Holiday Buying Guide 2008

If you could buy a killer present the purchase of which helped someone else and which also happened to be a spectacular bargain, you would achieve that rare gift-giving trifecta. Such a thing is possible on websites such as cmarket's Bidding for Good. Almost everything on the website has been donated to a local school or charity, which then auctions it off, eBay style, to the highest bidder. (Ebay has a similar program: http://www.ebaygivingworks.com/) Some of the items are very local, such as Dinner for Two at Seattle's Space Needle (15 bids, $97, at this writing). Others could be shipped anywhere, such as the autographed Michigan Football (15 bids, $600). It's local and global at the same time. And some of the items go for well below what they're worth: recently a pair of $1,000 Marc Jacobs boots went for $245. So noodle around. The worst you could do is donate to a good cause.

—Belinda Luscombe