I started Christmas shopping early to be able to space out my purchases so I don't get stuck with one giant credit card bill. Usually I know people's hobbies or interests well enough that I can figure out at lease a few nice things for them. But every. Single. Year. Shopping for my dad is a stressful nightmare.
It's like trying to shop for Sheldon Cooper. He's extremely particular and extremely anal, and if he doesn't like the gift he will straight-up say so. Can't get him food cuz that's one of the easy go-to gifts so EVERYONE gets him food stuff (spices, dry rubs, roasted nuts, chocolates, caramels, etc) and then most of it just ends up sitting in the pantry for years till he throws it out. Yes, years. Can't get him wine cuz he's a wine collector and has an entire wine cellar packed full of some very valuable bottles. I don't have the money to buy anything remotely as nice as the wine he already has. He goes fishing, but he is EXTREMELY particular about which fishing gear he uses. He grills, but I already got him a new set of grill accessories, grill gloves, cedar chips, wood planks, etc etc etc over the past couple years. We even bought him a new grill for father's day. He hated it. We returned it.
*Edited the title because brain thinking hard
Tools are out. He has more tools than a hardware store. Ties are out. He's retired. I've already gotten him a ton of golf stuff. Last year I got him a nice pair of gloves but so did my mom and it made him angry to receive two pairs of gloves. He actually got angry. I've made him paintings, I spent quite a lot of time on a drawing and paid to have it matted and framed so it looked nice, and I've had nice photos blown up and framed. He does not hang these up. I don't know what has happened to any of them because I never see them again which leads me to believe he did not like any of them.
He will only use one particular razor. He hates pajamas. He hates slippers. He hates board games. I've gotten him movies but he doesn't watch them. I've tried getting him tickets to see his favorite hockey team but they're too expensive these days, even the bad seats. Usually I end up buying him a boring sweatshirt or something like that. He will not wear a new watch because he likes his old one. When we buy him watches, he makes us return them.
Important note: He HATES gift certificates. With a passion. He takes them as an insult; says that it shows the gift giver didn't care enough to put any thought into an actual gift.
TLDR: what do you buy for the person who doesn't like anything and hates gift cards???