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Have you ever noticed how many excuses we have for giving bad gifts? "It's the thought that counts.” "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.” “A gift given from the heart is worth more than gold,” and so forth. Probably because gift-giving is a highly challenging task that requires time, effort, and knowing the person. And once we fail to get what the recipient appreciates, it’s always better to focus on the positives than the negatives.
However, today we’re ruthlessly looking at the worst presents people have received in hopes that it serves as a PSA before the biggest gift-giving time of the year. Scroll down to find a what-not-to-get list and be ready to note the things that are better avoided than gifted.
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#1
It was the worst and best gift I ever received. I was very young, grade four or five, and it was my birthday. I occasionally hung out with a girl around the block from me, and I had invited her. Even at my young age, I understood that her family was not well off. The gift she brought me was literally a box of tissue. Some of the kids laughed, of course, but I remember just being puzzled at first, maybe a joke by her. But then I clued into the notion that she had probably taken the tissue box from her house, wrapped it, and brought it to the party without her parents knowledge. I remember actually being a little choked up realizing how very kind and very brave she must have been to show up at my party with her tissue box, knowing it could be ridiculed and that she liked me enough to do that. That day was a lesson.
Wherever you are, Janet. Thank you.
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#2
One year on my birthday I got $15 cash from my parents. They said it was so I could buy pogs. We then went to a store where my dad said the pogs were a good price. I went in and bought the only kind they had, and apparently they were expensive. My parents then scolded me for "spending all $15 on only this many?". My dad was the one that said the price was good at this store. I ended up feeling really guilty because I assumed we were hard up for money and I wasted $15.
My brother's birthday is exactly 2 months after mine. He had a party with a lot of friends over, and my dad bought him a $25 Nerf gun. This was over 20 years ago, but still hurts my feelings lol.
#3
My brother in law is a pretentious and spoiled prick from a wealthy family. He was snobby so I didn't like him at all. He didn't like me either. So, one Christmas we accidentally got each other the same present. Ugly, crappy $2.00 clearance sweaters from KMart.
David Morgan 3 weeks ago
That's actually quite funny, since you both have to pretend you don't know exactly what it is and why you got it.
Adding to the list of worst gifts, gift-giving expert Leah named three things to avoid gifting unless the person asks for it.
First up are memberships of any kind. “Unless they've explicitly told you that they want to try said membership,” she says. “Imagine getting a gym membership somewhere that you didn't ask for—think about how you might respond. This is not limited to gyms. I love to work out, I'd love a membership, but that's only because I'd ask for it."
#4
Worst gift ever?
It was my 18th birthday and I was at boarding school. I got a package in the mail and you know how that is if you've ever been away from home.
I eagerly opened it and the list was as follows:
1. A selective service draft registration card. My family knew I was adamantly anti-military.
2. A book by Andy Rooney. I thought Andy Rooney was funny when I was 8, not 18.
3. A card. The front said "Happy birthday! Don't get excited, there's no money in here." I opened the card. There was indeed no money in it and the printed message said "what are you looking in here for, we said there's no money in here."
I got a better gift from the damned house mother which was one of those crappy sheet cakes from a grocery store.
My family wondered why I never went home when I was in college.
Steve Robert 3 weeks ago
What a really fkd up family. Next time give them a card that has no money, but a list of nursing homes that they can never afford. And then laugh when they don't get the message.
#5
My dad didn’t get me a graduation gift, but was kind enough to bring me along the next day to buy his third wife a diamond necklace in my college town.
Three years earlier he told me he was sorry about my struggle to pay tuition and then bragged about spending $12,000 on an engagement ring.
Oddly enough third wife and I are super close now and the jewelry is getting willed to me. Although I fully expect him to steal it for wife #4 if he outlives her. He’s a scumbag.
#6
My ex-mother in law gave me a used broken tape dispenser for Christmas one year. My kids even remember this. Another year she gave me a very oversized deep purple sweater. Dragged my now ex-husband and made him wait in line to return/exchange it. Waited over an hour in line to find out it was a clearance item and only worth $1.75. Even he was a bit taken back at the time. Meanwhile sisters in law would get $100 gift cards, luxury items, and actual items off their lists we gave her for ideas. The woman is an awful human being-not because of her poor gifting of said items. Those are just minuscule examples of her poor demeanor.
Self-improvement gifts should also be off the table. Things like teeth-whitening products, self-help books, or plastic surgery vouchers should be kept clear of. Similarly, Leah says hygiene products like deodorant, face wash, and toothpaste are presents she would be offended to receive.
#7
My aunt hates me and my sister, she would give us gift cards to pizza hut. This was the s**t we didn't have a lot of money and could afford it as a family. We would go use these gift cards she would give us but they would be the change from her using it. So it would have like $3 on it or something. Fooled me once with that, I had to call my parents to come pay for the pizza my dumb 10yr old a*s bought with the card thinking it was $50 like it said.
David Morgan 3 weeks ago
That's not a present, that's a deliberate insult. What a petty little person to feud with a child - if you don't like them just don't give them a gift, but this is deliberately tricking a kid. Pathetic.
#8
A book " How to be a Good Jewish Mother"
I am not Jewish and I am a guy. It sits on my bookcase. Visitors see it and ask questions. I am not married and I have no kids. .
#9
When I got married my mom handed me $10.00 and said good luck. My parents were well off and paid for my 4 sisters’ weddings and my only brother’s boarding school.
Statistics show that the top 4 worst gifts a person could receive are bad romance novels, diet plans, car manuals, and soap on a string.
In addition, a poll of 2,000 people labeled friends, children, and colleagues as the worst present givers.
However, after receiving a useless item they will probably never use, 27% graciously accept it and 17% even pretend to be overjoyed.
#10
I bought a bag of Lindt chocolate for myself, then it mysteriously disappeared before I could eat any
When Christmas rolled around, my aunt gifted me the almost-expired bag of chocolates that *I* bought and she hid for some reason.
kitten levels tokyo 3 weeks ago
Kleptomania is a real illness that robs many families of peace.
#11
I love to cook and my food is good. Everyone who knows me knows this including my mother in law. On my wedding day she gave me a gift of a beginner cook book. It was so long ago I forget the name of this book i have since tossed but I still remember the glee on her face on my special day as she tried to ruin it. It was a hurtful gift. The book basically told you how to make a grill cheese sandwich or reheat canned soup. She knew what she was doing. Fast forward twenty five years we see her about an hour a year. She’s still full of hate and spiteful.
David Morgan 3 weeks ago
You reap what you sow - if you mistreat people, don't be surprised that they avoid you and aren't there for you.
#12
My grandfather once sent me a birthday card for my 16th birthday. It was made on his color printer using PaintShop Pro on a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper then folded in half twice.
The front was a stretched clip art cartoon teenager next to 16 clip art poops all stacked up.
The inside said "Sixteen years old?! I didn't know they could stack s**t that high!"
The envelope contained 1 dime.
He was of sound mind, but also a huge a*****e.
Steve Robert 3 weeks ago
I would have given him back the dime and said "Here, call yourself an assshole.
#13
Not me, but my mom. Of all 6 grand kids (my mom and her 5 siblings), my great grandma absolutely hated my mom in particular, even in early childhood. My mom looked and I guess had a personality most similar to my grandma, and my great grandma HATED my grandma. One year for Christmas, my great grandma got presents for all the kids except my mom. This made my grandma furious obviously. After they had a screaming match about it. My great grandma picked up a magazine and cut out some pictures of models. She gave them to my mom and called them "paper dolls".
kitten levels tokyo 3 weeks ago
I am learning to not expect good gifts from anyone who hates me.
#14
On my 16th birthday my mother took us to an spa to wait for her to get a facial for HERSELF. Can’t say it was too enjoyable.
#15
My step mom bought me a shirt that said, "blondes have more fun." I have always been a brunette.
#16
I gave my girl friend $300+ in jewelry, she gave me $10 cleaning supplies and said “I know you like to clean so here”.
#17
The promise from my parents that they would pay for my drivers license when I turn 18. (16th birthday). Then one year later the promise that they would pay for half of my drivers license. And when I turned 18 the promise that they would help me with paying for my drivers license. When I finally got it at age 20, they paid for one of the 15 (or more, I can’t remember) lessons.
Steve Robert 3 weeks ago
Tell them that now you can drive them to the nursing home when the time comes.
#18
No gift at all. The ex and I were supposed to exchange gifts, but he didn't care enough to buy mine.
#19
Ok. I have a couple and it is not the gifts, but the presentation. A CD walkman for my 13th birthday. OMG I was so happy and excited and then I walk into the living room and my two sisters are wearing the exact same ones. Not their birthday. I guess there was a sale.
Then, on my 40th, my mom gets me a beautiful birthstone ring. Again, over the moon. Then she tells me that my sisters love theirs too. What? Their birthdays are not near mine.
#20
True story. I was storing some boxes of things I didn't want anymore in a shed at my boyfriends house. I was going to put it all in a yard sale eventually. I went to his parents house for their family Christmas later that year. Every person that opened a gift from him were items from my yard sale stuff. To say I was humiliated would be an understatement.
Robin Roper 3 weeks ago
Why would the OP be humiliated. The BF stole and gifted her yard sale items, she didn't.
#21
An opened bag of peanut m&ms from my dad. My dad is an amazing and kind human but remembering events/holidays just isn’t his thing. The running family theory is that he bought that bag for himself on the way home, started eating it, then found out it was my birthday upon arriving home. To be fair, it was the big bag.
Beak Hookage 3 weeks ago
I had been invited to a casual little get-together for a friend's birthday, so not a full-blown party or anything - just coffee and cake at a café. On the way there I stopped at a plant shop and impulsively bought a decorative cactus for myself. When I got to the café I realised everyone had brought gifts. So of course I gifted the cactus to the birthday girl. She liked it!
#22
This guy I dated in college got me a framed photo of himself for Christmas. I thought it was a joke. It was very much not. .
#24
From my aunt. I was somewhere around 20 years old. She got me a cheese, meat and crackers combo. The meat was a summer sausage but it had already been chewed on by her dog. It was mostly intact, just several bite marks all over it. I still ate the cheese and crackers.
Jossh Nine 3 weeks ago
Well....of course. I'd even slice a tiny piece off of the sausage and eat the rest. I used to share forks and spoons full of food with my dogs all the time. Zeke & Lucky are still in my rear view mirror when I look.
#25
A ziploc bag filled with cotton balls with the words "ghost poos" written on the bag in sharpie.
Panda-sized Potato 3 weeks ago
Really depends on the context of the gift whether it was bad or not.
#26
A gift card to a store that went out of business a year prior.
kitten levels tokyo 3 weeks ago
Use it to make your fake wallet look real, for when you get robbed in a foreign country!
#27
For my birthday, My wife got me this ugly red and blue Tommy Hilfiger shirt two sizes too small. She turned around and wore it to bed that night.
#29
A dvd of their churches Christmas pageant. I was 25 and not a church goer, and live in another state. Was odd.
#30
One year i got a gift card… with a negative balance on it. somehow, it had already been spent before it reached me. still not sure how that even happens, but yeah, nothing like being gifted debt.
CrunChewy McSandybutt 3 weeks ago
How do you get a negative balance on a gift card? Once the money is gone, it's gone.
#31
One of those gimmicky acne lights that did absolutely nothing to help my acne. When I opened it I cried. I was probably thirteen.
Lucas Jackson 3 weeks ago
This seems like a “they tried but were clueless” kinda thing more than an outright bad one.
#32
The worst gift I ever received was a mystery box filled with random items that seemed to be leftovers from someone’s garage sale. There was a broken lamp, a half-used candle, and some outdated board games. It was definitely a creative idea, but it felt more like clutter than a thoughtful gift.
#33
I once got a self-help book titled "How to Be More Productive" from a family member. It was one of those awkward moments where I wasn’t sure if they were trying to help or send a passive-aggressive message.
#34
One Christmas my ex & I decided to cap the gifts at $40, we went window shopping together & he expressed how he really liked this hand-made leather journal, & I really wanted these green swirly dichroic glass plugs. So I not only hand-made him a leather journal ($15 for the leather & I repurposed a bunch of different papers I had on hand being an art student) but also made a hat for him of his favorite band that had been discontinued years ago, (the one he had was so beat up it was unwearable but I met him in that hat) by getting the same exact style of trucker hat ($15) & that iron-on stuff meant to replicate screen print (on sale for $3) & meticulously cut out the logo with an exacto knife. It was a perfect replica. He cried when he opened it. He got me $40 worth of weed. I wasn’t even a heavy smoker, I just smoked on the weekends sometimes. I went & bought the plugs for myself when we got home from my parent’s house. They were $18.
#35
Clown statues. My grandma, god rest her soul, thought I liked them. They were weird.
What do you think ?
Mark Bulgrin 3 weeks ago
My Dad gave me an envelope for Xmas. Inside was a parking ticket for my car that had been sent to his house. My Sister and Brother both got gifts. After that, never talked to him again!
amy lee 3 weeks ago
You were gracious not to speak to him rather than giving him some choice words. Well done
Load More Replies...
MarshmallowTheCat 3 weeks ago
I have a brother who is very well off. I've always been okay but nothing to splurge and certainly not to go to Florida. I am a big fan of NASA, especially the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. He went on a family trip to Florida, visited KSC, and even, by pure coincidence, witnessed the launch of a Space Shuttle. When he got back, he said "I have a gift for you." I was expecting a NASA sticker or a patch or perhaps a cup or a baseball cap. I would have bought it back from him if needed. He gave me space-themed buttons he got from Kid's meal at Wendy's... And it was the duplicate ones his kids got. I was 25. It was 35 years ago, but I still remember.
bbfa 3 weeks ago (edited)
I worked for the largest financial services firm in the world. My lead partner was a real cheapskate, never gave me a thing for Christmas, despite the company literally giving him a $100 for each of his staff's gifts. Christmas Eve one year his son showed up in the afternoon with an envelope. I thanked him profusely, thinking I finally got recognized. Son left, I opened the envelope - it was his travel receipts...which he wanted finalized late in the day...on Christmas eve. I left them on my desk and left on holiday break right that moment.
Hannah Phelan 3 weeks ago
I'm sorry, that must have felt very awful. I hope you're valuing yourself and not being taken advantage of.
Load More Replies... Mark Bulgrin 3 weeks ago
My Dad gave me an envelope for Xmas. Inside was a parking ticket for my car that had been sent to his house. My Sister and Brother both got gifts. After that, never talked to him again!
amy lee 3 weeks ago
You were gracious not to speak to him rather than giving him some choice words. Well done
Load More Replies... MarshmallowTheCat 3 weeks ago
I have a brother who is very well off. I've always been okay but nothing to splurge and certainly not to go to Florida. I am a big fan of NASA, especially the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. He went on a family trip to Florida, visited KSC, and even, by pure coincidence, witnessed the launch of a Space Shuttle. When he got back, he said "I have a gift for you." I was expecting a NASA sticker or a patch or perhaps a cup or a baseball cap. I would have bought it back from him if needed. He gave me space-themed buttons he got from Kid's meal at Wendy's... And it was the duplicate ones his kids got. I was 25. It was 35 years ago, but I still remember.
bbfa 3 weeks ago (edited)
I worked for the largest financial services firm in the world. My lead partner was a real cheapskate, never gave me a thing for Christmas, despite the company literally giving him a $100 for each of his staff's gifts. Christmas Eve one year his son showed up in the afternoon with an envelope. I thanked him profusely, thinking I finally got recognized. Son left, I opened the envelope - it was his travel receipts...which he wanted finalized late in the day...on Christmas eve. I left them on my desk and left on holiday break right that moment.
Hannah Phelan 3 weeks ago
I'm sorry, that must have felt very awful. I hope you're valuing yourself and not being taken advantage of.
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