Under $10 Small Business Stocking Stuffers from MicroCenter (and Amazon)
The haul - it may not look impressive, but read on!
TLDR:
Here are 7 unique stocking stuffers for small business owners
They are all under $10 and I found them at MicroCenter
If you don’t have a MicroCenter store near you, they can also be found on Amazon:
Yes, there are many other options out there but I wanted to zero in on some that would be useful for small businesses owners.
Happy shopping!
Full article:
While MicroCenter is a popular electronics store on the East Coast, the rest of the country is missing out. Even here in the LA Area, we only have one, but I am lucky to live close enough that I can go browse the isles whenever I want.
What I like about the store is that the staff is always very helpful, they have some quirky items (like a full isle of kids science kits!), the selection of brands is impressive, the return policy is great, and the store is well lit and laid out. It’s just a pleasant shopping experience.
So, I thought I would write a post about some recommended stocking stuffers, all of which I also bought myself. These aren’t overly unusual items, but I zeroed in on some unique attributes for these that would best appeal to small businesses.
If you don’t have a MicroCenter near you, you can order these from Amazon. So, the links provided in the article are to these products on Amazon, or ones very similar to them. I am an Amazon Associate, so these are affiliate links, but as I mentioned above, I also purchased all these items because I think they are pretty cool.
So here are 7 stocking stuffers I recommend & why:
$7.99 for a multicolored 5-pack at MicroCenter
Yes, there are generic versions of these straps for less, but I’ve stuck to the Velcro brand over the years and they’ve served me well. If you are a small business owner who travels, you probably have a ton of cords that need to be wrapped when you pack up. Even if you don’t travel, you probably want to tidy up that rat’s nest of cables around your desk.
I prefer multicolored ones so that it also helps me keep track of the different cables. These also have a loop at the end with which I attach them to the cable so that I don’t lose them. Very handy.
$3.99 ea. at MicroCenter
This was the least expensive mouse they had. I suppose I could have splurged a little more, but that would go against the reason I buy these. I travel quite a bit and I typically loose, break or strip the cables of my mice regularly.
So, I like to keep a few spare mice around. I keep one in the car and I’ll usually throw on in my suitcase too. I hate using a laptop without a mouse, so having a few extra is always useful; you never know when you’re going to need it.
$10.99 for a pair at MicroCenter
While Apple is still stubbornly pretending otherwise, it seems like almost everything we connect to our computers is standardizing on USB-C connectors. After all, they are simpler, smaller and support higher speeds. However, for those of us with slightly older computers this requires carrying around adapters that can get lost and with little cables that fray over time.
These adapters that I found at MicroCenter, however, were the smallest ones I could find. This allows you to keep them plugged into your laptop all the time. While the transfer speed stays the same, these adapters basically convert your USB-A connectors to USB-C ones. Very convenient.
$6.99 for a pair at MicroCenter
There are many options for USB drives to save your files. However, MicroCenter’s house brand drives are the least expensive that I’ve been able to find. Here I bought two 16Gb drives for just $6.99.
There may be cheaper ones out there, but these are also the newest USB 3.1 variety and support transfer speeds up to 10Gbps (20x faster than the old USB 2.0). MicroCenter also has a solid warranty on these (although I’ve never had to return one yet).
The ones that I link to on Amazon, are the USB 3.0 variety (which is still 10x as fast as USB 2.0), but this is still plenty fast enough for any file saving you need. On the plus side, they are twice the capacity of the MicroCenter ones.
As a side note, I have also started standardizing on USB-C connectors. MicroCenter doesn’t have any of these yet under their own brand, but for that I’ve been buying Sandisk Ultra Duo Go Drives that have both a USB-A connector and a USB-C connector on the other end.
With so many different USB standards out there these days, these are the ones I recommend if you don’t mind spending a tad more at $14.99 each. I haven’t seen them them on sale, probably because they are newer, but I’m sure they will come down in price eventually.
$4.99 ea. at MicroCenter
MicroCenter has a large selection of camera and video accessories, and one indispensable item that all photo-videographers use is a dust blower to keep their lenses clean. I only needed the blower from this kit, but at that price, I didn’t mind.
Dust is a fact of life when you work with computers. It gets on your screen, in the cervices of your phone, between the keys of your keyboard, and settles on your glasses. Sure you can use compressed air, but that’s expensive and bad for the environment, so I use the little blower brush that is in this kit. As a matter of fact I keep a couple around my work spaces. They are small, lightweight, and very handy when you need a quick cleaning around your tech.
$9.99 ea. at MicroCenter
OK, before you send me feedback that LED light strips are just bling, hear me out. When you stick this light strip behind your monitor, it actually makes it easier to see the screen. The lights also use very little energy and you can power them with a standard USB plug on your computer.
If you feel a little blue, you can change the color to cheer things up. Of course, that indirect light also comes in handy for video conferencing. Typically, light strips are more expensive than this, but this one I found at Microcenter is 6 ½ feet long. It comes with a remote as well so you can control these from across the room, very handy for setting the mood during presentations.
The Amazon link is for an even less expensive one that is also 9’ long, so sometimes it’s better to order online. In any case, there are many different brands and sizes, but they all do the same thing: provide convenient, adjustable ambient lighting.
As a side note, we have our house wired with Philips Hue lights. While this is a much more expensive system with additional functionality, we recently added Philips Hue Play Ambiance Light Bars to our workspace. It comes in particularly handy for video conferencing and online teaching. That said, the Bright Basics Light Strip and similar options from Amazon are a great way to add similar ambient lighting to your workspace for far, far less.
$9.99 for a 3-pack at MicroCenter
One of the things I appreciate about MicroCenter is that they often have quirky items that nonetheless really make sense. One of these that stumbled on is these notepads that will resist water and oil damage – you can even run them through a wash cycle – and I did! My notes were still there afterwards.
I learned decades ago that Warren Buffet caries around a notepad with him everywhere he goes. I’ve been doing the same ever since. However, I’ve often had to write things down at a messy restaurant table and also outside. The paper would get wet or dirty at times and this made for messy notes that I would have trouble reading afterwards. And yes, I have washed a few in the laundry too, losing all my carefully crafted notes.
With the Rite In The Rain notebooks, I don’t have to worry about any of that. I scribble, draw and write all over these and I don’t worry if they get wet or dirty. They also sell Rite In The Rain weatherproof pencils and waterproof pens which are pretty handy too, but I’ve been using my trusty old Fisher Space Pen that I bought years ago and it’s worked perfectly fine with these amazing notepads. Or you can just use a regular pencil too. Anyhow, these notepads are durable and very handy.
Conclusion
So, there you have it, my list of stocking stuffers for 2022 that I found at MicroCenter recently. I’ve included Amazon links for those who prefer to order their gifts there. Prices were what I paid for these in-store, so they may vary slightly, but they should still fall mostly under $10 each.
I hope these items are useful and welcome in your stockings. If your small business has employees, they make great mini-gifts as well. I have purchased and I use all of these, so I think they are a pretty good value.
I hope that you all receive something quirky and unique in your stockings this holiday as well. And if you don’t, then use the links above to get yourself some much-deserved goodies!