Son similar age, has good income and never responds to gift ideas. Have sent medium sized USPS boxes with various food items. Home made banana bread, Indian ready to eat, snacks, flavored instant coffee. This fall I asked again and found out he forgets the bread in his freezer and hasn’t finished the coffee from last year… Since he was visiting (across the country) shortly after his birthday I gave up and sent nothing this year. His grandma is also visiting- she and I did plenty of home cooking for him here! Hard to send him something he can more easily buy for himself. I guess we can count nonbirthday giving with paying for some things while visiting his area or ours.
Gifts need to be usable or they are a waste. Son has been hard to buy for a long time now. Good luck to you.
My sons actually both LOVE their Sennheiser head. I’ve thought of buying earbuds, so they could use them while exercising, or getting wireless headphones.
Thank you everyone. Great ideas listed here. My son has a good income, but works long hours and most weekends. I would think buying an experience for him would be better then buying things, but started by purchasing a cashmere sweater on a big sale for him. He leaves on a west coast by the ocean so travel to a vacation destination is not something he absolutely needs. Also when he travels he does it with his girlfriend and I don’t know where they want to go and travels for two is too expensive for me.
S and his GF have a Krups espresso maker. (Must have been hers. ) He actually uses it, since it’s his favorite coffee. He actually makes coffee for other people using it. If he likes that kind of coffee, the espresso maker plus some cans of Lavazza ground espresso and maybe a couple of bottles of syrups in a few flavors, and maybe a few cups would make a nice gift that would aid in entertaining friends as well as for personal use.
But in family, to be honest, we are big on giving each other books.
The only gift card my S uses when he gets one is a gas card. For the last few years we have gotten him one from. The place he usually fills up at. And he uses it! Other than that ( and my S will wear clothes if you buy it for him because he detests shopping) , I think tickets or gift certificates to events or restaurants are a good idea.
Our S flies often and has been hunting for a travel toilet kit. The other day we found one that we think/hope he will like. It was on the sale table even tho that color (black) was NOT on sale. The clerk gave us the sale price anyway. :-). We hope S will like it because he’s tough to shop for, otherwise the store (Bloomingdales) has a good return policy. We could add things to the toilet kit or just keep it simple, as we have and wrap other things for S.
Last year I gave S an over-dyed Persian rug I bought on Ebay. It was a great deal, and it looks wonderful in his new apartment. You could get a much nicer one for the stated budget, and it is a lifetime gift.
ETA: today is actually S’s birthday. I gave him and his GF a number of kitchen items over Thanksgiving, as well as a Persian rug and a lamp from the house, so those are my birthday/Christmas/housewarming presents, more or less. There are a few other specific furniture things they want that I’m going to be on the lookout for, and if I find any of them, I’ll get them for Christmas. They aren’t going to be with us, so no need to have “something to open” on the morning.
@NorthMinnesota , I also like to give experience gifts. My husband got a race car driving experience one year, and I’m sure some young man would like that as well. A couple of years ago we gave our now 29 year old son a beer making kit. Things to do, places to go are fun!
I think I’ve decided to do a couple of gift cards to restaurants for my son (and his GF), plus I may get him a rock climbing gym membership. He’s not a stuff person, and if I send him clothes, if they don’t fit he won’t bother returning, so it’s just a waste of money. I know he will eventually use the GCs, even though he could pay for himself.
If you’re in a wine making state and he likes to visit wineries, you can find a package tour type thing with admission to like 6 wineries, food and wine tasting. Or a wine a month club subscription?
How about one of those Escape Room experiences?
My 29 year old wants a Leatherman multi-tool thingie this year. I’ll let dh decide which one is most likely sufficient for him.
Does he bike? A new helmet? Sports towel, water bottle, socks, clothing etc. that he would need for an excursion.
My kids also send me links for gifts they’d like at my request. My 26 year old son asked for a North Face Thermoball jacket, a smart watch (not the Apple one) and a Nintendo 3ds xl.
If you think he’d like to learn to cook a subscription to one of the food services like Blue Apron might be fun. My younger son wanted nice sweaters he could wear to his internship one year. My nephew brews beer and roasts coffee. Both my boys like board games. Older son has a Kindle so sometimes he requests books for it. My sil gives my husband Pig of the Month. Only thing is they don’t send one a month. They send us three at once and I have to find room in the freezer.
) He actually uses it, since it’s his favorite coffee. He actually makes coffee for other people using it. 
If he likes that kind of coffee, the espresso maker plus some cans of Lavazza ground espresso and maybe a couple of bottles of syrups in a few flavors, and maybe a few cups would make a nice gift that would aid in entertaining friends as well as for personal use.