We all remember our first time. You're sitting there, the anticipation killing you, expecting something special, when suddenly you look down and are unimpressed. Sadly, this happens way to often, when someone close to you spends a lot of time picking out what they think is the perfect gift for you, but the gift was as far from perfect as they could have gotten.
This didn't really start happening to me until I was a teenager, maybe because as a kid every new toy you got was cool.
Still listening to Shakira, I went to my locker to put my backpack away when I was greeted by Steve Sikler, a boy who had a crush on me. He handed me a nicely wrapped present which upon opening turned out to be Laundry Service....awesome. At this point in my life I was not as well versed in pretending you like a gift you really are unhappy to see. I instantly knew my face said it all, when Steve sheepishly asked "Don't you like it? I thought this is what you wanted"; my heart sank. This CD was everything I wanted an hour ago before I had already received it. I spent the remaining minutes before the bell rang trying to assure Steve the gift was exactly what I wanted.
I ended up giving the extra CD to my best friend and she ended up dating the guy who bought it for me....can you say Matchmaker Mary? Look out Yenta!
The true amount you spent on a gift for someone else is often much greater than spending the same amount of money on a gift for yourself due to lowered satisfaction.
I'll only buy something that costs $50 if it's worth at least $50 to me. Well, although on average gifts generate 20 percent less satisfaction than items we buy for ourselves, it's also true, though, that different givers create different amounts of missing satisfaction.
While gift cards are a safer alternative, you still risk buying a gift card for a store the recipient does not shop at; 10 percent of gift card balances never get redeemed. In Waldfogel's interview, Is Gift-Giving Bad For The Economy?, he suggests the only way to insure someone is truly happy with there gift is to simply give them money.
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