At a minimum, something that someone will actually use or appreciate.
Stocking filler plastic tat is not that. It's completely useless and either gets stashed in a store room or binned immediately.
I had thought this would just be intuitively obvious to anyone - buying stuff that's lower quality than you could personally use is just burning money.
I'd prefer that if someone can't afford or doesn't want to spend enough to get something useful they just don't at all. Spend the money on yourself or on charity.
I had thought this would just be intuitively obvious to anyone
Nothing is intuitively obvious, nothing is common sense, except maybe the UX quip about babies and breast feeding; that's a style of comment which is mostly a superiority boast.
There's a common saying along the lines of "buy once, buy for life" but pushback against it recently suggesting "buy the cheapest thing which will do, if you turn out to use it often enough to break it then consider buying a decent one". Stocking filler plastic tat might be enough to learn whether you have any interest in {jump rope, juggling, yo-yo, growing an indoor plant}.
Stocking filler plastic tat is not that. It's completely useless and either gets stashed in a store room or binned immediately.
I had thought this would just be intuitively obvious to anyone - buying stuff that's lower quality than you could personally use is just burning money.
I'd prefer that if someone can't afford or doesn't want to spend enough to get something useful they just don't at all. Spend the money on yourself or on charity.