The Most Useless Gifts People Have Ever Received
Reddit user magdalene_kk asked: 'what's the most useless gift you've ever gotten?'
Let's be honest. We all enjoy the kind gesture of gift-giving–especially when you're on the receiving end.
Sometimes the gift you receive symbolizes friendships, or something simple that acknowledges how special you are from a work colleague.
Even gag gifts are fun. After all, the gift-giver has taken the time to look for an item that will trigger a hilarious response, knowing you might get a kick out of it, perhaps due to an inside joke.
After all, it's the thought that counts, right?
Occasionally, however, you might receive a gift that will make you want to hide an ungrateful expression on your face as people are watching.
What could those be?
Strangers online had a few ideas after Redditor magdalene_kk asked:
"What's the most useless gift you've ever gotten?"
Intentions behind these gifts were questioned.
Wrong Size
"Clothes that were too small. Intentionally small."
"I’m a size 4 (I’m short). My aunt got me some really nice tops in a size 0 because 'you looked so good last summer when you got all svelte.'”
"I had bronchitis and lost 10lbs."
– Dramiotic
Reading Material
"My former MIL used to 'gift' me all the owners manuals from her small appliances purchased in last year as an actual Christmas gift. The first year this happened I was very perplexed. She of course explained 'I read of these things'. For stuff I actually owned but for her electric knife sharpener or (my favorite) the garbage disposal they had installed lol"
– Mundane-Cabinet9883
Not A Win-Win
"I was in college across the country but went to visit my mother. For Christmas she gave me a stack of board games (trivial pursuit, Life...) but when I want to leave she said they had to stay there. We never played [board] games but she wanted an excuse to buy them for herself. Thanks.... merry Christmas I guess."
– azorianmilk
Sometimes, the gift-giver is a little presumptuous thinking the recipient would actually use and appreciate the gift.
Niche Appliance
"A quesadilla maker. I know their heart was in the right place, but it was HUGE, impossible to clean, and doesn't do anything that I can't already do with a normal non-stick frying pan. One of quickest gifts I've ever gotten rid of after taking it home. It was literally too big for any of our cupboards."
– DevinBelow
The Dullest Cut
"That's such a mood. Got a set of knives from my parents a couple years back. I do a lot of cooking, they thought it would be a nice gift. The knives themselves were trash, I can stand the chefs knife point first on the back of my hand and it won't break the skin. And the block they came in couldn't be cleaned, so that's not much use either. I don't want to be ungrateful, but holy hell."
– CheesusAlmighty
Not For Every Occasion
"My wife got me a travel lint roller for Christmas. Granted I was on my way to Iraq...so technically I was about to travel, but lint was the least of my worries."
– GOAT0352
Out Of Tune
"A Harmonica from my mother one Christmas."
"She said it was something musical and cost her €30, I was convinced it was the Red Hot Chili Pepper DVD I kept mentioning and really wanted."
"I was really into playing guitar at the time, but had zero interest in a harmonica in some random off key."
– PatTheLogicalLiar
And these just might be the absolute worst, "Are you kidding me?" type gifts.
Ye Olde Log
"My MIL regifted me a Christmas gift she never even opened. It was a loaf of homemade sourdough bread that had undergone a year of anaerobic decomposition."
– zenos_dog
No Value
"An expired gift card…"
– Chaitoshi
"I've gotten those too. They're usually just gift cards someone else has gotten, but never got around to using."
– JackFisherBooks
Sugar Rush
"Cheap sweets from my in laws. Like off brand cookies, donuts, etc. After the conversation about being diabetic. Also after a conversation about my parents being pastry chefs. I didn't take them with me when I left their house."
– cardinal1977
Imposter
"A cheap knock-off Barbie doll. It was a secret Santa gift the girl who gave it to me said it could be my girlfriend. I just gave it to my niece who wasn't so thrilled about it either."
– Beneficial-Jelly5746
You don't have to spend a lot of money to delight someone with a gift.
But if you're going to spend a few bucks on the cheapest knock-off brand treats from the dollar store, make sure you remember the person for whom it's intended isn't a diabetic.
Also, don't dump your unwanted Christmas presents from last year under the guise of a goodwill gesture.
That's just unacceptable.
The Dumbest Things People Have Ever Spent Their Money On
Humans have a tendency to accumulate a lot of stuff during our lives, most of it things that we actually did need at some point.
But not all of the things we buy are even remotely necessary.
Whether it's that As Seen On TV doodad that seemed like it would solve all of life's problems when you saw the infomercial at 3 AM while dealing with a bout of insomnia, or that super valuable-seeming thingamajig you saw at the thrift store that you're definitely going to list on eBay some day, some things were just never a good use of money in the first place.
Redditor 3VD asked:
"What's one of the dumbest things you've ever spent money on?"
Socks
"When I was like 14 I bought a pack of intentionally mismatched socks that were really expensive. Like, only one of each pattern. Could have bought twice as many normal socks and just mismatched them myself."
- virgo-punk
"Were they Little Miss Matched socks? Because me too. Stupidly priced to get 3 socks that don’t match each other"
- dogz4lfe
$2
"When I went on a school field trip to Washington DC back in middle school, I bought a $2 bill at a souvenir shop for $20. smh"
- ogkudo
"That’s a shame they practically scammed a kid for 18 bucks."
- bluemilkmonday
Timeshare
"I bought a timeshare."
- Dyspaereunia
"This is what I came here to say. The happiest day was when I sold it for 10% of what I paid for it."
- MrGogaan
"My in-laws want to give us theirs in an inheritance and we don't want it. Why pay for maintenance fees that cost the same as if we just walked up and paid for a week?"
- PRMan99
Rush Delivery
"I was drunk and bought Monster Ballads off an infomercial. And I paid an extra $20 for rush delivery, because I was drunk and needed it asap, and it showed up a month later."
- TheDandyWarhol
"The worst part isn't paying for something extra...it's paying and then not getting it."
- siler7
Cory in the House for Nintendo DS
"A copy of Cory in the house for the Nintendo DS"
"Except for 30 dollars"
"In 2019...."
- WobbleFrosty
Fake Family Lineage
"I was just a few weeks out of basic training and bought one of those family lineage with the shields on it and description. I blew $500 or so bucks just to find out it wasn't even accurate."
- th3_warth0g
"Sorry for not understanding, but what exactly did you buy? A tattoo? A graphical drawing? A certificate?"
- GreatCazzywazzy
"It's like this picture frame and in it is the "family crest" for your surname and some cheaply googled facts about the history of your name. IMO they're 100% a scam. If you want to know your lineage get ancestry."
- CanHeWrite
Frogge
"I spent $40 one of those amusement park booths where you had to throw darts at balloons. For some reason, I picked out this really ugly 7ft tall frog stuffed animal. It’s in the corner of my closet and still scares me when I’m half awake in the morning."
- -ariose-
"I had one of those from six flags, I won it early in the day and my dad was so pissed. I named his Froggy McHopperstein and kept him for over ten years, my mom finally got rid of him saying she couldn’t spare that much space for him anymore. RIP."
- usernamemaybe
"At least you won, I spent $35 and didn’t win anything at the basketball game. Then the attendant wasn’t even facing the basket and casually threw it in with one hand."
- ndu867
Star Wars
"I once went to a novelty/thrift shop that had a ton of random sh*t. Ended up spending $10 on a framed picture of Count Dooku, Darth Sidious and Jango Fett from Star Wars since my gf thought it was funny. The frame recently broke and I found out after seeing the back of the picture it was from a calendar when Attack of the Clones came out. Someone just cut this picture out of an old calendar, put it in a frame and my dumb self voluntarily spent $10 on it."
- donnysaur95
"You bought the frame"
- cowboy4life
"At least it’s a fun decoration for when we have guests. It actually has been on the side table by our front door for several years now so a lot of guests see it and comment on the framed Star Wars picture. My gf just says it’s a picture of her grandpa"
- donnysaur95
The Most Beautiful KitchenAid
"I’d had a few drinks (TGIF) and wandered into a Williams Sonoma store in a state of euphoria. There I saw a special edition Kitchen-aide stand mixer made in bronze that was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It was on sale for $999.00. Naturally, I bought it, but because I’m a single guy who doesn’t bake it’s just taking up much needed counter space."
- o_shrub
Beefaroni
"Chef Boyardee beefaroni."
"One summer, because I was hella bored, I bought some chef Boyardee beefaroni and put it in my friend's mailbox as a prank. He didn't find it but his parents did, and they asked their neighbors who did it. He suspected me at first, but I managed to get him off of my tail. Now our neighborhoods were fairly close to eachother, so I could be over there in a 50 minute walk. Every night, I walked up to their neighborhood (walking anywhere at 2:am is creepy as hell but the Boyardee bandit does not stop for demons) and put a can of beefaroni inside their mailbox."
"After about a month, they call the police to find out who's putting beefaroni in their mailbox. Luckily the police really didn't care that much and just told them to get a camera which they eventually did."
"Meanwhile my friend is telling me all of this from his perspective, right, so I usually know what they do before I strike. So I start covering my face, and pretend to hunch over. I have no idea where this camera is, so I can never be too careful. They call the cops again and give them a profile, and now the cops are looking for a crippled beefaroni bandit. After a solid 3 months of this, one of the baggers at the store gets word somehow, and starts getting suspicious because he sees me buying tons of beefaroni. He confronts me, I tell him the truth, and I sh*t you not he starts helping me beefaroni my friend's house. We're putting it all over hiding it in the lawns, porch, fence, you name it. Halloween rolls around, and I dress up as chef Boyardee. I go to my friends house and say 'Your daily subscription to Chef Boyardee beefaroni has ended. Would you like to renew?'."
"I hear laughter in the background, and it's the store clerk. Turns out he recently started dating best friend's sister, and that's how he heard. Truth be told, I don't think I've ever been punched harder than when my friend found out. Good times. We still laugh about it from time to time."
- Swimminginsarcasm
The moral of the story here, kids, is that just because it seems like a good buy at the time doesn't mean it actually is.
The Biggest 'F**k You' Christmas Present Someone Can Give
Gift giving can be hard, especially if you're not sure what the person will like or what they might need.
It's a lot less hard if your goal is to let someone know exactly how much you loathe them, though.
Then you get to get really creative.
Whether it's regifting, getting them something that's obviously from the dollar store or getting their kids the noisiest toy on the planet, there are many evil ways to tick people off with gifts.
Redditor Killmumger asked:
"What's the most 'f**k you' present you can give someone for Christmas?"
Only most of the gift
"Regifting a gift basket but it's obvious that you took out some items that you liked."
- 12thNJ
"Box of mixed chocolates but you’ve picked out all the good ones."
- UsualSuspect907
Oh that's petty
"Once my sister was pissing me off. I got her a $5 gift certificate for a store she was working at. She was pissed."
- aeb1971
"Now that’s an awesome gift! A reminder of the hell that she has to go through every day."
- ryok141
"This is excellent spite. I have a sister and this is the spite we all strive for."
- okeefechris
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
"Regift them what they gave you last year."
- clutteredshovel
"Even better, show up with just a nice gift bag. Take whatever they give you and put it in the gift bag unopened. Then give it back to them."
- qatest
No art for you
"RoseArt craft supplies."
- SparkyMountain
"How dare you give crayons that can't even crayon."
- t_h_o_n_g
"Cra-Z-Art works too."
- metalflygon08
"You monster"
- TenorBanjer
Oooh, gonna need some ice for that burn
"My son gave me a beer mug that said 'ring the bell if you are the best Dad ever'."
"He had removed the bell."
- I-used-to-be-cool-
"Are you sure there was a bell in the first place? Snarkily insulting cards and gifts are pretty common."
- Rapid-Disassembly
"Nah. He had the bell. It was a bike bell."
"He is funny and would have come up with the idea and been laughing all the way up to keeping the straight face as he gave it to me."
- I-used-to-be-cool-
Glitter Hell
"I gave my 4 year old niece a 30-pack of coloured glitter glue. The f**k you was to my husband’s sister in law."
- high5scubadive
Thanks for supporting Planned Parenthood!
"Make a donation in their name to a charity, cause, or organization that is in opposition to their beliefs. Then give them the thank you email/receipt from the donation in a Christmas card or better yet wrap it up in a big box."
- Trick-Silver-4333
"This is an especially big fuck you because the person in whose name you make the donation can’t even deduct it on their taxes. Only the person who actually made the donation can."
- pilesofcleanlaundry
Holy crap do not bring someone's size into it
"A dress deliberately 2 sizes 2 small and then when unwrapping it on Christmas they tell you "it's for motivation" .....f**k you Judy"
- Epic_Cupcake
"MIL gave me a too small shirt and told me the next time she saw me she wanted it to fit me."
- silent_turtle
"Step mom did this every year to me until I went no contact"
- micaub
"Some of the responses here made me laugh, some of them made me roll my eyes, this is the first one that made me go 'what the hell is wrong with people'."
- elmonstro12345
Not quite enough
"A $5 Starbucks gift card. Very few drinks on the menu are less than $5. They’ll most certainly have to pay the difference on the first and only use"
- SortaSticious
"Better yet like a $20 gift card to a really fancy expensive restaurant. Not nearly enough to make a dent in the bill but enough that you would feel bad not using it."
- GetAwayFromMeYouFish
All the noises
"if they are a parent, gift their kids something that makes noise."
- JangoBunBun
"Literally bought my niece and nephew an accordion and a recorder."
- dominationnation
"When my sister's 2nd kid turned 1, I got him a toy key ring/fob that had buttons he could push to make noise. I replaced the cheap batteries with Energizer Lithium and applied Loctite to the screws on the battery door. For good measure, I used a drill to strip the heads of the screws. Then I carefully repackaged it."
"I doubt that damned thing made it all the way back to Arizona from Alabama. Totally worth it, though."
- MrBarraclough
"You evil genius. Thanks for the idea!"
- FlyingTerrier
As you can see, there's quite a bit of variety available for telling someone you can't stand them with gifts. Just get creative, the sky is the limit.
As a kid, I used to think that clothes were the worst gift I could ever receive. What was I going to do with clothes?
Now, as an adult with some lick of fashion sense, I love putting on new clothes and welcome receiving them for my birthday (and assorted holidays).
But you could be the person who hates receiving clothes because you were always given things that didn't fit or things that were clearly picked because you didn't like them in the first place. I've met a few people who've experienced this.
But there are worse gifts out there, believe it or not.
We heard some funny stories (and some sad ones) after Redditor sulemannkhann asked the online community:
"What’s the worst birthday gift you ever got?"
"Thought I was getting..."
"Thought I was getting a bike for my 15th birthday but my foster parents announced that they were sending me to a group home after living with them for 11 years. Devastation!"
irisdenise06
This breaks my heart. So sorry to hear.
"One time I received..."
"One time I received an invite to a restaurant from my dad. The same year he offered my brother to pay for his trip to Japan."
Leif_Milleneule
Go back in time and slap him. Do what you have to do.
"My own scarf."
"My own scarf. Yes, that's right, my mother went into my room took my only scarf, wrapped it and gave it to me like it was a new scarf."
sneakysnakeee
Did she think you wouldn't notice? Sorry.
"HR complaint..."
"HR complaint from two subordinates fighting over how to throw me a surprise birthday party."
BBoyslim
Say what? I really need the whole story here.
"My Asian mom's..."
"My Asian mom's gift was "no extra Kumon homework after school homework" so my birthday gift was that I didn't get extra homework from her."
[deleted]
Ah, Kumon. It's basically school after school. Hope you like homework.
"I was 12."
"A lint remover. I was 12."
WonderWeeble
It sounds like they were trying to tell you something... sorry about that.
"Stomach flu..."
"Stomach flu and my first ever period, at the same time. I think it was my 13th birthday."
kelpself
Oh my. What horrible timing!
"The horse head..."
"My grandma got me a hairbrush with a plastic horse head handle. The horse head was all chipped up and there was hair in the brush."
She picked that up off the street somewhere, didn't she? How awful.
"My grandparents..."
"My grandparents have been gifting me (and my brother) the same set of three vice grips for almost 10 years. Collectively we have 60 vice grips. I don’t know if they bought a pallet of them, or where they are coming from."
mikecardigan
Vice grips? How specific. They bought those by mistake and wanted to get rid of them, didn't they?
"A pair of homemade..."
"A pair of homemade custom pajamas. Only problem was that they weren't made yet. It was just the fabric and a promise to make them for me. I had to give the fabric back and I never got the pajamas."
Revenge_of_the_Khaki
Nooo. That's a shame, because custom pajamas would be so cool.
Ouch. I'm glad I never received gifts as bad as these. Some people truly are thoughtless, aren't they?
Have some stories of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
People Share The Best Male Equivalents Akin To Gifting Someone Flowers
Flowers are beautiful, but they die.
There must be other sorts of tokens someone can give to the men in their life.
Yes, men can receive flowers, except there are things they'd rather receive.
Redditor forsakenneverland wanted to hear some good ideas for presents for gents.
"Men of Reddit, what is the male equivalent of flowers as a gift?"
Money. I will always take money as my flowers.
Deli Trip
Hungry Late Show GIF by The Late Show With Stephen ColbertGiphy"A good sandwich. I was on my way to visit my girlfriend 3 hours away this weekend, and she called and asked if I wanted a grilled cheese waiting for me when I got there. What an exciting gift that was."
Jefffahfffah
Favorites
"When me and my wife were just starting out, I was talking to her on my way home from work about how I was so tired I was probably gonna skip dinner cause I didn't want to cook and didn't have the money to eat out. I don't know when she did it, but when I got home, 2 minutes later a pizza guy showed up with my favorite pizza."
"Inside the box said something like 'I know it's not that healthy, but it's better than not eating.' No one had ever done something like that for me before. Not just the gift of food, but that it was because she didn't want me to skip a meal either. She cared about my well being."
snopuppy
1000% nicer...
"I work as a first responder. One day we were sitting on the truck, stuck in traffic, in the downtown area. A woman walked up to my window and handed me a single rose, smiled, and told me to have a nice day. I didn't even know how to respond to that. But I'll be damned if my day didn't get 1000% nicer after that. I'm in my 40s. That was the only time I remember ever being given flowers, and I regularly think about how nice it felt. Most guys don't get random flowers. Guys should get more random flowers."
Archimedeeznuts
Necessities
"10mm socket."
Cyclist007
"Nothing says I love you like a good terminal screwdriver."
mabye_iron_man
"My GF just dropped my 11mm into my engine bay never to be seen again. That's like taking flowers away from someone."
Lycantiger20
Hold Me
Hugs Love GIF by joeyahlbumGiphy"Hugs."
Dralion2k
"Yep. Even one would be great. Not sure if this sounds pathetic but I haven't been hugged in forever and I really want a long hug from anyone."
emoskeleton_
Just hold me close. I'll take it. Lasts longer than a rose.
Sexy
sexy man GIFGiphy"Literally any acknowledgement of the dudes physical being. Not sure if it's just my experience or if it's a general thing but any acknowledgement of any part of myself will keep me going for a week."
AHorsesSpoonInABasin
True love language...
"Food, homemade."
Zarniwoooop
"Agreed. My daughter always makes me brownies for Father's day. Best present ever."
statisticus
"I’m a woman, and I’d prefer homemade food to flowers. Food is a true love language. When you care enough to prepare something special for someone, you’re truly showing how you feel."
StrangerKatchoo
Good Trade
"I bought my wife an expensive ring for our 8 year anniversary. She bought me a £18 switch game. Good trade I think. Male equivalent to flowers is probably money spent on a hobby."
Jamesxxxiii
"Or permission to spend money on the hobby. My wife has no idea about my hobbies. She’s tried a couple of times but there’s a lot that an outsider wouldn’t consider. But if she says to me 'I’ve found some money in the budget, reckon you can spend $50?' I know exactly what I’m getting!"
"Or even better: take him shopping. Tell him you want to get him something for his hobby but you don’t understand it enough. So ask him to take you to whichever store is involved, ask about it, point to another item and ask why his choice is better. He’ll start budgeting engagement rings!"
Conchobar8
A Hot Second
"Honestly, the only time I've ever felt like how I imagine others feel when they receive flowers, I had talked to a friend who lives far away the evening before about how I was having a hard time, and then she just turned up at my door to give me a hug before she had to go catch a bus to her parent's house. Between the utter surprise at her of all people turning up at my door, to how needed that hug was, I was completely in love with her for a hot second there."
NomenNescio13
Classics
keanu reeves flowers GIFGiphy"My wife buys me flowers sometimes, and I really like it."
Transvaal_Kampioen
"Yeah, I agree that the male version of flowers is flowers."
TheMooseIsBlue
Flowers always say it best, but the other ideas work.
What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.