I figure it’s about 50-50 for me. People buy some ridiculous things as gifts, mostly out of desperation to buy something.
These come in several categories:
- WTF: the giver is clueless or even malicious
- Other people’s aspirations: gifts they think will make you a different, “better”, person
- Meh: no explanation necessary
- Hmm: seems like a good idea, just not for you
Zero. It is well known among those that care for me that if you feel you must, I do not want it if it if I can’t eat it.
Same here. I’ve had the talk with everyone. Everyone knows I have too much stuff already, and the things I actually want are things that are so specific I want to buy them for myself to make sure I get the right thing. Everyone in my family knows I want consumable things, food, drinks, gift cards for food and drinks
I by and large don’t do the gift thing for holidays or prescribed times.
I don’t ignore, re-gift or discard any gifts, at least not immediately. But it’s extremely rare to satisfy me with a gift. It only happens when they know exactly what I’d have purchased myself in near future or if the person behind the gift means so much to me. Other than that, I prefer to not receive any gifts at all.
I receive very few gifts and most are from my immediate family who know exactly what I’m after (we share wishlists). So from them, it’s usually an 80% success rate.
Occasionally acquaintances gift smaller things, usually chocolate which I’ll devour, soap that I’ll probably use or a scented candle. Hand/body creams are another popular choice, I rarely use these so I pass them on to my sister or mother. Again, I’d say a success rate of 80%.
TLDR about 20% of gifts are regifted or forgotten, the rest is usually good.
I have a wishlist that I share with my family and close friends. People follow that list unless they have an idea that they’re 100% sure about. I think the only times I got an unwanted gift was things I already had. Either because something went wrong coordinating between people (rare, everyone knows they can contact my partner to ask what’s still available) or because they accidentally bought the wrong thing (like the first book of a series instead the second one).
The only exception ever was during a single https://givin.gifts/ secret santa exchange where someone at the same time a) completely ignored my profile, b) gifted something below the stated minimum value, c) didn’t wrap my gift, d) didn’t include a card and e) didn’t include any packing material. They just threw a random 5€ item from the supermarket into an unpadded box and called it a day.
None, I appreciate any gifts that I receive and all the ones I’ve been given have been great!
Near 0% regifted or discarded.
Family does a Secret Santa and everyone posts a wishlist. I get items from my wishlist, no issues.
My friends and I only gift things to each other like homemade food/drinks, handmade stuff, or experiences. If it’s a thing I can’t eat/drink, I thank them, let them know, and take it to work to be devoured by someone. No issues.
SO is a competent gift giver, and we mutually agreed to a <$100 spend, so it’s low stakes.
Everyone knows that if I want something, it had better be useful or meaningful. Anything less, I’m discarding.
0 or 100 I don’t get any
I really only do this with gift cards. Most of the time someone gifts me a gift card, it’s for a place that I either don’t shop at or don’t even have available where I live. So I just sell them for cash.
People buy some ridiculous things as gifts, mostly out of desperation to buy something.
Then be an adult and tell them not to get you anything?
I don’t know what the issue is.
I don’t receive gifts at Christmas. I’m forgotten.
most of what I get is at my job. And lucky for me almost all of them are a card with cash in it. I appreciate all of them but wish that instead of homemade brownies you would do cash.
I regift about 10%, and that number includes items donated to charity.
