How do you tell somebody you don't want something that they try to give you?

“Thank you so much for the kindness you have shown me by giving me so much stuff. However, it is making me uncomfortable to always be on the receiving end. Perhaps you could stop giving me things and we could just talk.”

It probably makes them feel good to give you things.
Maybe you could tell them that although you appreciate the thought, you really don’t have the room in your house for any more stuff.
Just be you’re most charming self. You don’t want to hurt their feelings.

Graciously accept the gifts and then put them on Freecycle.org If you want to, let the neighbors know that they have helped out other people.

You might be surprised to find out that people on Freecycle.org will take anything, even stuff you and I might call trash.

They are at a point in their lives where they’re thinking they ought to be unloading things instead of accumulating anything more. Yet it probably feels very uncomfortable to label something as “trash” that they have kept and used and maybe loved. They want to find a good home for it so it won’t feel sad and abandoned. By giving it to someone who might use it, they’re taking a relatively less painful path to parting with it.

Might I guess that they’re prefacing their offers with “Could you use…” or “We thought you might like to have…”?

It’s not so much that they want you to take them as that they want somebody to take them—somebody other than the trash collector.

I’d suggest that a kind way to respond to unwanted items might be to say, “Oh, thank you for thinking of me. No, I really couldn’t use it—but I bet somebody could.” Then steer them to a way or place that they could donate them or otherwise release them for possible use by someone else. Let them do the listing with Freecycle or whatever, maybe after you offer to help them get started.

May I ask what sort of stuff you are receiving before I give you my best answer?

Be polite, and thank them but tell them you have no use for it. Or be a little less polite, and admit that it’s just going to be hucked out if you take it.

@everyone Thank you for all the answers!

“I can’t possibly accept this without offering something in exchange. It just wouldn’t feel right!”

Then go get some of your own junk you want to get rid of. It will stop really fast.

Realize that it might be an attempt to socialize with you.
Maybe they are lonely?
Maybe say no to the things, but offer them a tea or coffee etc
They can recycle their things at a recycle depot or a thrift shope?

Further thoughts on donations:

On the one hand, they could be valuable to somebody. I did a service turn at a shelter that also collects and distributes donated clothing and other goods. I was assigned to a sorting task. The staffer said: “Anything that’s too tattered or stained or otherwise unfit to put on the shelves and the racks—put it in this bag.”

I asked what happens to the stuff in those bags. She said, “They send it to Africa.” I asked, “If it’s in too bad a shape to distribute, why are we sending it to Africa?”

She said, “When you don’t have anything, stuff like this looks pretty good.”

On the other hand, they could just become a burden. One charity based near me notified its donors that they want only new or like-new clothing contributions from now on. (Hell, if it’s new or like new, I’m still wearing it.) The reason? It costs them $50,000 per year, they said, to dispose of donations that have no value. They wanted us to know they weren’t a free junk-hauling service but had standards for their handouts.

Before making donations, I guess it’s best to check with the prospective recipient on what they can and can’t accept.