What gifts NOT to buy on Father’s Day, according to one survey

Clothing, books are among least popular gifts

Stock image/Suzy Hazelwood (Pexels)

For those who are stumped about what kind of gift to buy for Father’s Day, maybe one suggestion that could help is this: Start with what not to buy for the occasion.

Coupon Lawn surveyed more than 1,000 fathers in the United States to see what their most unwanted gifts were for Father’s Day. (It’s the thought that counts, right? The whole concept is a little ungrateful, but we’ll proceed).

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The findings included the following:

  • The top “unwanted” gift was clothing, with 32.6% of the surveyed dads saying they weren’t into the idea. The survey found that 46% of people buy clothes as Father’s Day gifts.
  • Sorry Hallmark, but many fathers don’t like getting greeting cards, according to those surveyed. The responses found that 30% of fathers dislike receiving these, even though 59% of people who get gifts on Father’s Day buy cards.
  • In addition to clothing and greeting cards, many fathers don’t like getting books/CDs (30%) and personal care items (28.6%).
  • Tools or appliances (15.6%), electronics (13.9%) and a special outing (12.5%) were at the bottom of the survey, so those might be smart items to purchase.

Of course, this is generalizing -- it’ll all depend on the father figure in your life, and come down to what he’d really like.

Coupon Lawn said as part of its survey that $5.3 billion is spent on unwanted Father’s Day gifts, although that is half of the $10.5 billion the site said is spent on unwanted Mother’s Day gifts.


About the Author:

Keith is a member of Graham Media Group's Digital Content Team, which produces content for all the company's news websites.