Work Holiday Gift Swaps

Ciardasully

What does everyone think of work Holiday gift swaps?  Just wondering.  I had mine at work and it always seems like I put in effort to get a nice gift and I always wind up with an obviously re-gifted piece of junk.  (I am a geek.  I googled and this item is no longer available and had bad reviews) I am debating on just throwing it away and not going swaps again or just wrapping it up for next year and releasing it back into the work swap universe.  I am leaning towards just not doing swaps anymore.  Because there are always the people that never put any thought or effort into things and I always seem to get the bad luck. 

Ciardasully

See, that sounds like a fun gift!  

I guess I am just jaded.   My father always tell me I expect too much from people.  A lot of people brought nice gifts and of course there is always going to the person who regifts.  It's like pot-lucks.  There are always the people who put in a lot of effort and those you never bring anything but are the first ones in line.  I just needed to vent.

ski2play

Yes, what did you get.  I like work gift swaps but I agree, they are like pot lucks, sometimes it is good, sometimes it is not so good.  That $50 prize sounds delightful sparky!

tracym77

I feel the same way about swaps and potlucks but I always felt obligated to do them.  Plus, I hated the work swaps the past couple years because I hated some of my coworkers who were also participating.  Couldn't fathom having to shop for these awful people.

I once drew the name of my work nemesis but I thought fast, said "oops, I picked my own name!" (good thing I was one of the first to pick. ha), threw it back in and got a new person.  I finally had to nerve to decline last year's exchange.

Sparkly, that's is an awesome gift.  Lucky.

daria24

My FI just had his work gift swap-they had a $10 limit and every in the dept made an effort to get nice gifts. Except the person that had FI's name. What did he get? A Justin Bieber singing toothbrush. It did not go over well

Avion22

I'm not a fan of work gift-swaps or Secret Santas because it feels too forced for me.  It's really hard to get something nice for someone you're not close to.

However, I really enjoy white elephant gift swaps.  I think they're fun:-)

sweetcanadian1979

We are having a ss at my new job, i spent the limit on a nice gift, something i would like if it was me (that is how i choose these things, would never get something tacky or re-gift). I think that is so tacky, why participate if you are not going to actually get something decent. 

mica178

I'd donate the crappy gift to Goodwill, personally.

I usually participate in whatever holiday nonsense is going on.  I try to bring a good gift (usually wine).  If I don't like what I get, I donate it.  That way, I get a tax deduction, and hopefully someone who wants it will be able to get it at a huge discount.