Anonymous
Post 02/10/2020 17:54     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
And if she's this naive you also need to explain those phone calls from "Apple" and "The IRS" before she drives to the grocery store to buy some gift cards to send them, or lets them control her computer.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2020 17:52     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
You need to sit down and explain to Grandma how Amazon works with sellers who charge ridiculous prices to see if some Grandma will be a sucker and buy them, and then all the counterfeit crap. I explained all this to Grandma and it finally clicked and she stopped wasting her money. Our Grandma is from the Midwest and just didn't grasp that these nice looking websites were full of criminals and con artists until I explained it all to her. Must be nice to go through life that long and not be jaded.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2020 15:40     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Get Grandma to give him more practical, non-electronic, gifts to open, that she is able to shop for nearby. Clothing, shoes, Legos, anything that won't matter if she goes off plan and buys a knock off. Say thanks. Or offer to buy it and she can wrap it.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2020 15:20     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Anonymous wrote:Do what everyone should do with a gift: say "thank you!" enthusiastically, and then do whatever you want with it. Gifts are gifts, not something you deserve. I know it's annoying but there's no other kind response.


That works great in cases where the giver isn’t going to find out the gift ended up at goodwill. But this knockoff switch probably cost Grandma over $100 and she is probably going to be miffed when she notices that it isn’t there.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2020 14:44     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Do what everyone should do with a gift: say "thank you!" enthusiastically, and then do whatever you want with it. Gifts are gifts, not something you deserve. I know it's annoying but there's no other kind response.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 20:56     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Ask for money or gift cards, and maybe things that don't matter so much if they are knockoffs (no electronics of any kind): books, puzzles, clothing, favorite T-shirts.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 18:50     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
My MIL does the same. DS asked for a specific gift card because he thought it would be easier for her and he’d actually use it. She told us she couldn’t do it because he had to have a gift to open. This year they got knock off RC cars and what she called a Fitbit. It was a knock of version. Neither item worked and she felt bad about the RC car. She said we should return it and we said we would, even though these things never end up being returnable. She didn’t realize the fake Fitbit didn’t work. Everyone said thank you and we threw it out a day later when it completely fell apart. It makes us sad that she wastes money every year but the kids now just say thank you and hope she doesn’t ask them to try them out while she’s there.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 18:30     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Anonymous wrote:This is the third time this has happened. At Christmas she volunteered to get DS a Nintendo Switch, asked if he could have one. When Christmas arrived he opened it and it was a knock-off Chinese brand model she had found on Amazon. No, she wasn’t ripped off or confused, she confessed that she thought this would be better because for the same price, it came with a bunch of accessories and built-in games. We explained later that it had to go back because the setup was in Chinese and we couldn’t set it up for him to even use. She returned it and promised to get him a new one but then never did and she never replaced the gift. He eventually saved up and we matched so he could buy one.

DS birthday was this weekend. She had asked what he wanted in a particular price range, and we told her. When he opened his gift, it was another Chinese knock-off, and again she claimed she chose this one instead because for the same price it came with extras. It’s again not what he was expecting and the charging cord is European. It’ll have to go back too.

How can we prevent this in the future without hurting her feelings. I don’t think it’s a money issue, I think she just thinks finding a bargain is a fun thing to do.


Aww, my mom is a sucker for a "bargain" too. And if there are "extras" then she is in 7th heaven. We get around it by sending links to specific items that she can choose from. She is really good about only clicking on the links and buying only from the links we send. We had a lot of "oh rats, there's a problem" gifts until we hit on the link thing. Good luck!
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 18:11     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Coronavirus should deter her from buying stuff from China anymore.

Best response!


If you’re an idiot.

Do you really want to be supporting the Communists? You idiot.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 18:06     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Coronavirus should deter her from buying stuff from China anymore.

Best response!


If you’re an idiot.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 18:05     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Anonymous wrote:The Coronavirus should deter her from buying stuff from China anymore.

Best response!
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 18:01     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Honestly, I would just say, "Thank you."
That's the proper response to any gift anyone gives you ever. There is no proper alternative response.

Also, stop telling her what to buy him.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 17:44     Subject: Re:Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why is she buying his wishlist items and not you? Just ask her to give him an Amazon card, or put $$ into his 529.

Well the first time I assumed she was going to purchase the Nintendo. The second time it wasn’t a wish list item but still, he couldn’t use it when it arrived.

So when she asks for ideas just say gift card, really? I don’t think that’ll go over well. She will want to know why, to which... that is my original question. What do I say?


What do you say? You say, “because you keep buying random versions of stuff he can’t use” tell her the truth. She’s being very rude.


+1. This is not that difficult. "This will make things easier as in the past there as been an issue with noncompatible purchases. I know, this age is SO HAAARD!!"
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2020 17:43     Subject: Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
If he's old enough to tell her he wants those $$ gifts, he's old enough to ask for a gift card so he can figure it out later. He needs to be coached to stop telling her items that she will only screw up.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2020 14:50     Subject: Re:Mom keeps buying cheap Chinese knock-offs as gifts
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why is she buying his wishlist items and not you? Just ask her to give him an Amazon card, or put $$ into his 529.

Well the first time I assumed she was going to purchase the Nintendo. The second time it wasn’t a wish list item but still, he couldn’t use it when it arrived.

So when she asks for ideas just say gift card, really? I don’t think that’ll go over well. She will want to know why, to which... that is my original question. What do I say?


What do you say? You say, “because you keep buying random versions of stuff he can’t use” tell her the truth. She’s being very rude.