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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Buying presents in the sales

15 replies

Phoebebe · 04/12/2016 17:28

Family member always buys Christmas presents in the January sales to give next Christmas, is it tacky?
Obvious because when trying to change the size of kids pyjamas for instance get told they were last years

OP posts:

LunaLoveg00d · 04/12/2016 17:30

Sensible if you ask me.

Christmas is about giving a GIFT. It is not a competition to see who can spend the most money. The end result is a child gets a gift - who cares if it's this year's, last year's, 5 years old or antique?

Criticising someone trying to save a bit of cash is grabby and tacky, imho.

harderandharder2breathe · 04/12/2016 17:31

Not tacky to do it but I wouldn't get something that could be outgrown or faddy

Ask them to buy a size up next time

DailyMailSucksAss · 04/12/2016 17:31

I got a £120 tree for £10 doing this. Not unreasonable at all.

UnicornMadeOfPinkGlitter · 04/12/2016 17:31

It's not tacky. However seems silly to buy clothes for children who grow unpredictably.

I'm determined to buy a few more presents in the sales this year as don't normally bother but those generic gifts that get brought each year, scented candles and smellies have annoyed me to buy this year but hard to buy anything else for £5-10.

Also might buy for my son who will turn 15in January.

I think if the gift is thoughtful it doesn't matter when it was brought or how much it cost. If a gift is brought purely in price then that's tacky no matter how much or how little it cost.

LunaLoveg00d · 04/12/2016 17:48

I think if the gift is thoughtful it doesn't matter when it was brought or how much it cost. If a gift is brought purely in price then that's tacky no matter how much or how little it cost

This exactly, if you can get a present for £10 instead of £20 why wouldn't you?? Not like my MIL who if she budgets £20 per gift and gets a bargain for a tenner, then buys another £10 of tat to make it "fair".

OP would be horrified - half of my kids' (all new) stocking fillers this year are from the Oxfam shop.

littlesallyracket · 04/12/2016 18:07

Nothing tacky about getting a bargain if it's a still a nice gift that you think the recipient will like.

I would avoid things like clothes or pyjamas though, as it's a bit risky to guess what size someone (particularly a child) might be in a year's time, and I think those are the sorts of gifts people are most likely to try to return.

Original poster

Phoebebe · 04/12/2016 19:59

Ok thanks I'm reassured, it's me who buys things in the sale for nieces & nephews !
They are very difficult to buy for because my sils are either very minimalist & don't like them having too many toys or have very expensive tastes. Oh and nothing with a character! I'm skint so I buy them all pyjamas (in next years size) and a book or an item of clothing and a book. Usually from Cath kidston sale because I know that's what they're dressed in & they both hate primark which is where I shop or next or wherever is too tacky apparently. I'm just feeling worried about it because sil said something today about not bothering with sales because it's all the crap stuff no one wants cue me

OP posts:

RubbishMantra · 04/12/2016 20:08

Nothing wrong with it. Unless you're given a pair of pants that are several sizes too big, go to exchange them for the right size to be told they were discontinued 5 years ago. Yes, that really happened.

Swirlingasong · 04/12/2016 20:12

I think Cath Kidston, even in the sales, is a very generous gift. Just a thought though - your Sils sound quite controlling of what their children have - do the children think the same way? I used to love it as a child when my aunt gave me things my mum would never have chosen in a million years...

QuackDuckQuack · 04/12/2016 20:17

As long as they are in 'this year's size' this year. Many DC don't wear their age clothes.

littlesallyracket · 04/12/2016 20:23

There's nothing wrong with the way you shop for Christmas, OP! Your SILs sound a bit snobby really and I think you're shopping in a really clever, canny way. :)

I have six nieces and nephews and my SIL can be quite a difficult person when it comes to what she deems an acceptable gift and has totally different taste to my family, so I do sympathise!

ZaZathecat · 04/12/2016 20:28

Where did you get thsy Xmas tree Daily? I might try to get one this year!

Original poster

Phoebebe · 04/12/2016 20:58

Ha I would quite like to be the crazy aunt that buys 'plastic tat' but they have made it very clear how they feel about it so that would be asking for trouble!

OP posts:

elephantoverthehill · 04/12/2016 21:04

For a number of years we couldn't get together as an extended family until twelfth night. Everyone got their presents from the January sales so we could all afford to be a bit more 'generous'.

MoodyOne · 04/12/2016 21:31

We used to get money from our relatives (not close family) so we could go to the Jan sales and pick what we wanted and we would get more... that's just how it was, we always had a few presents Christmas Day and it was like we had an extended Christmas

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