With the holiday season approaching, there’s nothing as exciting as receiving Christmas presents. Every gift comes with an element of affection and love attached to them. Nevertheless, the festive season also witnesses another yearly trend – about 1.5 million gift packages are shipped back or returned for various reasons. Before buying such gifts, one must gauge their likeliness of being returned. Here are the top 5 most returned Christmas presents to avoid giving loved ones.

Kitchen appliances
Kitchen appliances such as kettles and coffee machines are returned more often as the recipient may already possess them and don’t need extra clutter. It’s worth noting that, unlike certain presents, kitchen appliances don’t tend to be very useful when they’re in excess. As a result, giving someone kitchen appliances as a gift can often be ill-advised since it’s almost guaranteed that someone else has already given the same thing.

Clothes
Arguably, the trickiest gifts to purchase for someone remains clothes. People are generally unfamiliar with the preferred outfit color, size, style, and materials the receiver may have in mind when receiving clothes as Christmas gifts. People have distinctive tastes and personal styles. It is a fact that clothing and shoes are the most frequently returned holiday gifts, accounting for 62 percent of all returns made yearly. As a result, it is advisable to avoid buying clothing items when shortlisting gifts for friends and family members during Christmas.

Smartphones
Smartphones are a popular gift item every year, but they may not be the best choice during Christmas. Many people already have multiple working cell phones and other devices that are either not working or have been discarded. This leads to a large amount of electronic waste that is difficult to dispose of. To avoid contributing to this problem, it is recommended that people avoid gifting smartphones during Christmas.

Shoes
Shoes are a highly personalized and individualistic item. The perfect pair of shoes is often a painstakingly chosen possession that becomes an extension of one’s personality and style. Understandably, a person content with their favorite footwear will hesitate to switch to another pair that does not reflect their unique preferences. While gifting, knowing the recipient’s foot size, preferred color, and style is crucial, necessitating extensive research and questioning. Unfortunately, when gifters inquire about these details, it can take away the element of surprise from the gift. Therefore, it is best to avoid giving shoes or other footwear as gifts unless you are confident that the recipient will appreciate the gesture. This will help to eliminate any confusion and ensure that the gift is well received.

Makeup accessories
When gifting makeup accessories or other appearance-enhancing cosmetic tools, choosing items likely to be appreciated by the recipient is essential. While brushes, eyeshadows, and blushes are generally considered safe bets, other items like primers, concealers, foundations, and powders can be a bit trickier to gift. This is because these products come in a wide range of shades and sizes, meaning the recipient may not always be happy with the one their family member or friend chose. So, if one is considering gifting makeup this year, it’s a good idea to stick with tried-and-true items less likely to cause disappointment.