I hate grab bag gift exchanges

[Deleted]

I love Secret Santa exchanges where I know the person who's getting the gift. That way I can actually shop for the person and hopefully pull off something nice, but I hate it when it's just a spending limit and I go and buy something.

My mom's side of the family is doing one this year and so is my new work group. It's frustrating for me to try to figure out something gender and age neutral. I don't even want to talk about the gifts I got because they're so lame.

[dixienormous]

I haven't done a grab bag since I was 13. And even then I thought it was lame. SS all the way

[Muddled]

Get what you want and aim for your own gift.

[Deleted]

Dec 17, 2012 13:35:10 GMT -5 Muddled said:

Get what you want and aim for your own gift.

I thought about this! The one with family is called a"Yankee Swap" or something where the first person picks something and then the second person does and down the line and if you don't like what you picked you can trade with someone else and they don't have a choice... I don't know, the whole thing doesn't sound fun at all.

[So_Fetch]

I hate them too. We did a "white elephant" exchange with the numbers. It was better becasue it was true white elephant in that you were supposed to bring something useable that you already owned and no longer wanted. That made me feel better because I didn't spend $40 and then get a piece of garbage that someone else brought. the whole thing makes me crazy because I feel bad when people get something dumb.

[Deleted]

We used to do those w/ my family fein. I always loved buying gifts for those, but I would buy something that I wanted to end up with myself. One thing I love doing is a bottle of wine, two glasses and a wine journal? Would that work for anyone in your circle?

Who doesn't love wine??

[Deleted]

the wine is definitely a good idea. I'll have to do it if we up the spending limit!

[macmars45]

We're doing the same thing at my work tomorrow. I'm excited. ;D I got something I would like and called it good. It was really hard to find something because we couldn't have any food or drinks as presents. One of my coworkers is allergic to freaking everything and we didn't want her to get stuck with something she couldn't enjoy. All the participants are women though so that made it somewhat easier.

[ECB]

The last time I participated in one, 90% of the people made a real effort to get a gift that others would want. I actually kind of liked it.

EXCEPT for that one person who went cheap. We had a $25 limit and most people spent close to that. One person brought in a box of cereal. That was it. EVeryone was like "There has to be something in the box!" - and there wasn't. It was JUST cereal.

So it was a bummer for the person who ended up w/ that gift. And that is why I don't like these exchanges. There always seems to be someone who gets a joke gift, or cheaps out, or... what have you.

And it's not even about being "cheap" - but not making a real effort to get a fun/nice gift. If you get a bottle of wine and (let's say) some wine charms and it only cost you $15, good for you- chances are there are people who will want that gift.

[Deleted]

I have a lot of cousins and only one is a boy, so I got two pairs of those gloves that you can still use a touchscreen with. You know how with normal gloves your iPhone/Droid/whatever can't "feel" you? These let you use it still. Yeah. They were $15 which was the limit. I suck.