Gift-giving is a way to show you care, but if you make one of the common gift mistakes, it could actually do the opposite. It’s better to avoid giving a gift if you don’t know what you should get them.
Gifting gone wrong can harm a relationship and hurt someone’s feelings, and we’re here to help you avoid doing those things. Continue reading this article to learn about ideas for gifts and how to avoid birthday gifts that aren’t going to go over well.
1. Going Overboard
No matter how much you care for someone, there is such a thing as going overboard with their gifts. If you spend a lot of money, it might make them feel uncomfortable. This is especially true if they’ve bought you gifts in the past and it was nowhere near the amount you spent on them.
You don’t want to be a cheapskate, but you also want to keep in mind that there’s no need to show up the other people giving them gifts. If you make the moment awkward for them and other people, it’s really going to ruin things.
2. Buying Gift Cards to Generic Places
Gift cards are fine, and many people love gift cards, but you should have a reason behind the gift card. For instance, if the birthday gift receiver just got a house, you might get them a gift card to a home improvement store. If they just had a baby, you might get them a spa gift card, so they can relax after taking care of the baby.
Sure, everyone loves Target, but you want them to know you put some thought into things. Generic gift cards kind of say the opposite and who knows if you have a pile of them to give out to all of the people that have a birthday that month.
3. Failing to Personalize
We already mentioned that generic gift cards are a losing bet, but so is anything else generic. Instead of insulting a friend with something generic, why not trying to design your own patches and put them on something cool.
You might put a patch on an old piece of clothing you both used to wear in high school or something else special that you used to share. Making it personal and fun will go a long way.
4. Regifting Their Gift
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is regifting someone their own gift. There is nothing wrong with giving away a gift that someone gave you. People know that it happens, but you need to be very careful.
If you can’t remember who got you something, it’s safer to not regift it. You never know when you’re going to regift it and get that odd look because they were the person that got it for you.
One exception to the rule is if they got it for you and they’ve been talking about how much they love it. If they wish they would have gotten one themselves, but they were a limited edition, and you want to be nice and let them have it—that might work out.
5. Giving Something Useful
No one wants you to be helpful on their birthday. Giving people something you think they could use isn’t the best way to go with gifting.
When you give someone a gift, you should buy them something they would never buy for themselves. Maybe it’s a perfume they’ve been wanting or a subscription to their favorite sports network for a year.
Whatever you gift them, don’t try to be helpful and buy them something useful because they aren’t going to be excited about it. They would have eventually bought that for themselves.
6. Joke Gifts
Sure, you might get a laugh out of the joke gift, but if that’s your real gift—please don’t. Joke gifts might be funny, but they aren’t going to bring long-lasting joy to the person that gets them.
If you must do a joke gift, then do a joke gift before you give them a real gift that they are going to like. Always make sure you think about the person you’re giving the joke gift to because while some people may enjoy it, other people will get offended.
7. Getting Something You Like
You’re out shopping at the mall, and you see the most amazing pair of shoes or a purse that is just perfect. You quickly remember that it is your friend’s birthday and you wear the same size shoe, or your friend could use a new handbag.
While there’s nothing wrong with treating a friend to a new handbag or pair of shoes, these are usually things people like to make their own decisions on. It’s likely you have different ideas of what is going to be the perfect shoe or purse.
Your desire for the gift is likely to cloud your judgment as to what your friend would like. If you really think they would like the product at that store, buy them a gift card for the store and tell them what you saw so they can go get it.
Avoiding Common Gift Mistakes
Now you have more ideas about common gift mistakes you need to avoid. It can be frustrating to trying to figure out what to get people, but now you have some ideas of what to avoid and options that are much better ideas.
Do you want to learn more about giving gifts and other important topics? Keep going through our blog for other helpful information on the topics you care about most.
