Tubs of chocolate & toiletries gift sets - show no thought

I enjoy receiving both and prefer consumables as gifts in general.
I'll have a little gift box of crackers and chutneys please.

Ah , gone are the days when you could buy your aunty a box of bath cubes, or three embroidered hankies, a set of teeny tiny hand soaps from Bronnley lemon soap, or Woods of Windsor lavender ditto, or a little bottle of 4711 and she would be happy.

I used to love bath cubes, especially the ones that came in two halves because then you could just use a half per bath and the box lasted longer.

Whenever I have been involved in things like Secret Santa at workplaces it seems to be you have to get some highly personal, well thought out gift, very specific to that person. I find it incredibly stressful and always feel guilty that I didn't do as good a job as people who are obsessed with finding the 'perfect' gift. I always tell people, please, chocolates and smellies for me. I love chocolates or smelllies, they used to be a Christmas staple but now nobody gets them as they are seen as boring. They're not boring, they're great, particularly bog standard, no what you're getting, tasty chocolates like Cadburys Roses and Quality Street!

Anyone who doesn't want these 'rubbish' presents, send them my way!

Me too. I would rather get those than an ornament or a scarf!

Not everybody has someone to buy them a thoughtful gift though. Lots of people will receive a generic gift like these from a charity. And it might be their only gift. Don't buy them if you don't want to, but they're a decent/practical option for many Indeed
Also every present you buy for someone diesnt have to be 'thoughtful '.I'd spend the whole year thinking about what to get every one! I only do that for the closest around me.

Due to my work Im in a couple of secret Santa's, and I don't mind that, I often get Dove shower sets. They are handy to put in my gym bag.

With kindness I would suggest that if you're getting that stressed over buying a present for someone because you can't think of what to get them, perhaps you're not close enough to be buying them a present at all.

I agree - our poor dog groomers always show a huge pile of tubs of chocs people have kindly bought them at christmas - it must take them the whole year to eat them...I think they'd prefer £5 in a card!

Even more annoying to receive these when you don't eat dairy and are careful about only using cruelty free toiletries.

@notedbiscuits

what bothers me far more is people moaning about Christmas in AIBU when there's a whole topic for Christmas!

I work in this industry. Toiletry giftsets are absolutely a gift for someone you want to or have to give something - teacher, great aunt, secret santa etc - but you don't know them well enough to chose something they actually want. The landfill issue is definitely a problem, but in most cases you would be using shower gel etc anyway. The retailers I work with are pretty strict now that outer packaging has to be fully recyclable and ideally compostible, or something that is kept and reused like a wash bag.

Personally I only really use bar soap, but always happy with chocolate. The little hand creams are good for always having some in your bag etc

I don't mind these sort of gifts, although I tend to receive fudge, Sanctuary stuff, and fancy nuts rather than tubs of sweets and Dove (which I would be equally happy with).

So often when people try hard to get the perfect gift, it is something you don't love but are now stuck with. I never buy Sanctuary stuff but I'm always happy to use it, so it never gets wasted.

I bought literally all of our presents for extended family from a chocolate shop last year and I'm not sorry and may well do it again.

I like those gift sets of bodywash etc. I travel quite a bit and they are great to keep in the box and pop into a bag or case, use at the destination and then bring whatever is left home to shove into the bathroom for general use. It saves me having to find a body wash and a moisturiser that I can take with me.

But then, I get through a LOT of shower gel etc... (am a runner, so lots of showers!)

I suspect that you’re not alone! Personally I only welcome ‘craft’ gifts if they were made by young Gdcs - but they’re different, obv. Ditto cards - fine from Gdcs, but I really don’t want adults’ hand-made cards - I feel too guilty about binning them.

For adults in this family, we now stick to presents you can eat or drink - preferably not the sort of things you’d buy every day.

I agree. Something that I can and will use or consume is always welcome.

I find gift giving incredibly incredibly stressful. I've had near meltdowns and spent many extremely stressed days and nights trying to think what to buy people. Just thinking about it now raises my blood pressure. I've missed parties because I couldn't think what to bring. I've now realised that this is ridiculous and life is too short to worry. So chocolates and other 'thoughtless' gifts is what I tend to opt for or I ask people to tell me what they want.

I was actually googling right now where I could donate them to! Women’s aid is an excellent idea, thank you ❤️

It's all the plastic and packaging that bothers me more than the thought behind the gift.

I think you sound extremely ungrateful tbh! If someone cares enjoy to remember you at Christmas that is lovely however they acknowledge it. Also what you think might be meaningful might not be for me. My lovely sil bought me a picture last year which was lovely but didn’t match my house at all so sadly has been relegated to my loft until inhave somewhere suitable to display it. Chocolates on the other hand would have been well scoffed!

Donate them to Women's Aid or even a foodbank? That way someone would be benefitting and you'd be decluttering. 😬

I think the toiletry sets are for gifts where the thought is in giving a gift at all. Maybe not for your mum (unless you know it's a favourite product), but a kind gesture to, say, a school mum who's having a shit time or the neighbour who helped you out that time.

I thought the big tubs of sweets were bought more to have in the house for visitors rather than as gifts. Although I wouldn't say no!

Completely.

Me and DP buy presents for each other, his parents and my mum. That's it. He gives cash to his nieces and nephews.

I find it completely bonkers that people buy gifts for all sorts of family hangers-on.

I partially agree - I think chocs and wine type of gifts are fine, shows some thought/appreciation and are very likely to be used, but on the other hand I could probably open my own Sanctuary shop with all the gifts I’ve had from birthdays and Christmas for the past 15 years… I hardly ever have a bath and use soap bars in the shower, so they’re just there. I think I’d rather have a tenner in a card

Yes I do this: wait till the gift sets are always reduced to half price or even less after Christmas/ easter/ mothers day or whatever. And treat myself.

Unfortunately since the cost of living hike a lot of people are doing the same and you have to be quite quick to get the bargain.

I used to go in the charity shops and buy ones that people had donated because they were unwanted presents. But now the charity shops charge unrealistically high prices for them - along with quite a lot of their stock - I don't do this so much.

Personally I wouldn't buy chocolate tubs as a gift for any one because the receiver may not want them for reasons eg diet / healthy eating. And I wouldn't buy the gift sets for anyone unless I knew for certain the products included in it would be of use to them eg a lot of people don't have baths so path products are no use to them.

I'd rather get chocolates or a gift set than something "individual" that I don't like and can't use.

Pretty much everyone can use shower gel and eat some sweets can't they?

Getting nothing, because you can't think of anything more specific, is somewhat dull and a bit Scrooge like.