As we all know, it’s the thought that counts. But that really doesn’t matter at all if it’s a crap thought. As such, the amount of cash you splash is what counts in these consumerist days. And Kiwis’ Christmas shopping habits have been unwrapped (geddit?) in a new survey that has discovered stuff you probably already knew.
According to the Fly Buys Shopping Intentions Survey, which asked New Zealanders over the age of 18 about their spending limits for Christmas, we like to lavish our partners and children with expensive trinkets, but we don’t really like our parents, friends and siblings. 42 percent of Kiwis spend $101 or more on their partner and 26 percent spend $51 to $100. And when it came to their children, 39 percent of parents spent $101 or more on each of their offspring and 29 percent spent $51 to $100.
But when it came to reciprocating with gifts for their parents, Kiwis weren’t quite so generous, with 40 percent spending between $21 and $50 and only 10 percent spending $101 or more.
Friends and siblings also miss out on expensive gifts with three percent of us spending over $101 on each of their brothers and sisters and one percent spending $101 on each of our mates.
The survey also found 52 percent of Kiwis thought giving cash as a Christmas gift was acceptable, while 44 percent thought not.
“But when that cash was in the form of a voucher it was okay with 86 percent of Kiwis, and only 12 percent thought a voucher was an unacceptable gift,” Fly Buys chief executive Lance Walker says.
And as for unwanted gifts, the majority of Kiwis 67 percent thought it was not on to ‘re-gift’ them and 66 percent thought it was unacceptable to sell them, leaving 23 percent who are happy to re-gift or sell our Christmas presents.
“It might be worth checking online on Boxing Day to see if any of the gifts you spent hours shopping for are going cheap,” he says.
Our Christmas advice? Grinch that baby up, go old school and dish out lumps of coal tied to a piece of string for everyone. Or, be good and give some good gifts instead.
