When material objects are given as gifts, in innumerable cultures they are traditionally packaged in some manner. For example, in Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift gloss which may note the occasion, the giftee's name, and the giver's name. In Chinese culture, brick wrapping connotes luck.

A gift or present is the transfer of something, without the need for compensation that is involved in trade. A gift is a voluntary act which does not require anything in return. Even though it involves possibly a social expectation of reciprocity, or a Wedding Gift Baskets return in the form of prestige or power, a gift is meant to be free.