Thursday 11 July 2013

5 Common Mistakes People Make in Gift Giving

Many of us dread the moment we get an invite to a party or event because the entire gift giving process gives us nightmares. If you too have some occasion or an event to attend, and are a loss about what gifts would be ideal for your recipients, don’t worry because you are not alone in such a situation. Most of us go through this phase and need help to buy the ideal gifts for our recipients. It should be remembered that whatever you finalize to buy, at the end of the day, you would love to see your gift being appreciated and used, rather than being the center of whispers across the hall for its wackiness or non-relevance. What is even worse, it might be gifted back to you in a wrapper the next year! So, before going to the market or browsing an online gift shop, check out the most common mistakes people tend to make while purchasing a gift –
  • The 'self-improvement' gifts: Your friend has certain areas to improve on and you think you need to help her out. So, you decide to buy something that will help her improve that particular limitation! Well, bury the idea right away as gifts targeted to a specific shortcoming are generally not accepted well. Gifting a ‘relationship rescue’ book to someone who just had a break up can’t be appreciated. The first improvement your recipient is likely to show might be dumping you as a friend!
  • The thoughtless gifts: You may spend a whole lot of dollars to buy an awesome perfume but gifting it to someone allergic to perfume doesn’t quite make sense. All the recipients can do in such cases is to keep it at the bottom of their dresser and wait to pass it on to someone else. Thoughts that you put in to decide a gift are what matter the most. Therefore, buying such useless or thoughtless gifts only go on to show that you hardly had any time or energy to think of what you recipient might have really liked or needed.
  • The politically incorrect gifts: While the thoughtless gifts may showcase a careless image of you, choosing politically incorrect gifts will definitely make them angry. It may seem mere fun for you, but giving a CD to a child with explicit languages or scenes may not go well with his/her parents. Again, if you give a die-heart Real Madrid fan a collection of Barcelona wins; be prepared to bear harsh and mocking words in return.
  • Gifts with a message: If the impulse gets to you and you want to buy your studious school topper friend a t-shirt with a huge spectacle painted on it and with a message saying, "talk nerdy to me", think twice. Unless the guy, for whom you are buying, is under 16, the probability of your wordy gift to end up in a dust rug is huge. Though gifts with customized messages do well, as they give a personal touch to your gifts, make sure that your message is relevant to the occasion and your recipient’s preference, failing which your gift might be dumped in the darkest corner of the cupboard or closet.
  • Re-gifts: Your aunt has given you a hideous sweater that’s of no worth to you and you have kept it carefully so that you can gift it back to someone else. Sounds familiar? If yes, don’t think of just passing it on to your cousin or a friend when you know that s/he won’t like it either. The most common complain about gift giving is when you find that it has been re-gifted. Even worse is when you forget to remove the original to-and-from cards from it!
So, steer clear of these tell-tale common mistakes while choosing your gifts, and experience how your recipients cherish your gifts for a long time to come.

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