We asked 5th Avenue Christmas shoppers whether gifts are worth the hassle
Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the shopping sure is delightful... for some. NYC is, literally, lit – it's the Christmas season and 5th Ave is beaming with festive displays and eager shoppers.
Don't get me wrong: I love presents. I love getting them, giving them...okay, fine. Giving them is where it gets tough. How do you know what to pick? Why is it so hard to cut just the right amount of wrapping paper? And wouldn't it be easier if we just gave people vouchers, and let them decide on the thing they loved the most?
Economists have actually been saying this for quite a while – they call it a 'deadweight loss', i.e. the gap in satisfaction from an imperfect gift someone has picked out for you, and from something you could have picked out yourself for the same amount of money.
I know what you're thinking: "Economist? Econo-SCROOGE more like!" but who knows, there might be something to it. I thought I'd go to the Holy Grail of Shopping – 5th Avenue, Brooklyn – to find out what people thought of this economic theory (without using those words, of course. I didn't want to scare them away.)
Pictures: We asked people to give us their best 'awkward moment when you turn into grumpy cat after you find out that your Christmas gift is anything but on fleek' face.
Luana
How much time and money do you spend in total prepping for the Christmas season?
That depends... this year I got married so I wasn’t worried about gifts because we had too many bills to pay off. We try to celebrate other dates and leave Christmas as the celebration of Jesus Christ being born. We usually just give gifts to the kids.
Would you, or have you ever made someone a present?
I think a more sentimental emotion gift would be better, it shows that you're prepared.
I have received sentimental gifts that mean a lot to me.
Kristen & Emma
How much time do you spend prepping for Christmas?
Kirsten: We’ve just finished shopping.
Emma: I get it done early. My mentality is that I like to enjoy the season and not worrying about what I have to get people.
Kristen: I wait for the right moment, and for coming across the right gift.
On average, how much do you spend?
Emma/Kristen: Too much..!
Kristen: I don’t really want to know....
Emma: The older I get the more I spend, because I have a job.
Kristen: If it makes people happy, I do spend, and it doesn’t bother me!
What if we all just gave each other vouchers?
Kristen: I don’t like to give gifts just to give them. I’d like to get them something they’d really enjoy. Whether it’s a concert ticket to their favorite band or something that would means a lot to them.
Emma: I’m not a big gift card giver. I like to give something people really need. I just got my brother a Keurig coffee machine because he needs it.
Kristen: I got my parents knives!
Mike & Penny
How much time and money do you spend in total prepping for the Christmas season?
Mike: You’re not going to like my answers… an hour. I don’t know. My wife Penny buys all the gifts for the kids. It comes out of our joint account. It’s definitely in the hundreds. I’m one way about Christmas and she’s the other.
Penny: I like Christmas, he doesn’t like Christmas.
Would it ruin Christmas if we all just gave each other vouchers?
Mike: Well I’m an atheist so it doesn’t have the same meaning to me as it does to her. Penny does spend a lot of time on Christmas. Getting the gifts, prepping the food for Christmas dinner.
Penny: We just like to make sure that we’re all together. That’s what it’s about. Being together.
How much time do you think others spend on you? Does it pay off?
Penny: I think so. I feel satisfied by the end of it all. I think everyone enjoys it…
Mike: Other than me.
Penny: He’s the original Christmas Grinch.
Emily
How much time and money do you spend in total prepping for the Christmas season?
I just spend a month or two and I start around November. It does impact my budgeting around this season.
How much time do you think others spend on you? Does it pay off?
I think it’s more about the people I buy gifts for and doing something nice. I’m not doing it to get something in return.
Joe
How much time do you spend prepping for Christmas?
I spend an average of 400 dollars on Christmas in total.
How do you prep financially?
I didn’t prepare for it financially. This is my first year in NYC, so I’m going to learn the hard way…!
How much time do you think others spend on you? Does it pay off?
Yes, but it only pays off with my family and best friends.
What if we all just gave each other vouchers?
No! Gift cards and vouchers are impersonal. They’re a cop out.
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