What’s inside the nearly $180,000 gift bag

Only four actors will walk away from Sunday’s Academy Awards with an Oscar statuette, but all 20 nominees will get to enjoy a six-figure prize.

For the 22nd year running, LA-based marketing company Distinctive Assets is distributing its jam-packed “Everybody Wins” gift bags to the men and women recognized in the Oscars’ top categories.

This year’s bag — which is not affiliated with the Academy — is valued at roughly $180,000, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. It is filled with more than 50 gifts ranging from a $15 Rubik’s cube to an invitation to enjoy a $50,000 stay at a Swiss ski chalet.

Indeed, calling it a “gift bag” might be a bit of an understatement.

“It rarely ever fits into a single suitcase. We have a piece of Olympia luggage that’s the biggest rolling duffel bag they make,” Distinctive Assets founder Lash Fary tells Make It. “And then it usually spills over into these eco friendly tote bags.”

Some nominees have their bags delivered to their homes, while others provide their hotel information to Distinctive Assets so that their bags can be waiting to travel with them after the ceremony.

Though Distinctive Assets tries to deliver the bags in person while the stars are in Hollywood, they’ve shipped them in the past. The postage alone for a package of that size and weight can cost as much as $850.

But for Fary, whose gift bag has come to represent the end of awards season almost as much as the Oscars have, it’s a worthwhile expense.

“This is the end of the road for them,” he says. “They finally have a moment to sit down and go through these fun bags and enjoy the spoils of their success.”

The priciest gift in this year’s bag is a three-night stay at Chalet Zermatt Peak, the reigning winner of the “Best Ski Chalet” from the World’s Ski Awards. Nominees who redeem the $50,000 invitation will have private use of the entire chalet for themselves and up to nine guests.

The six-floor chalet boasts floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the Matterhorn, a spa, in-house massage therapist and celestial observatory roof. Guests will dine on multi-course dinners prepared by a gourmet chef, have access to a fully-stocked wine cellar as well as a chauffeured car available 24 hours a day.

Recipients will also receive an invitation for a seven-day stay at Southern California’s Golden Door spa. The wellness retreat is valued at $24,000 and offers daily massages, farm-to-table meals, private hiking trails and mindfulness and wellness classes.

But there’s more than just invitations to luxury retreats in the Everybody Wins bag. These are just a few of the dozens of items included in the Everybody Wins bag:

• A portable Schwank Grill capable of heating up to 1500 degrees. The grill, which features overhead burners that use infrared technology, retails for $1,350.
• A $335 bag “handmade by master artisans” from Canada-based Elboque.
• A red light sleep therapy device from Helight which features “a scientifically engineered, 28-minute patented protocol that mirrors the natural cycle of lgiht at the end of the day.” Each hockey puck-sized device retails for $139.
• Also included in this year’s official Grammy gift bag, Oscar nominees are offered a $25,000 live show from mentalist Carl Christman which “combines magic, mind reading, hypnosis and comedy.”
• A retro-themed 50th anniversary Rubik’s Cube featuring the puzzle’s original logo and color scheme. It sells for $15.
• A five-piece luxury gift set from Miage skincare valued at $515.
• A $10,000 micro needling treatment from Cynosure “designed to tighten and revitalize” skin and “minimize the common signs of aging or reduce blemishes.”

And while there are only as many bags as there are nominees, Fary says he’s hoping to get one to “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig who didn’t receive a Best Director nomination for the highest-grossing film of the year.

“Typically there’s one nominee each year who doesn’t accept for whatever reason,” he says. “If there is one available, I will make sure Greta gets one.”

Though the Everybody Wins bag has an eye-popping maximum value, there’s only roughly $10,000 worth of goods contained in the bag itself. That value counts as taxable income, according to the IRS.

Everything else, such as invitations to go on luxury vacations, will only incur a tax penalty if the recipients redeem them. For example, if they don’t take the trip to the ski chalet, the invitation has a value of $0. If they do decide to go, they’ll need to pay taxes on the value of the trip.

“It’s usually one or two people a year who take a trip,” Fary says. “It depends on whether or not it works with their shooting schedule and all that kind of stuff. A lot of stars have to align.”

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