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
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.