Do you choose presents based on what the recipient likes, or what would be good for them?

On what they like, whimsy, interests. People can buy their own underwear and dustbusters. haha
Receiving a “practical” gift, unless specifically wanted, is just boring and unimaginative and besides, who am I to determine what’s good for another anyway?

What they like.

I’m going with what they like.

Both. It depends on the recipient. For instance, for my children, I have certainly bought them books, musical instruments and the like, because I think they will like them but also because I think the presents will be valuable to them in terms of their development. They’re adults now so I’m unlikely to buy presents to aid their development now. Although I might buy them a book I think will help them in their lives. I bought my kids a book about how to live away from home and manage their finances. They’d probably never have asked for that.

Generally, I buy people presents I hope they will like.

That is what they make gift cards for, I never have to worry about it.

I buy presents based on what the recipient would like. Besides cookies are cheaper than a treadmill. The treadmill would more than likely be a source of resentment.

I buy things they will like, not on what I think would be good for them.

Trying to tell people what is good for them when giving gifts is a dickish move. That’s not giving them a gift, that’s giving them a lecture.

Depends on who I’m buying for. adults always get what they like. Kids get the same first, but the young ones are going to stuff good for them, like books. I love to get kids hooked on books. Yeah I’m a dino, but it works.

Giving presents is not a chance to hammer someone with our judgment. It is to be a gift the receiver will cherish. There is middle ground between the two extremes you cite.

I agree with @Adirondackwannabe. I think you get a pass on giving a kid an educational gift, especially if they receive more than one. So you bought them a toy from the museum giftshop? It’s still a toy.

Of course, as stated on a previous question, I tend to give gifts randomly as they come to me, rather than occasion-based. I used to try to hoard the randomly found gifts, but I always found them in the closet, 2–3 months after-the-fact.

My gift choices are based on what my friends like, or at least what I think they like. Always.

Gifts should always be a thing that a person wants, but doesn’t need.

I agree with @tinyfaery I buy gifts that they would like and want, but wouldn’t buy themselves.

Depends on the person.

This year I am getting someone shit they will totally hate and hopefully never need to use but they will never buy it them self and it could save their life. It is car related

I am getting my sister a household present that everyone will use a lot. She doesn’t even know a product that can do what this does exists. But they will use it about 20 hours a week as a family.

I live with my sisters oldest kid in a two bedroom apartment and I just moved in last month. He has lived here over a year and it has never been vacuumed. So our gift to each other is going halves on a vacuum.

The few other gifts I need to get are going to be fun things that people wouldn’t actually buy on their own.

My sister already got me my b-day/c-mas gifts. When I first moved up here I wasn’t able to bring a lot of stuff with me. And I had to pack in about 4 hours. I wasn’t able to bring my bed and I forgot my boxes with bathroom stuff.

After a week of me sleeping on the floor with no pillows and a tiny blanket she broke down and bought me a bed and all the needed accessories, bathroom supplies, a warm jacket, and shoes.

I am clearly a person that needs gifts to maintain a normal standard of living.

Nothing says “I LOVE YOU!” like boxes of extra-strength mouthwash and deodorant. ;-)

Not sure if the above is directed towards me. But we had odd Christmases. My dad was a mechanical engineer and the only day Weyerhaeuser wasn’t running was Christmas day. So it was the one day where they could get in with everything shut down to inspect and repair.

So we usually did Christmas on C-mas eve. And my mom bought us fake gifts too. We would unwrap all our gifts but could only use a few. On the 26th she would return 90% of the stuff we unwrapped and then hit up sales so we could get even more.

We were not a conventional Christmas family.

But your mum made it work @johnpowell. She found a way to make it special and it was about family.

What would be good for the wife would be a cookbook & a fire extinguisher, what she would like is a new stove & a whole bunch of paint. #firestarter # ifyacantstandtheheat

My mom never thought of the fake gifts to be returned for sale items, @johnpowell, or you can bet she would have employed it.
Brilliant!

I agree with all of you. Like @johnpowell, though, I do occasionally give people gifts they won’t love. I make sure they will still be appreciated.

I think we need a third category here:

Likes (Loves!)
Will appreciate. (now or in the future)
Needs.

Appreciate is what I shoot for.

Not competing for the “Wow” factor.
The thing that they look at 6 months later and still say, ’Damn’!
Not giving something that blends into the landscape the next day.

I think if you wanna give something that’s good for them while they may be not that into, you can just give them as a kind offer.
And as for me, I give people what they like as presents.