Just what the title says! I was raised to ALWAYS get a gift receipt when shopping for others. Is this old-school now?
FYI, my baby is almost 6 months old now but I thought this was the best sub for the topic.
I think I’ve gotten ONE gift receipt out of all the gifts we got at our baby shower and beyond. And we’ve been inundated. I’m incredibly grateful for all the thoughtful gifts. I’m being nit-picky here, but many of the clothing we received is the wrong season for the size he’ll be in. He’s going to be going up to 6-9 months in a few weeks and it’s the middle of a freezing winter here in New England. We received 3-4 weather appropriate clothing items in that size, but 5-6 short and t-shirt outfits that will almost definitely be of no use until he’s just grown out of them. Even spring time here is usually too cool for shorts.
Conversely, he’ll be 12 months in the middle of the summer and he got HEAPS of winter clothes (heavy jacket/vest, sweatpants and sweatshirts, Sherpa materials, etc) in size 9-12 and only a couple summer items. I’m hoping they’ll still fit him in the fall since people have told me their kids stayed in 12m clothing for a while, but so far this boy has been right on-size (traded up to 3-6 months at exactly 3 months, trading up to 6-9 months at exactly 6 months, I expect this pattern to continue).
Again, I appreciate the gifts and I would have zero problem taking them in for exchange/credit but I can’t because I don’t have any gift receipts! I already looked online and most of them are not sold anymore so if I bring them in for store credit without a receipt I might get a measly $2 if anything. At this point I think I will keep them out of hope he can wear them a couple of times and regift them if not. I realize that people have so much less and I do appreciate the abundance we have, but I do think it’s a shame that people wasted their money on gifts for him that he won’t be able to wear, and now we will have to go and spend more money to supplement his closet with weather-appropriate clothing. It’s not even about the money for me, I honestly just hate waste.
If you’ve made it this far: thanks for reading my entitled rant.
TLDR; GIFT RECEIPTS ARE A THING! PLEASE REMEMBER TO GET THEM WHEN YOU’RE SHOPPING FOR OTHERS!
BabyBumps users and moderators are not medical professionals. You should always call your provider with any concerns.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Honestly…. I couldn’t tell you the last time I was asked if I wanted a gift receipt. Add to that the fact that a lot of people just order online now, or do self check out at a place like Target…. I can see why. It’s frustrating, but I kind of think people just forget it’s something they can ask for.
A lot of places ask if it’s a gift when shopping online. I wish people clicked that option more often. I feel for OP because this has been my experience where clothes are out of season (I’m on #5). I just don’t ask for clothes so I can get it myself.
I appreciate your empathy! We’re clearly not alone in this! I’ve never asked for clothes either - people just can’t help themselves! Which is totally fair! Shopping for baby clothes is so fun! Not so fun? Ending up with piles of unusable gifts! Ugh.
No problem! I totally agree it’s not fun having unusable gifts! I’ve ended up donating a lot of brand new clothes before.
Since you said you’re on #5 I may as well ask - did your kids stay in 12m clothing for longer than previous sizes? When I lightheartedly complained to my mom about the 12m fall/winter clothes for my July baby, she assured me that her kids were in 12m for a long time and the clothes will probably continue to fit into the fall. There are a few I do have a receipt for and were purchased as Christmas gifts so I’m debating whether to go and exchange them now or leave it up to chance.
Well, I have boys and none of them stayed in 12 months long. They skipped 6-9 months (that was the size I never got use or was out of season). My 1 year old is in 24 month/2t clothes and all of the 12 month stuff I had was either out of season or he only wore for maybe 2-3 weeks? I’ve honestly not had them in a size long enough to make it stretch until they got into the 3t-5t sizes.
I only got gift receipts from a friend who had just had her own baby shower a few weeks prior 🥲
Clearly she understood 😞
I didn’t get a single one, either! I returned a few things for store credit (can return to most places without a receipt) and then used the store credit to purchase what I needed.
The problem I am finding is that if you return without a receipt, they give you the current sale price for the item. Looking online, all these items are out of stock now and I would get a rock bottom clearance price like $3 or $4 - not even enough to replace them. Preventable with a simple gift receipt!
This is why I don’t ask for clothes in a registry. At least some online stores ask if it’s a gift but people don’t think to select that option and just buy whatever.
I had no clothes on my registry bc I knew people would buy clothes even if I didn’t ask them to lol. People just love buying baby clothes and I honestly can’t blame them!
Exactly! You end up with baby clothes anyways lol. No point in putting what you want since no one buys it or gets the right size.
I know many shops now have stopped doing them. I got a family member a gift for a newborn and asked for a gift receipt only to be told they don’t do them and it would be an exchange only for a different size without the original receipt
That’s terrible! I asked for a few recently while buying holiday gifts and didn’t run into this issue.
Are you in the UK? Im in the UK and know different countries will have different rules. I hate that I’ve not been able to get gift receipts as easily as I used to be able to
No, I’m in the US! They’re definitely still available here, I think people either just don’t know about them or don’t remember to ask for them, and employees must not be trained to offer them anymore.
That makes sense, it used to be customer services would give you them here and now whenever I’ve tried I’ve been told they aren’t available…mental really!
I got gift receipts for our angel tree child for Christmas but none of the gifts extended family members mailed my son had gift receipts or even anything identifying who sent them. Super annoying to have to guess who sent them to thank them appropriately.
The first gift he opened from a relative didn't work, even when we switched the batteries four times so then we had to awkwardly ask for her for the receipt and deal with the hassle of returning something which, frankly, if any of his family members had asked, I would have said please no gifts we're getting ready to move.
We got a bunch of doubles and therefore went to target to get credit for them. The annoying thing is that target only allows you to get credit for $100 worth without a receipt per ID. Some of the items like bouncers and walkers are super pricey so we were unable to return everything. The cashier at the customer service was so rude about it and acted like we stole the items. I had my registry thru target but not everyone followed it or either didn't indicate they bought the item.
Oh don’t even get me started on buying off-registry! That’s my biggest pet peeve with the only exception being for clothes IF THEY GIVE A RECEIPT IN CASE IT DOESNT FIT!!! You can probably tell I’m heated about this topic. Why should you - heavily pregnant or with a newborn baby - have to go around to different stores begging to return or exchange items because people specifically chose to ignore the curated list of items you specifically said you needed, which also says which items have already been purchased!!!! That makes me indescribably frustrated!!
Nobody I know is giving items priced above $100 at my shower besides maybe my mom. I get where you’re coming from but it is feeling a bit entitled.
Um okay? I'm not trying to sound entitled. Just because you didn't have someone beside your mom give you high ticket items?
Yes, family and friends both gave us high ticket items. We have lots of family and friends and therefore had a big turnout for our babyshower. We understand we are blessed and are beyond grateful! However, it doesn't make sense to keep doubles? So of course we wanted to get credit for these items! What else should we have done?
And it's $100 worth for the entire year for each ID. Me and my husband both maxed out for the year before returning everything.
I’m not talking about the price of the return accepted or how long or whether it makes sense to return doubles. It’s the complaining about having to go through the effort and “why should a pregnant or post pardom person have to do this”- after getting many expensive gifts just felt that way to me.
I’m sure it is frustrating. I also added immediately that I would want gift receipts and I understand why you would too. Nvm though I really don’t care that much about this to put forth the effort to explain.
I understand what you’re saying, I do. Is this the worst issue anyone has ever faced? Of course not. But I’ve always been of the mind that just giving a gift in itself isn’t always thoughtful. In fact, it’s very easy to give a gift with very little thought involved. What makes a gift truly thoughtful is considering what happens to it after you’ve given it to the recipient. For example: Is it something that will be used often, will it bring joy? Or, does it create more work for the recipient, creating a burden for them? It’s not that it’s such a horrific thing having to make exchanges etc. It’s the question of why one should have to? If the gifter had put just a little bit more forethought into it… especially with something like doubles! That’s such an easy one - just check the registry and make sure nobody else has purchased it yet! I would personally feel terrible if I gave someone a gift and it added more work for them, particularly when they are going through pregnancy and the birth of a child.
I would definitely want gift receipts- don’t get me wrong. That makes perfect sense.
The limit for $100 is not just for one item, it’s a a monthly or yearly limit I believe. I don’t understand how the price is relevant. The point is not wanting items to go to waste.
I was referring to both you, and your commenter, who was talking about getting duplicates of things and returning a bouncer or swing (which they stated were expensive.) Also an option could be to have your husband return some, and you return some.
I commented already saying I agree about the receipts.
Do you know where they’re from? Can you exchange them?
Yes, I know where they’re all from but the vast majority are out of stock/discontinued so exchange for the same item is not an option and store credit wouldn’t be worth it as I’d get the last call clearance price - maybe $3 or $4. I’d rather regift them at that point. This is exactly why gift receipts exist.
If they were just purchased and are already on clearance, they were likely on clearance from the beginning and that’s what you would see on the gift receipt. You’re still only getting an exchange or store credit with the gift receipt anyway as the point is it doesn’t show the price. That said, also ask people for the receipt. Hey we don’t think baby will fit these by summer, do you happen to still have the receipt?
They weren’t just purchased recently. My baby is six months old and most of these are from his baby shower. We got so many gifts from so many people; I was not going around asking for receipts from everyone, and they most likely didn’t have them anyway. I wasn’t thinking at 8 months pregnant about what sizes would fit and whether they would be appropriate for the season, let alone running around to different stores returning and exchanging things while heavily pregnant or with a newborn. Half a year later, it’s too late to get full price back for them. Again, a simple gift receipt would’ve prevented this. How hard is it to just provide a gift receipt? I’ve managed to provide one for virtually every gift I’ve ever given.
I didn’t even know they still did them tbh. I havent seen one in like 10years. People usually just keep the receipt and if the person want to exchange they give it to them.
Wild. I’ve never had an issue asking for a gift receipt from a major retailer. A regular receipt works too, but I’ve never had anyone provide one to me with their gift either. When did people stop thinking it was important to make sure the gift recipient has the option to return or exchange the item if it doesn’t work for them? Yes, you can sometimes do so without a receipt, but not for the original price if it’s already gone on sale/clearance.
Basically no ones buys anything outside the registry so I haven’t seen it being an issue for a baby shower tbh. And like I said, people are pretty open to give the normal receipt when asked. My sister did it 3 days ago.
We might just not be in the same country which would explain why gift receipt aren’t done that much here.
I’m in the US. I’ve worked retail for many years at different companies and have always had the option to print a gift receipt.
No off-registry gifts? Not in my experience. I was lucky in that i received most of the important items on my registry, but at least half the guests at my baby shower chose not to use the registry. The majority of these off-registry items were clothes, which I have no issue with except that they did not provide the receipts and the people didn’t seem to put any thought into what season would even remotely make sense. Like getting 6-9 month summer clothing for a baby whose due date is in the middle of the summer. Not much logic there. I didn’t think to chase down my guests asking for receipts. I had over 50. Not trying to sound entitled at all. We’re very lucky and I’m grateful for each gift and each of my wonderful friends and family. It’s just unfortunate that their gifts won’t be used by my baby, as were the gift-givers intentions.
I am not from usa so it explains the differences!
Girl SAME. I got maybe 2-3 gift receipts out of like 50 gifts. It’s rough out there!!! I simply retuned for store credit for items that obviously came from target and then donated the rest.
My in laws NEVER give gift receipts for anything, ever. It’s so annoying. Not just for the baby but for me and my husband. I end up donating so much that they give me
See I thought it was generational, like maybe younger people just don’t know about gift receipts? But no, this is also happening with people in my parents and grandparents generations.
I think it’s older people who never give them but younger people do! At least in my experience. I feel like older people give a gift because they want to give something, not because they want you to have something. So they don’t want you to return it because then it doesn’t feel like their gift! But younger people want you to have something that you need, even if it’s not what they got you
I guess I just held this idea because my family has a very strong culture of not letting money go to waste. They’re not cheap, just genuinely frugal. The women on my mom’s side are totally militant about always providing gift receipts. My dad’s side primarily does cash gifts. But thinking outside of my family, your does seem to hold water.