a few weeks later.

At the closing table, or 4–6 weeks later?

Closing day is crowded. One of the most upvoted replies in that 400-comment thread passed on "some great advice": "only give a nice thank you card and maybe a small gift card on closing," and send the bigger gift weeks later, because waiting "gives them time to get settled." The reply beneath it: "Right after closing they are probably a bit overwhelmed. 4-6 weeks later things have calmed down a bit" (r/realtors).

Buyers vs sellers: should they get the same gift?

Buyers need things for the new house; sellers need help leaving the old one. For sellers, one agent pays for "a deep clean of the home they are selling. Nobody wants to clean the old house when moving to a new one" (r/realtors).

Sellers who move away can't get a porch drop. "You obviously have their address so you ship it there!" was one answer when an agent asked how to deliver a closing gift (r/realtors).

Should a closing gift carry your name, your logo, or theirs?

An agent sending an expensive cutting board asked r/realtors: engrave "your name / phone and company name," or "just engrave something like: Welcome home Marc and Daisy!"? (thread, Sep 2025). Most replies said the same:

• "Do not put your name on it. They'll remember."
• "I didn't put my name on it. I put their name on it and the year."

If your logo goes on it, keep it small. On a Personalized Gifts Delivered mug, your logo prints small by default (up to 1½ in wide), and you see the preview before you pay. The card inside carries only your message and your name, no logo.

Or put their name on it instead. Choose "A personal gift" when you order, and the mug prints a name or a short message you type, in one of 3 fonts (the family's name and "Est. 2026", say), or a photo or design up to about 3 in tall. Each order prints one design, and there's no minimum, so one closing can be its own one-box order.

Do RESPA and state rules apply to closing gifts?

This section quotes the rules. It doesn't apply them to your transaction.

For gifts to consumers, the CFPB has a separate FAQ (Reg X lists "services by a real estate agent or real estate broker" as a settlement service, 12 CFR 1024.2(b)):

"Under RESPA Section 8, can a lender or other settlement service provider give a gift, refund, or discount to a consumer for using that lender or provider?"

"Generally, yes." … "However, RESPA Section 8 prohibits, for example, giving an incentive to a consumer in exchange for the consumer referring other business to that lender or other settlement service provider." … "Other federal and state laws may also have restrictions that apply and should be consulted."

CFPB RESPA FAQs, RESPA Section 8 General (updated Oct 7, 2020; read Oct 29, 2026)

State rules differ. NAR's Standard of Practice 12-3 says inducements are "subject to the limitations and restrictions of state law" (NAR 2026 Code). Missouri's is one example:

Missouri, among the acts over which "The commission may cause a complaint to be filed": "(13) Using prizes, money, gifts or other valuable consideration as inducement to secure customers or clients to purchase, lease, sell or list property when the awarding of such prizes, money, gifts or other valuable consideration is conditioned upon the purchase, lease, sale or listing"

RSMo 339.100.2 (version effective August 28, 2026; read Oct 29, 2026)

What the text says, and doesn't: Missouri's text names gifts whose awarding "is conditioned upon the purchase, lease, sale or listing". It doesn't define that phrase, so whether a thank-you you promised, or one you send after closing, fits it is a question for your broker or counsel. The CFPB's answers on gifts to referral sources: RESPA Section 8 in the CFPB's own words.

This is information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rule (or ask your broker, counsel or compliance officer) before you send.

The IRS $25 rule, and the "marketing expense" claim

Several commenters in the cutting-board thread said a gift with your name on it becomes a marketing expense. IRS Publication 463 says:

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

"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. A cost is incidental only if it doesn't add substantial value to the gift. For example, the cost of gift wrapping is an incidental cost. However, 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 following items aren't considered gifts for purposes of the $25 limit. An item that costs $4 or less and: Has your name clearly and permanently imprinted on the gift, and Is one of a number of identical items you widely distribute."

IRS Publication 463 (for use in preparing 2025 returns; read Oct 29, 2026)

Whether a gift box counts as incidental packaging depends on the facts; that judgment belongs to your tax professional. More in are client gifts tax deductible?

This is information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rule (or ask your tax professional) before you send.

What should a closing card say?

Two or three sentences about the house and the people, with no referral ask. Your message is printed on the card (up to 300 characters). A closing gift is often an order of one box, so its message can be all theirs; a larger order prints one message, which can greet each client by first name. For example, signed "Sam":

• "Hi Dana and Luis, the boxes are unpacked by now, I hope. Here's to your first cocoa in the new kitchen on Maple Street. Thank you for letting me help you find it."

More lines: thank-you messages for clients and holiday card messages.

Can I make and ship closing gifts myself?

Yes: you can assemble and ship closing gift boxes yourself, and by our estimate 25 logo mug gift boxes take about 9 hours of hands-on work (about 3½ of them packing, at about 8 minutes a box), plus a week or more waiting for supplies from about 8 separate orders. Per box, it comes out about even: about $38 with USPS counter postage and about $34 with commercial postage, with $1,192.84 paid up front for the mugs, the retail supply packs and 25 postage labels (our DIY cost comparison, prices as of Oct 29, 2026).

Closing gifts come one closing at a time, and each box means packing and a trip to the counter. A mug packed without a foam collar can break at the handle and must be bought, packed and shipped again. With Personalized Gifts Delivered, one box is a complete order: add the client's address, check the preview and pay. We print, pack and ship each box to its own address.

What to know before you order

• The seal and the season. The tissue in every box closes with a gold "Happy Holidays" seal sticker, and the truffles are chocolate, which softens in heat. The card carries your words about the house.
• The treats. LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels.
• Where we ship. The lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now; no Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, APO/FPO or international. The order page flags any row we can't ship to, so you can fix it or take it out.

Where Personalized Gifts Delivered fits for a closing gift

A mug gift box with Ghirardelli cocoa and 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles, at the house they just bought or the one they moved to:

• The new address, weeks later. Get the forwarding address at closing and set a reminder for four weeks out. One box is a complete order, so each closing ships when you're ready; our client address spreadsheet template keeps a running list.
• Your logo small, or their name. Either way (both are described above), you see the mug before you pay.
• A card about the house, printed with your message, in an envelope closed with a gold wax-seal sticker, lying on the lid.
• Discreet at the door. A plain white carton; the return address shows PersonalizedGiftsDelivered.com, and your name appears only on the card inside.
• A record for your files. When the box ships, you get an email with a spreadsheet of recipient, ship date, carrier, tracking number and $35 per box, an itemized record for an expense or compliance file.

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. We ship from New York. 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.

That is how you send a closing gift to each buyer: a custom logo mug gift box, shipped to each client, no minimum, $35 per box, delivered, whether you send 1 or 50. Closing coming up? Start your order.