Tubs of chocolate & toiletries gift sets - show no thought

Or just you do you and let everyone else do themselves.

There should be a swap shop for chocolates. I'll take any toffee pennies and coconuts for my vile strawberry and orange creams. All in date from a non-smoking no pet household 😁

Remember anything unwanted can be donated to the foodbanks, refuges and charities. Please do not bin them.

I only buy gifts for my daughter. DH and I don’t bother with buying gifts for each other, for birthdays or Christmas. Neither of us are materialistic and if we need something we buy it.

I used to get a Burt’s Bees gift set from MIL every year for my birthday. Every year. I don’t even like Burt’s Bees.

One year it fell out of the car in the drive and she RAN IT OVER and I still got it, literally with tread marks from the tyre on it. 😂

I think that may have been the last year as dh thankfully had a word.

I think it’s an easy generic gift for people you don’t know very well.

Sorry to be a scrooge but I work in a very stressful job and have a kid who still believes in Santa and a bunch of nieces and nephews. I really don't have time to be massaging anyone's egos with 'thoughtful' gifts. On the flipside I couldn't care less if I don't receive a single gift for Christmas/birthday either. If you truly appreciate and care for someone you don't really, as a grown ass adult, need to give or receive gifts. If you don't really care for somebody you don't need to be buying them gifts. It's all a bit pointless really

You don't have to hang on to it. Just thank them nicely and pass it on.

Agree with the hobby-related gifts. The gift sets are usually tat.

Also, I LOVE gift giving. I will happily channel hours into finding the perfect gift. But I understand not everyone is so inclined ~ I'm happy to receive a gift set or choc over a gift that misses the mark!

I agree a Dove gift box is a bit shit but things like Celebrations are great gifts. Not all gifts need to be super personal and thoughtful. The fact that you're giving some chocolates is thoughtful in itself. At Christmas I give things like Celebrations to neighbours, DC's teachers, the postie and bin men. And I'm always happy if someone gives me a tub of Celebrations.

I don't care about receiving gifts, but definitely prefer something consumable or practical that you can use daily. My Mum always buys me a year's supply of socks which is probably really boring to most people, but I appreciate it as it's one of those things I always forget to buy. Saves the hassle of having to try pick out the less holey ones from my drawers! Hats and scarfs are less practical imo as I rarely get cold enough to use them and you only need so many.

Never had a problem getting rid of excess chocolate, just offer it to guests or take it into work. Shower gels I don't want to use, just get repurposed as hand soap. Bath salts I just decant into an old sock and use to scent a clothes drawer. I always suggest a bottle of wine when DH asks for ideas what his family can buy me, I've discovered a few new ones I like that way and even if I don't enjoy it, I've not spent my own money on it!

I’m not a fan of body wash/ lotion sets but chocolates are always welcome particularly nice ones.

When I am invited to someone’s home at Christmas I always bring a poinsettia plant in a nice pot. I don’t think you can ever have too many poinsettias

For people I know well I often buy a favourite book - that’s my favourite thing to receive and so few people ever gift me a book !

I buy more expensive versions of items people use or eat. For eg I buy my sister biscuits & my mum teabags from Fortnums. DB gets a kilo bag of posh coffee beans from his favourite independent cafe.
My other sister gets soaps & posh shower gel from Harvey Nicks.
The F&M tins come in handy for storage so that's a bonus.

First of all, not many people pay £6 for those sets. They are only £6 now so they can 'reduce' them to £3 closer to Christmas and say they're half price. Sneaky yes, but works out cheaper than buying off the shelf.

I buy some generic gifts prior to Christmas (not quite dove sets... but nice toiletries in the Boots 3 for 2, and the proper tins of choc) ~ as a parent they're a lifesaver for when DS exchanges gifts with friends. We normally do a more thoughtful present for the friend, plus a tin of chocs for the family, or toiletries set for older siblings if they get dragged round to ours with their parents! Yes maybe we don't need to, but it seems the nice thing to do. Whatever we don't use tends to get split up as stocking fillers.

This is me.

Also @JaninaDuszejko "TBH as someone in their 50s with a house full of stuff it's the 'thoughtful' presents that I'm expected to treasure forever that cause me more pain than the standard bottle of booze, toiletries sets, boxes of chocolates type consumables that I can either use or dispose of easily without feeling guilty. Gift giving is a social expectation but it works best if everyone gives low stakes gifts."

• 100% every word of this.

Voted YABU purely because you think éclairs and toffee pennies/fingers cheapen Heroes and Q Street . They are the best ones in there!

The fact is, a lot of people feel a social obligation to buy gifts for people they actually don't know that well. It's all very well saying "just don't buy them gifts", but some people will take great offence if you don't. Also some people are just really bad at buying presents. I struggle to even think of something I would want as a gift, let alone anyone else. Or if you've got a list of 15 people to buy gifts for... some years I stumble upon the absolute perfect gift for my nan, or my stepmum, or my niece... but other years I find myself stumbling around the shops exhausted with no inspiration, can't find anything good, so they're getting a gift set.

I love a gift set of toiletries or a scented candle.

I would prefer something consumable rather that stuff I have to have hang onto forever.

And, don't buy me anything for my many craft hobbies, I only buy quality stuff not the cheap crap Amazon sells! I'm a £20 a ball of merino yarn person, not 10 balls for £10 of nasty acrylic crap!

I understood what these gift sets were about when I was invited to a relatively new boyfriend’s house for Christmas one year in my youth - and was astonished to find that every friend, neighbour, acquaintance, second cousin, the dog groomer, etc within easy driving distance turned up in person on Boxing Day to wish the family a merry Christmas, bearing little beautifully wrapped Boots gift set presents for everyone, including me.

I’d never heard of any of these people and was mortified to receive a bounty of shower gels and tinted lip balms from a parade of strangers, for whom I’d not known to buy anything in return. Boyfriend’s mum had a stack of wrapped chocolate / body wash type presents ready to give everyone who arrived.

I guess if you need to buy presents for everyone you vaguely know in a ten mile radius I can see how the gift sets are a budget friendly and easily regiftable way to keep with festive tradition.

I think it's not necessarily no thought, but no ideas. And sometimes that's fine. I always get some sort of gift box/set (either chocolate, or bath stuff and moisturiser etc) from BIL (DH's brother).
He doesn't live near us, I don't know him that well because we only see him once or twice a year due to the distance. I'd have no idea what to get him but thankfully DH takes care of that. So I don't blame him for going for a generic gift set thing type for me.

I don't get many gifts so I'd gladly have a gift, I don't see how it's unthoughtful, more like ungrateful.

I love a toiletries gift set - fancy or bog standard. I actively ask for them for my birthday and Christmas! Also never going to complain about chocolate. Everyone’s different 🤷‍♀️

If you would buy this gift, I think better to shorten your gift list. It is senseless to buy unnecessary tat for the sake of it. Not to mention the expense, and where does it stop? Make an agreement with family and friends well in advance of Christmas and then stick to it.

I have three new unread Christmas gift books and drawers full of candles…all I want is edibles…chocolates preferably. I hate buying presents for adults..everyone likes different things