People Share the Worst Gifts They've Ever Received

Whether it's the holiday season or one of those months when you have to attend a friend's wedding followed by some birthdays, exchanging gifts helps bring smiles to your loved one's faces; unless the present is so terrible that it leaves them with unanswered questions.

A woman opening a gift | Source: Shutterstock

Gift-giving is an art that requires a delicate balance between thoughtfulness and practicality. While a well-chosen present can bring joy and happiness to the recipient, a poorly chosen one can leave them disappointed and unappreciated.

Some Redditors opened up about the worst gifts they have ever received, from the bizarre to the downright offensive. They weren't expecting to unwrap something that leaves them speechless, that too in an unexpected way.

Comments have been edited for clarity and grammar.

1. That's Not My Wishlist!

A person holding a phone and a card with a laptop in the background | Source: Shutterstock

u/P0werSurg3: My parents found the Amazon wishlist of someone with the same name as me but NOT me, thought it was a bunch of weird items, and decided NOT to check in with me or any other family member to see if they had the correct list. As a 24-year-old male, that's how I got a maternity body pillow for Christmas.

2. The Beloved Dog

An empty dog bed in a room | Source: Shutterstock

u/everyone1hatesme: My mother-in-law gave my 1-year-old daughter her dead dog's bed as a Christmas present. She said it was for my daughter's naps.

3. Gifts for the Couple

A person holding two gift boxes| Source: Shutterstock

u/lunnrais: The very first holiday after my wedding, my MIL sent my wife and me, each separately, the same self-help book on how to survive living with an abusive spouse.

Not how to divorce or anything, but how to live IN the relationship with an abusive spouse. Not just to her, not just to me. To both of us. Two copies of the book.

4. Crockpots Every Year

A woman talking to someone | Source: Shutterstock

u/sevensevensixseven: I received the same crockpot from my ex-husband's mother three years in a row.

She gifted his new wife one last year. I'm confident this woman has a pallet of crockpots stashed somewhere in her house.

5. The Savage Present

An alarm clock | Source: Pexels

u/[deleted]: The Christmas after my mum died, I got an alarm clock as my present. Her husband said it was so I 'might wake up in the morning now and actually contribute something.' Still salty eight years later. He's dead now, though, so who is the real winner?

6. It's Supposed to Be like That!

A child standing with his hands behind his back | Source: Pexels

u/The_Brain_Fuckler: I got a rubber Hulk Hogan figurine (it looked like it was a Christmas ornament with the loop snipped off) glued to a very effeminate toy horse.

An elderly family friend gave it to me and wouldn't stop mentioning how "they are supposed to look like that; that's how it came from the store," even though I didn't voice any doubts. It's also kind of the best gift I ever got.

7. Are You Afraid of Clowns?

A clown figure | Source: Shutterstock

u/mayonnaisejane: Clowns. Every year, a new clown. I tried to tell my Abuelito I don't like clowns. They are weird.

I got a new clown figurine, doll, lamp, picture, or whatever every year for Christmas and birthday. I have BOXES of clowns.

Thankfully, sometime in my mid-twenties, my father managed to divert him to kittens. But that was only after four awkward years when he decided I loved cows. I don't love cows, either.

On the bright side, since I kept them all on my dresser growing up, I was never afraid of clowns. They're just background noise to me. I could probably walk into one in a dark alley and just be all, "Oh... it's just one more clown."

8. My Uncle's Gift

A puzzled young boy | Source: Shutterstock

u/ediaNS: My uncle gave me an Xbox Live points card for my birthday. When I went to redeem it, it said, "Card not activated." This happened two years in a row until my mom told him about it.

9. Is That a Rock?

A woman holding the lid of a gift box with a scarf inside | Source: Shutterstock

u/gennieb7: A few years ago, my aunt gave me a rock. She gave presents to me and my two older cousins and said it was time for the big girls to open their gifts.

She made my cousins go first, and they got scarves. When I opened my present and pulled a rock out of the package, I looked up, waiting for her to laugh.

Instead, she asked, "Isn't it wonderful?" I said, "Yeah, I love it." She told me she had dug it out of her garden the previous summer and said she knew I would think it was so cool.

The following year, she gave me acorn tops because "some people know how to use them to whistle, and I don't know how to show you or explain, but I'm sure you can figure it out." She is a tad eccentric. Both were pretty terrible presents.

10. One Pair of Socks

A pair of socks | Source: Pexels

u/justatypo: The first year at family Christmas with my now-wife, her Nanna gifted me one pair of socks.

The best part was that it was one pair of sports socks you get in a pack of 10. So, she bought a pack and just wrapped one pair for me.

Of course, at the time, I wanted to act super grateful, so I pulled off my current socks super enthusiastically and put on the new ones as soon as I opened them. (I think my socks were actually a little damp from the winter anyway.)

11. The Missing Packages

A video game store | Source: Shutterstock

u/I_am_paperclip: I had some excess cash when I got home from college. I decided to invest in some new video games for myself and had them sent to my house.

The strange thing was I had only received half of the games. I emailed the suppliers and told them I hadn't gotten my packages yet and was growing quite sad.

Well, Christmas morning came around, and I was opening up my presents. I got to the one from my older brothers.

I tore the paper away and opened the box. Inside it were several other packages that had been mailed to our house with my name on them.

It turned out my brother had taken half of my games and hid them from me until Christmas… Worst present ever.

12. The Difference in Treatment

An angry older man | Source: Shutterstock

u/77jeep: One Christmas, my millionaire dad and his wife gifted my brother a house and a new Escalade for his family while they gave me a gift card to Men's Warehouse for $200.

When he turned 40, they gave him $100,000. When I turned 40, they bought me dinner. They provided him with a 'college fund' of $250,000.00 for his kids.

When his kids dropped out of high school, they handed him the money to spend on cars, etc. Meanwhile, when my kids (straight A) graduated high school, my father and his wife told me that it was my responsibility to pay for my kids' education.

Once, when I asked why there was such a difference in treatment, my dad told me I was being ungrateful.

13. You Should Be Grateful!

A frustrated teen girl sitting on the ground | Source: Shutterstock

u/morgueanna: I was a step-grandchild, and my grandmother sold Avon to feed her QVC addiction. So, while the other six grandchildren got genuine leather jackets, diamond jewelry, motocross lessons, and, one year, an actual motocross bike, I got plastic Avon jewelry.

For reasons too long to list here, I got placed with my grandparents two weeks before Christmas when I was 16.

I watched everyone open their gifts, and then one aunt gave me a Walmart bag with some socks. Another one told me I should be grateful that the family was taking me in instead of leaving me on the street, and that was my present.

Seven aunts and uncles and their spouses, along with my grandparents, and that's how they treated me in a situation that was out of my control. Needless to say, I don't talk to my family anymore.

14. Some Bizarre Gifts

A red paperbag | Source: Pexels

u/MizSanguine: My brother got a pocketknife wrapped like candy in a small cylinder package (an old toilet paper roll). Excited, I started unwrapping mine that looked similar.

Underwear. There was only underwear inside. And once a bathroom faucet. That is when I knew my childhood was over.

15. Resolidified Chocolate

A chocolate bar | Source: Pexels

u/SquatChick315: I got expired chocolate on Christmas from an aunt who loved gifting her old presents to others yet always expected expensive, top-notch gifts for her children on Christmas and birthdays.

Not only was the chocolate expired, but it was also evident that it had melted entirely and resolidified.

When I noticed, I went to her and said, "OMG! This chocolate is so good, you have to try it!" in front of the whole family.

I watched her unwrap a piece of chocolate, and when she noticed how it looked, she was hesitant to eat it.

When she looked at me, I just smiled and said, "It's the best chocolate ever!" Then, I watched her slowly bring it to her mouth and try to eat it.

She quickly walked to the kitchen immediately afterward. I think I've only seen her once since that moment almost nine years ago.

16. The Book

People in a bookstore | Source: Pexels

u/hickory-smoked: My friend's wife gave me a copy of "A Night Without Armor," the book of poetry by Jewel. Not that I actively dislike Jewel or anything, but it was so clearly something she saw on a discount gift rack the day of my birthday and said, "Yes, this is an object."

17. The Cool Ball

A boy holding a light ball | Source: Pexels

u/BloodChicken: The only present I got for Christmas was a little light-up ball. You put your finger on the two metal tabs, or you and someone else while holding the other hands, and the ball lights up.

It wasn't awful, but it was underwhelming. After I figured out what it was and how it worked and tried it with a few people, Dad asked me if he could try, so I said sure.

I passed him the ball, and he immediately threw it on the ground hard enough to break it. "I thought it was a bouncy ball!" he said.

18. That's My Gameboy!

A boy mowing a lawn | Source: Shutterstock

u/tall_where_it_counts: When I was about 12 years old, I mowed lawns to earn some money for myself, and I spent many months saving up to buy a Gameboy Advance.

I loved this thing and played it incessantly for hours every day. Two months later, on my little brother's birthday, my parents bought him a Gameboy Advance game, just the game cartridge. He didn't have a Gameboy.

I was frustrated because I was forced to share my Gameboy with him, and when I was visibly salty about it, my parents told me to stop being selfish.

It's not that I didn't want to share with my brother, but it was unfair that they bought him a gift he could not use without borrowing my prized possession. When I expressed my annoyance, they made me feel guilty about it.

19. Taxidermy Gone Wrong

A brown deer | Source: Pexels

u/Tarsala3791: I received a taxidermied deer hoof with a candle holder stuck where the ankle would be. Only it's bad taxidermy, so it is constantly shedding a fine white powder on the table.

20. I Was Excited

Gift boxes under a Christmas tree | Source: Shutterstock

u/christinagleas: When I was a wee seven years old, my grandmother placed a long skinny box with my name on it under the Christmas tree about a week before the holiday.

For the next seven days, my small self drooled over the idea of a play baby stroller folded up in that box, just waiting to be filled with various stuffed animals.

On that magical morning, I ripped the box open only to discover it was a VACUUM CLEANER. Not a toy one, either. A real-life, serious, small vacuum cleaner.

My grandmother claimed it was a great idea because "I loved cleaning when I visited her house." That's because you're basically a hoarder, and your house is disgusting, Granny.

21. Cotton Balls in a Bag

A person holding cotton balls | Source: Pexels

u/Thewrongbakedpotato: I got a Ziploc bag filled with cotton balls with the words "ghost poos" written on the bag with a Sharpie.

22. My Aunt Was a Re-Gifter

A pair of golden earrings and a bracelet | Source: Shutterstock

u/pixierambling: My aunt tried to re-gift me a bracelet and earrings I had bought for her a few months earlier. It was insulting to hear, "Oh Pixie! I got these ESPECIALLY for you!" in a saccharine voice.

The funny part is that she forgot we even gave it to her, considering my brother and I were the only people in the family who remembered her birthday and even bothered to do anything about it.

23. My Brother's Present

A man drawing on a notebook | Source: Shutterstock

u/[deleted]: My brother gave me a hand turkey that he drew minutes earlier for Christmas. This would have been okay if he was five or something. He was 21 years old. I framed it and gifted it back to him the following year.

24. I Was a Little Kid

Ceramic pears with a lemon and pomegranate | Source: Shutterstock

u/vodkaenthusiast89: I got a set of miniature butter knives with ceramic fruit and vegetables as the handles from an aunt who said I was "so hard to shop for." I was 7.

25. The Unexpected Gift

A young girl under a comforter | Source: Pexels

u/nineeighteen83: I received a spam calendar. Twelve months of…pictures of spam. I was a 14-year-old girl. I didn't know what to do with my face when I opened it.

26. A Unique Way to Gift Money

A gift box | Source: Pexels

u/Hummussed: My grandpa was planning on giving me a tissue box with money in it (I'm still not sure why). Anyway, he wrapped the wrong box, and I opened a box of tissues on Christmas morning.

27. I Was Excited for the Gift

Art supplies | Source: Pexels

u/funky_grandma: One year, I got what was actually a super cool present. My parents had worked for months putting together this awesome art kit.

It was a big toolbox filled with good scissors, glue, paint, colored pencils, glitter, and every other thing a crafty little kid could want.

The problem was, every time they would go upstairs to add to it, they had a running joke where they would say, "We're going upstairs to feed your present" or "We need to take your present for a walk."

So, of course, instead of being a little kid stoked to get a huge box of art supplies on Christmas morning, I was a little kid devastated that I didn't get a puppy.

28. I Cried after Getting My Gift

A girl hiding her face with her hands | Source: Pexels

u/DogtownPD: When I was eight or nine, my grandma gave me a Christmas ornament. It was a little stuffed cherub with pink cheeks and yarn hair. I cried because I had saved up my allowance to buy it for her the year before.

29. My Husband's Stepmother

A woman with a serious face | Source: Pexels

u/[deleted]: My husband's stepmother gave me, a 36-year-old at the time, a kindergarten-size backpack, and when I opened it, she said, "I actually bought that for ——- (a child) a few years ago. She hated it, so I threw it in a closet, and I saw it and thought you'd like it. None of us did. We all think it's ugly."

That same year, they gave my three kids gifts totaling $15 with clearance stickers on them while her biological granddaughter opened a $300 unicorn.

They made sure we knew the cost— $300, and then they pointed out to everyone our clearance stickers and what great deals they were (they weren't), and then they made my kids leave the room so the granddaughter could take pics alone with her unicorn. It was the last Christmas we visited them.

30. My Aunt

An older woman | Source: Pexels

u/jimboknows6916: My aunt gave me two of the worst gifts. Poor lady. She wasn't in the best financial situation and had arthritis and cancer. But she was sweet beyond what she should have been.

When I was 16, she gifted me a vampire makeup kit. I had never mentioned anything about vampires. I was kind of your run-of-the-mill jock, just worried about sports and friends.

When I was 15, I got a floppy black hat with an elastic piece on the back and pennies glued to the bill with glitter glue.

31. The Gift My Ex Gave Me

A ring in a box | Source: Pexels

u/BlackLetterLies: An ex gave me an engagement ring for herself with the idea that I would use it to propose to her.

She also gave specific instructions on how and when I should do it, as well as stipulations that she would be the one planning our wedding.

We had a terrible relationship, and I had been planning on breaking up with her right after the holidays (which I did).

I couldn't understand how she thought we were even close to being on the same page, and once it was all over, I realized the obvious and what everyone had been trying to tell me for three years—I was in an abusive relationship. Still, who buys a ring for someone to give back to them? It's just bad gifting.

32. The Suitcase

A suitcase | Source: Pexels

u/ragedandobtused: When I was ten, my grandparents gave me an unwrapped suitcase for Christmas. In the interests of convenience, they used that suitcase for the wrapped presents for my sisters.

33. My Girlfriend's Family

A rubber duck | Source: Pexels

u/TheOriginalH1h: This was actually a recent one. I've been with my girlfriend for about 2-3 years now. Her family considers me a part of their family, but my girlfriend's mom and aunt are probably the most hypocritical and insane people you could ever meet.

Her aunt believes that if you use a GPS, you don't deserve to live in that state (she proceeded to get everyone lost when she drove us around on vacation. She had lived in Florida for 27 years by that time).

The mom is a manipulative narcissist who actually said to my girlfriend and a mutual friend of ours that the only reason she has my girlfriend around is that she uses her to let her anger out (i.e., yells about nonsensical things, pushes her, or makes her feel like she is worth nothing 24/7).

For Christmas, I went to my girlfriend's home to celebrate with them before celebrating with my girlfriend at my house. I got a present from the aunt who sent something over.

I received a single rubber duck that had the bottom torn out. A note was stuffed in the opening, and on that note was the sentence, "If you are reading this, you killed the birdie!" and a painted rock that was just painted black with the words "best buds" on it.

The mom was the worst one, though. I got a nutcracker. I didn't fully understand it at the time. But I finally got it when my girlfriend's dad took me aside and said hushedly, "I'm sorry for the gift, but Tray has given that to [eldest daughter's] boyfriends as a threat."

That's right. I got a broken rubber duck that blamed me for ending its life, a painted rock, and a threat that if I did ANYTHING to hurt my girlfriend (more than what the mom already does), her mother would use the NUTCRACKER.

34. We Already Have Three of Those!

A wristwatch | Source: Pexels

u/tealgrayone: The year I gave my ex-husband a Tag Heuer watch, he gave me a $19.99 Walmart blender. We already had three blenders.

35. "Thrift Santa" Gifts

A woman opening a box | Source: Shutterstock

u/Yippee614: Every year, my aunt gives our family "Thrift Santa" gifts, like a bunch, from thrift stores. The thing is, nothing relates to anything.

The worst I've gotten was an adult book when I was 13/14 (awkward) and a New York Yankees baby onesie. I don't have kids. I don't watch baseball.

36. That Was Unexpected

A yellow-colored bottle | Source: Pexels

u/omfgbrb: I got a bottle of raccoon urine. Not joking. A completely sealed, brand-new bottle of raccoon urine.

37. I Wasn't Interested

A person wearing snowshoes | Source: Pexels

u/ArianaGlans: My ex-wife bought me snowshoes for Christmas during the last year we were together. She got them after multiple discussions about the fact that I was not interested in going snowshoeing with her and her friends.

38. Grandma Never Liked Me

Close-up of an older woman | Source: Shutterstock

u/Pre_Gen_Character: When I was 18, my grandma gave me the card label from a gift card (no actual gift card). She had shoved it into an empty toilet paper tube and wrapped it like a gift. All of my siblings got actual gift cards. Grandma never liked me much.

39. I Didn't Like That Combination of Gifts

A Christmas tree with gifts | Source: Pexels

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u/la_petite_sorciere: My brother's ex gave me a boyfriend pillow and a stepper one Christmas. It was a bit of a slap in the face with that combo.

40. The Used Gift

A person holding a pair of roller skates | Source: Pexels

u/Gheauxst: I got a pair of old roller skates. It wasn't the gift that was bad. It was the principle behind it.

My mother, sister, and I lived with my aunt and cousins (we fell on hard times). Around Christmas (I was about ten years old), my sister went off with her friends, so I was the only one of my mother's children present.

There were about seven other kids there (additional cousins), and when we woke up, they all had all sorts of neat toys, games, and gadgets. I had a single pair of old roller skates. I asked my mom what the deal was.

I was expecting an answer like "Your grades weren't good enough" or "We don't have the money right now." Nope. Without hesitation, she looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I forgot about you."

41. Lose Some Weight!

A woman holding shopping bags | Source: Pexels

u/BlueBunny3874: I went shopping with my aunt. She made me try on clothing that she had bought. I was so excited and then found out nothing fits me.

She bought two sizes smaller and said you will look so good in these when you lose weight. I was 16. I was really upset.

42. My Mom Got a Bad Gift

A woman unwrapping a Christmas present | Source: Pexels

u/Theunpolitical: I got used underwear! Technically, it was not me. It was my Mom. Her friend found a pair of lacy panties in her drawer, and she didn't like wearing the lacy kind.

She wrapped them up and gave them to my Mom as a Christmas present when she and the girlfriends had a gift exchange.

Did I mention that the underwear had no elasticity? This happened about 20 years ago, and we still laugh while discussing it!

43. My 30th Birthday

30th birthday balloons | Source: Pexels

u/joannvmd: On my 30th birthday, my mother sent me an absolutely hideous brown and pink print polyester chiffon blouse that was about two sizes too small for me, along with a note bragging about the fact that she bought it at Goodwill for 50 cents.

I have no words to describe how it was NOT my style. [For comparison, my sister's 30th birthday gift from our mother was a weekend in New Orleans with her then-boyfriend.]

44. I Expected More

A man thinking about something | Source: Shutterstock

u/Gunslinger_11: My brother gave me a keychain that could store photos, while I bought him a superb printer (under duress) for Christmas.

I tossed the keychain cause my flip phone at the time could store photos and kept the charging cable for my Garmin GPS because Google Maps was four years away from being a thing.

45. My Allergy

A woman sneezing with a tissue on her nose and mouth | Source: Shutterstock

u/mistermanhat: My grandmother thought giving me aspirin for Christmas one year would be funny. She said she thought it would be funny and that I take my allergy "too seriously." I'm allergic to aspirin.

46. Box of peanut butter cup cookies

Woman's hands dipping cookie in coffee | Getty Images

Deleted user: My father-in-law gave me a box of peanut butter cup cookies, but the package didn't mention peanuts anywhere. He pretended to forget about my severe peanut allergy.

I saw him laughing as my husband rushed me to the hospital. I GOT MY CRUEL REVENGE! Three days later, I received tons of angry texts from my furious mother-in-law.

At that moment, my husband burst into the room, his face red, yelling, 'WHAT DID YOU DO TO DAD'S CAR?' I had secretly filled it with dozens of air fresheners – the one scent he absolutely despises.

He couldn't even sit in it without gagging. My husband was fuming, but I calmly explained it was a taste of his own medicine. Now, both our families are in a standoff, but I feel my point was made loud and clear.

47. A plastic pig

A plastic pig | Shutterstock

Deleted user: Every New Year's since I was 6, my stepmom has given me a plastic pig. Yes, a pig. Every. Single. Year. I always acted surprised because she has some mental health issues, and I didn't want to upset her.

But this year, my sister couldn't take it anymore.She: "Are you seriously still clueless?"Me: "Clueless about what?"She: "Check the underside of the pig." I looked, and my heart just stopped.

There was a tiny note – "Just because it's funny!" Every year, it turns out, my stepmom thought it was a hilarious joke to give the same odd gift. There was no deeper meaning, no secret treasure, just a quirky sense of humor that I never quite understood.

An older woman giving a gift to a man | Source: Shutterstock

Receiving unexpected gifts isn't something new. Like these Redditors, it has happened to most of us, and we may have also kept some of those gifts to give them to someone else later.

However, some of these stories revealed how people choose expensive items for their favorite person in the family while they give something useless to the person they don't like. Has something similar ever happened to you? We would love to know about it.