Monday, December 14, 2009

Gift Shopping

Hey guys!

So this issue has come up previously when I've gone shopping for friends' birthday/christmas/whatever else gifts. I've always felt the need to spend at least the amount a friend spends on me, on them. Meaning...if a friend spent $100 on my birthday, I would feel compelled to spend at least $100 on their birthday - it's only fair, right?

This story is only slightly hypothetical.  Let's pretend my limit for this story was $65. One time I was buying a gift for my friend's birthday.  I was going to buy her a DVD set of a TV show. The first place I checked sold it for $64.99, so I decided to keep looking.  A few stores later I found it selling for $54.99 so I decided to purchase it there.  On top of it being cheaper, I also had a 20% off coupon for the store. Since I only ended up spending $44, the logical thing to do is to find something else to add on top of that, right?

Well, I know people who don't think so.  They believe that what matters is the value of the gift you're giving, not how much you actually spend on it. So if that DVD was $65 originally, then that is how much you spent on the gift. Besides, how will your friend even know how much you really spent? You can definitely get away with just purchasing the DVD, but that's not the point! It's the principle of the matter!

Anyway, what's your take on the situation? Is the value of your gift how much you actually spent on it, or how much it's worth? Of course, this is not taking into consideration the thoughtful and sentimental gifts you give to significant others/close friends. Those gifts are priceless.

Have a wonderful week everyone =)

3 comments:

  1. This is a tough one. Maybe your friend got a discount and used a coupon? How would you really know what the person spent on you? If you want to keep it fairly even, I would go with the retail value.

    Also, you're right, my friend should have written his own poem. Something from him might have been more touching.

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  2. I would also go for the retail value.

    However for things like secret santa with a set limit, I would find things on discount so I can buy more things for them :)

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  3. I would go with retail value. the first commenter is right. You never really know how much they spent on your either. They could be re-gifting for all we know. If you want to add more things to their gift you can mention you got a great deal on the stuff. That way they won't feel like you out did them!

    But also, I don't feel like I always have to give back the same amount. There's gotta be a limit you'd be willing to spend on any one person.

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