Gift giving...umm errr gift refusing?

Question

Your significant other gives you a gift. (if you dont have one imagine and you have been together for a while)

How would you handle these situations...

1. You hate it, you will never use it, never wear it etc etc (what the heck were they thinking! a singing rubber fish comes to mind)

2. Not really what you wanted, but your still not likely to use/wear it.

3. It's ok but not really something you would pick out for yourself.

Does value make a difference in how you handle this?

<100, >100, >500, >5,000 dollars, pounds, euro's all close enough.

Answer 1

Clothes - let him see you in it once, or have a pic taken with you in it.  Then give it to a friend or the Goodwill, or return it to the store for something different.

Jewelry - most can be exchanged, if not, regift?

Anything else - regift, exchange, or just ignore it.

Let him know you appreciate gifts, but you dont like him spending all his money like that.

Tell him you would rather him save up and maybe take a romantic weekend somewhere once a month or go to a theme park or a day trip someplace fun for both of you.

I had a friend who used to give me sweaters every Christmas.

I dont wear sweaters and he knows this, but he bought me sweaters every year anyway.  Why, I dont know.

After 5 years of this, I told him nicely, that it would be nice if he thought of something else besides sweaters, seeing as I dont wear sweaters.  

He started giving me gift certificates every year after that.

And I LOVE gift certificates.

Answer 2

no matter what my boyfriend, family or friends give me, i will always seem appreciative and find a use for it. even if i cant stand it, i will not throw it away or return it

Answer 3

Cost would make a difference. The more expensive something is the more uncomfortable I would be about excepting it (I don&#039;t like people spending a lot of money on me)

Situation 1: Though this is highly unlikely to happen to me since I am clear on my likes and dislikes, if it was something that didn&#039;t cost much I wouldn&#039;t make a fuss about it and would just hint that it&#039;s not really my style but still thank them for the thought (Hey, I found the singing rubber fish rather amusing, my pet bird use to attack it any time it started singing, it was too funny!). If it was expensive I would try to politely decline the gift by saying &quot;I can&#039;t accept something that expensive hun, Why don&#039;t you get something we can both enjoy?&quot; and thank him for the thought.

Situation 2: See situation 1

Situation 3: See situation 1

Answer 4

1)  i would just smile and be grateful.  and it would meet with a nasty, but purely accidental end soon...

2)  same as above/below depending on it&#039;s retail value.

3)  claim it didn&#039;t fit or was somehow defective and exchange it for a similar item i really did want.

yeah, the amount spent really is a factor, but more important is how much time and effort went into it&#039;s selection and purchase.

Answer 5

Ok, let&#039;s stick to jewelry.

1.  Costume jewelry - who cares.  Cheap and disposable.

2.  Fine jewelry - not so disposable.  If it were really expensive it would be exchanged for a more desirable item.  Otherwise its just a waste of money -  a LOT of money.

Answer 6

I would just say thank you and try to be appreciative anyway. One Christmas I gave someone a very expensive gift and I got a set of crocheted condiment covers...little clothes for mustard, ketchup, salt and pepper.

Answer 7

1. You hate it, you will never use it, never wear it etc etc (what the heck were they thinking! a singing rubber fish comes to mind)

I say, I hate it, I will neer user it.

2. Not really what you wanted, but your still not likely to use/wear it.

I say, I dont like it, and I may not use it.

3. It&#039;s ok but not really something you would pick out for yourself.

I say, I will keep it and may use it when I want to use it

Value makes no difference.

Answer 8

1. Tell her that it&#039;s not what I really like so she won&#039;t be shocked when I&#039;ve traded it in.  I wouldn&#039;t want to sound ungrateful, but sometimes you have to bring this up.

Those rubber singing fish are cool though (not really, but I can think of a lot worse).

2. See the one above.  I might be more likely to keep it if I thought I&#039;d get any use of it at all.

3. I&#039;d probably keep it then.

Money probably wouldn&#039;t influence it much.

I&#039;d rather somebody trade in a bad gift of mine for something they&#039;d really use, so I&#039;d do the same myself.  Wouldn&#039;t she want her money to not be wasted?

Answer 9

Be honest - if you hate it say so and they can take it back and you could go for a meal, or whatever instead.

If you can&#039;t be honest, just sell it on ebay - hopefully it will make someone else happy and then if you feel guilty, you can always spend a little of the money on doing something with them.

Yes, I am heartless lol - but there are only so many vases and dinner sets a person can own before it becomes ridiculous :-)

Answer 10

I&#039;d just handle it the same way I handled it the last time: smile, thank him, and give him a kiss.