Friend Gets Called Out for White Elephant Gift That Was 'Significantly Under the Spending Criteria'

Mar. 15, 2025

People exchanging gifts in stock photo.

A woman says one of her friends brought a cheap gift to a white elephant exchange — knowing she’d leave with something much better.

In aRedditpost, the woman shares that her friend group recently held a white elephant party, with the event “divided up between two pricing tiers; under $25 - $50 and $75 - $100.”

“The majority of members went with the less expensive tier for obvious reasons, and there’s absolutely nostigmawithin our circle for doing so. In fact only 9 out of our nearly forty members chose the more expensive tier, myself included,” she writes.

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When it came time for her to select a gift, she chose one “that was wrapped quite beautifully, thinking that was a good sign, but I was disappointed to discover the gift was a hot chocolate set that certainly wouldn’t have met the criteria of the lower range, let alone the one we were participating in.”

She continues: “Now I know it’s petty not to be happy with what you’re given, but let’s be honest here in saying that Jen was throwing in the sort of thing you’d find on clearance at Walmart knowing full well she’d walk away with something pricey in turn. In this case, Jen wound up with brand new Keurig.”

The poster writes that, once the exchange was over she discretely pulled another friend aside and mentioned her feelings.

“We didn’t want to disrupt events, so I was asked to put on a kind face and to avoid talking about the gift for the remainder of the evening, which I accepted as people were trying to have fun,” she adds.

“She went on and on about how nice it must be that I can simply throw my money away while others, like her, are struggling, and that her income shouldn’t mean she can’t have nice things. Instead of fighting, I forwarded the texts to our group leader, and I’ve since received word that Jen would no longer be a member of our social group,” the woman writes.

Now, however, she says she feels bad, adding that she does not hate Jen nor “hold any negative feelings for her at all.”

“I simply felt she was knowingly taking advantage of the rest of us to basically trade up beyond her means,” she adds.

“She should be made to return the Keurig and get her own gift back for breaking the rules so egregiously. I wouldn’t let this go. She’s a greedy gift grabbing grifter,” wrote one.

Added another: “Jen cheated with a cheap contribution so she could acquire an expensive exchange for herself.”

source: people.com