Why presents for Christmas?

Marisa Kirisame

Marisa Kirisame

Hmm... this is something I have always wondered about...

Why do people buy presents for other people instead of just giving them money to buy whatever they want? Is this only to be more traditional?

- Presents as in something besides money.

Ex. Why buy a $20 Subway or Wal-Mart card for someone else when you can just give them $2 instead to buy whatever they want?
 
Making an effort. Have you ever heard of "It's the thought that counts?" Well, it's true.

If your Girlfriend wanted these earings for so long, would you buy them for her for Christmas, or just be like "Here's $100, have fun."

It makes you seem lazy and effortless.
 
Not to mention it makes you look like a complete ass, although I would much rather prefer receiving money than receiving gifts.
 
I find gifts to be a good way of giving someone what they want instead of what they need. For example, if my parents get me $50, I'll probably slowly waste it away on food. If my parents give me a game, I'll play that game.
 
Because it's about more than face value. Its about making yourself feel great when you see the look on someone elses face. I mean you don't get that feeling when your the boss handing out paychecks do you?
 
because if I give 50 to my mom and she gives me 50 back.... that is sort of pointless dont you think.

(Although I am giving money to my younger brothers this year, couldnt find anything)
 
Twilight :) said:
Making an effort. Have you ever heard of "It's the thought that counts?" Well, it's true.

If your Girlfriend wanted these earings for so long, would you buy them for her for Christmas, or just be like "Here's $100, have fun."

It makes you seem lazy and effortless.
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Yeah, completely agreed.

And uhh, who gives someone 2 dollars for Christmas? >_>
 
Or maybe it's because around Christmas time, people have soooo much time on their hand cause everyone has holidays and the parents get bored staying at home 24/7 and decides to go shopping?
 
a) Because money means less than the thought of a present
b) It may work out cheaper, especially if it is outside your own family. Say you get something good for £20, the gift looks a lot better than just giving £20 making you look a cheapskate
c) Tradition, presents under trees.
 
Earthquake, just because you are rational does not mean the world is! People are irrational and create dumb expectations. Gift cards are egregiously wasteful - the cost of the card, the shitty cardboard it is stuck on, the cost of capital to keep track of what is on which card in a store's system, is all bad enough - but it is estimated that about 20% of BILLIONS of dollars on gift cards is never spent (because it is human nature to spend part of it and then be like 'well I do not really like shopping here, so fuck the remaining 80 cents,' not to mention the fact that it also causes some people to waste more money on things they would not normally buy if they feel they must spend all of it and end up spending over the amount.

So to sum up: people are fucktards.
 
plus people are lazy. i would much rather get, say, an ipod for christmas instead of money to buy the ipod, because i'd have to go to the store and buy it. i guess it takes away from the feeling you get when you open the presents and theres something awesome inside. i'd feel pretty awkward hugging someone and thanking them for giving me a hundred bucks for christmas.
 
CaptKirby said:
Earthquake, just because you are rational does not mean the world is! People are irrational and create dumb expectations. Gift cards are egregiously wasteful - the cost of the card, the shitty cardboard it is stuck on, the cost of capital to keep track of what is on which card in a store's system, is all bad enough - but it is estimated that about 20% of BILLIONS of dollars on gift cards is never spent (because it is human nature to spend part of it and then be like 'well I do not really like shopping here, so fuck the remaining 80 cents,' not to mention the fact that it also causes some people to waste more money on things they would not normally buy if they feel they must spend all of it and end up spending over the amount.

So to sum up: people are fucktards.
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businesses need to make a profit, gift cards provide another avenue of income. people enjoy the thought of giving a choice of gifts, but see that just giving money is lazy and thoughtless. people also leave their small coins lying around, tip waiters and say 'keep the change'. i don't see how that makes them "fucktards". please remember this isn't firebot, making crude generalisations won't improve your posts.
 
Once me and this girl in highschool had a bday 1 day apart and I went to her party. she got me 20$ at HMV, and I got her 10$ at HMV

I Never bought a gift certificate again .-.
I'm not especially against them since they're good for when you dont know people super well but


anyways giftgiving/recieving gets lamer and lamer as you grow up anyways, I'd rather just be able to see friends/family than stress about how much of my money i should spend on them o-o
 
Gormenghast said:
Once me and this girl in highschool had a bday 1 day apart and I went to her party. she got me 20$ at HMV, and I got her 10$ at HMV

I Never bought a gift certificate again .-.
I'm not especially against them since they're good for when you dont know people super well but


anyways giftgiving/recieving gets lamer and lamer as you grow up anyways, I'd rather just be able to see friends/family than stress about how much of my money i should spend on them o-o
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wow, same store too. I think Gorm got owned.

anyways, I'm having trouble thinking of gifts this year. My dad is Christian and my mom is Jewish, so I get that double whammy, and my birthday is the 26th of Dec. My mom is being nice and getting me a car, and that's really all I want.

My dad got me SMG and RE:UC and my grandparents bought me a subwoofer. Now I need to think of something else to ask my dad for. I can't use the iTunes card thing, because I already used that.

I'm one of those people that you would hate to have to shop for.
 
Hyra said:
wow, same store too. I think Gorm got owned.

anyways, I'm having trouble thinking of gifts this year. My dad is Christian and my mom is Jewish, so I get that double whammy, and my birthday is the 26th of Dec. My mom is being nice and getting me a car, and that's really all I want.

My dad got me SMG and RE:UC and my grandparents bought me a subwoofer. Now I need to think of something else to ask my dad for. I can't use the iTunes card thing, because I already used that.

I'm one of those people that you would hate to have to shop for.
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Yeah maybe you should ask for a house seems you aren't getting enough already. All I really needed was a snowboard, anything else is nice, if only for the thought. But then again if someone gives me money that seems thoughtful of them to me.
 
Llama said:
Yeah maybe you should ask for a house seems you aren't getting enough already. All I really needed was a snowboard, anything else is nice, if only for the thought. But then again if someone gives me money that seems thoughtful of them to me.
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uh... car is all my mom's idea. I didn't ask for it. her old car (which I was supposed to get) broke down and she bought a new one. she doesn't want to pay insurance for me to drive her new car, so she is getting me one. (don't ask me about the logic).

and, if you couldn't get this from the post, my parents are divorced. meaning my dad wants to get me something, because he is not paying for the car.
 
I am not making a crude generalization! Gift cards use up unnecessary resources, create economic waste, and are just an easy cop out to boot, so buying a gift card is pretty generally idiotic. I am so sorry that I hate conformity and unnecessary posturing! If someone requests specifically 'just give me gift card to _____,' then yeah you are going to have to do it, but otherwise any instance is bad.
 
I say that people get gifts because they feel that they don't want to hurt someone's feelings and not know what they want for a gift.

Either that or they don't want the money to go to waste on something stupid or fake.
 
Firestorm said:
I find gifts to be a good way of giving someone what they want instead of what they need. For example, if my parents get me $50, I'll probably slowly waste it away on food. If my parents give me a game, I'll play that game.
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qft

I would've posted basically the same thing.
 
Plus, assuming you have a Christmas tree, wouldn't it be a tad boring to have a few envelopes filled with money underneath it compared to packages?
 
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