We’ve all been there. It’s the holiday season and you need to buy a gift for your cousin, but you have no idea what to get him. You don’t want to seem unoriginal by buying him another shirt or a pair of socks, so you start to stress out about it.

Gift-giving doesn’t have to be stressful, though. If you avoid making these five common mistakes, you’ll be sure to give the perfect gift this year. Happy holidays!

1. Ignoring Requested Gifts

One of the biggest mistakes many people make when gifting is ignoring requested gifts. This mistake is completely normal since it arises from our desire to show that we know someone, and as such, you might be tempted to ignore someone’s request for a gift to show the person you really know them.

Unfortunately, this almost always backfires. In addition, studies show that people are far more appreciative when receiving a gift that they asked for rather than receiving a gift that the gifter considered considerate and thoughtful.

In other words, if someone has specifically asked for something, try your best to get it. It is now easier than ever to get someone the perfect gift from the comfort of your own home. Check out gift expert sites like Printed Memories and see all available options.

2. Trying Too Hard to Surprise

The next incredibly common mistake many make when buying gifts for someone would be trying too hard to surprise the person you are buying a gift for. It makes sense why you would want to try to surprise someone with a gift; however, you should keep your ear to the ground.

Most of the time, people will leave all the clues in the world as to the gift they really want; all you need to do is listen. More importantly, don’t be afraid to ask someone what they want as a gift. It is impossible to read someone’s mind, and if you have no idea what they want, trying to guess will result in you buying something they most likely won’t need or like.

3. Choosing Something You Like

Another mistake you should avoid making that might seem funny at first is choosing something you like as a gift for someone else. This might sound silly, but you would be surprised how often this happens. This is because it is challenging to be 100% objective, and this shows when buying gifts.

When searching for a gift for someone else, don’t imagine how you would feel opening the present. Instead, try to imagine what the recipient would feel when opening the present based on their interests, preferences, and tastes.

4. Price and Appreciation

When buying gifts for people, you might be under the impression that the more expensive the gift is, the more the recipient will appreciate it. However, did you know that studies show that the only people who feel this way are the people buying the gifts?

As it turns out, for most recipients, there is no correlation between an increase in price and an increase in appreciation. Essentially, this means that it does not matter if you buy a $10 ring or a $10,000 ring; the recipient will most likely not appreciate the more expensive gift. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can get away with buying something of almost no value and expect to receive a thank you.

5. Buying a Different Gift for Everyone

A prevalent gift-giving mistake that you need to avoid is trying to buy a different gift for everyone in an attempt to individualize the gifts. This is actually a phenomenon known as over-individuating, which basically means when someone attempts to be very thoughtful when gifting by trying to buy a unique gift for each recipient.

While in theory, this might sound quite sweet, in practice, this can cause a lot of unnecessary headaches. For example, if you have two family members that would both like the same thing, you might avoid getting it for both of them. Why would this be bad? Because family member A might get jealous of family member B’s gift and vice versa since one is getting something they didn’t want while watching another family member get the gift they wanted.