Buying gifts for your friends and family is always a struggle. Year after year we usually get them what we think will appease them most. Sometimes…it’s more of a miss than a hit.
In a Life Pro Tip thread on Reddit, Redditors were told not to give their friends gifts based on their hobbies unless they shared the same hobby. Over 1,000 people responded to share their thoughts and suggestions. Some of them even shared their experiences of being given “perfect” gifts.
Keep reading to see some of their best responses.
“My mum still buys me cheap art supplies every birthday because I used to be really into drawing Pokemon when I was a kid. I’m 27. It’s not too bad though I have a pretty sweet star wars pencil set.” – Memes15
“When you’re an artist, and you get one of those wood boxes that includes a little bit of every art medium, but they’re all poor quality and a very small amount (crayons, pencils, markers, water colors, pastels, paint, etc.) But you get everything! How could I not love it?!?” – KillingIsBadong
Buy art supplies here: Lazada
“Boardgamer here. I told my dad and his fiance I wanted “board games”….and received the Jersey Shore boardgame.” – paradox_backlash
“I’m a board gamer and I have to force a smile every time somebody gives me some crappy party game they saw on the shelf at Wal-Mart. ” – sudifirjfhfjvicodke
Buy boardgames here: Meeples Malaysia
“As a photographer, I have gotten so many terrible toy tripods, and cups shaped like lenses… If you have to, just a gift card from a store that specializes in the person’s interest. Or say you’d like to go with them and pick something out together, and make the time spent together part of the gift.” – RadBadTad
“See, these kinds of gifts make horse girls into “horse girls.” Once the family finds your hobby, it’s a non stop influx of horse stuff.” – caillouuu
“I’m really into succulents/cacti/gardening. I would die of happiness if someone bought me a plant. Even if I already had 5 of the same kind. You can never have too many plants!” – [deleted]
“When I was a teenager with a bunch of hobbies and interests, I skirted this problem by telling everyone that I collected keychains, even though I didn’t actually own any. This gave them a nice, easy, affordable gift idea that wouldn’t take up too much space in my room.” – Nausved
Buy keychains here: Megafash
“I study Architecture and people keep giving me books about it, most of them I don’t like and some I have two or three copies of!” – agirlisno0ne
“I do nail art. I truly appreciate that you saw a manicure set out there and thought of me, but I really don’t need one from everyone I know.” – rental_aquarium
Buy nail polish here: Hermo
“I always just write my friend a check for 1 million dollars…. he does the same. We usually just call it a wash. We’ve been gifting each other a million for like 10 years now….. Birthdays and Christmas actually.” – Theothernooner
“Very good advice! Would be really glad if my friends would stop buying me “cheap” whiskey for my birthdays…” – Eddyfutter
Read here for gift ideas!
“Hey we passed this pottery on our way to __________! So we stopped and bought you a mug!” Uhhhh …thanks!” – [deleted]
Buy mugs here: Printcious where you can customise everything to your needs!