What gift have you gotten that went right in to the donation pile?

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Dh got it from his parents, we actually still have it in case a gag gift need arises, but I think it's time to get rid of it.  It's been a couple of years I'm still not sure if it was a gag gift or something they thought might be useful.

My ex-SIL once gave me a set of curtains - blue with giant cartoon skunks on them. I never did figure that one out.

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Scented candles and perfumed lotions or soaps. Strong scents make my nose stop up.

As a teacher I am privileged to receive lovely gifts each year from my students and their families.  Every gift gets a thank you note and sincere gratitude since I know they are given with love, but honestly, some items end up in the donation bag or immediately get regifted to my kids or the break room.  Things that come to mind are: a bag full of lipsticks - the ones that come with the free gifts at department stores so they aren't sealed or in a package of any kind, a furry pink bathrobe (I don't own ANYTHING pink and fuzz makes my contact lenses unbearable), a black velvet evening bag with poinsettias done in sparkly seed beads all over it, perfumes and heavily scented lotions, candies/treats with nuts, etc.

I've been the force behind our teacher wish list binder so parents can get a better sense of what teachers might enjoy.  Teachers can fill out a cutesy survey that lists favorite scents, drinks, stores, restaurants, colors, animals, etc.  It also lists holidays that we celebrate (so the Jewish and Muslim teachers don't get as many Christmas ornaments) as well as a section about anything you prefer not to receive.  I put that part in after gifting one of DD's high school teachers with a Starbucks gift basket only to have her tell DD she was Mormon.     It also works for those of us with allergies and dietary issues.

Most teachers will tell you that mugs and anything with apples on it goes straight to the donation pile, but I actually use the mugs I get - if not for coffee, then to hold pens/pencils/brushes in my scrap area.

I am ashamed to say, too many.  The first thing that came to mind is the year my mother in law (rest in peace), who was totally into quantity over quality, gave me two huge gift bags full of thrift shop dresses for Christmas. Not name brand dresses, or new with tags dresses - these were lace collar polyester floral print dresses. 

I took those dresses over to my sister's house, we had a good laugh, then she lifted the lid on her toter and I threw them in.  There is no way I would redonate them.

I have gotten things that I immediately regifted or offered as raffle prizes at fund raisers.  The most recent thing is a Longaberger Christmas tree platter new in the box.  My cousin gave it to me.  I donated it to a breast cancer fundraiser.

Agreed.  I love baking, spice scents, but can't stand anything fruity or flowery.

Where to begin and this is why I finally put my foot down and said no more exchanging of gifts outside of my immediate family. My dh thinks that if we receive a gift, even if it is unusable, downright ugly, etc, that we must keep it for eternity - if it came form his family. He has been gifted ceramic eagle heads, singing hamsters (yes, plural), a engraved pocket knife and a man's jewelry valet, just to name a few. Every year we get a flavored popcorn assortment and cheese tray which sadly goes to waste and into the trash. I have received so many trinkets, dust collectors of things I will never use or collect. My brother even bought me a HUGE stuffed Eeyore from the Disney store.My dad and his wife were the worst. I received crystal serving ware, including candle sconces (I don't entertain) that was clear with a bright indigo trim and my dishes that I use are country style, peach and rose. I know this was a free hostess gift from one of her many parties. I received sweatsuits (I have never worn one) in th wrong size, robes that were hideous and too large and she purchased the season before on the closeout clearance so they can't be exchanged for a different size. One year my then 11yo daughter received a men's large black hoodie with letter that said PBA on it. WTH?? When I asked what the letters stood for my ad's wife said she had no idea but that Amy loved black. A men's large?? All because it was black. The kids even began to dread opening these "gifts". The best time was when she shopped at a rummage sale and purchased a bunch of threadbare clothes for the kids that she wanted to wrap as gifts and even my dad put his foot down and said no. He told her we could receive them but simply as a nice gesture. Yikes! Sadly, they were so thin and worn that they were never used. I don't want to sound ungrateful but it was difficult to genuinely thank people for these "lovely" gifts, especially knowing that my husband will keep them all. I hate waste. There are too many people in this world who are barely surviving that would benefit far more with a gift( food, money, clothes) than to continue gifting people who need nor want for anything.

My dad got neon socks one year from my aunt. I love my aunt, but pretty much every gift from her gets re-gifted.

My experience makes me think clothing and home décor aren't good ideas unless someone told you what they wanted.

Only thing I can think of is 2 sweaters...they didnt fit so I donated them.

Stuff that is meant to just sit and collect dust. Like crystal jewelry holders and decorative figurines.

My MIL (rest her soul and bless her heart!) was without question the worst gift giver. Even DH and his sister would agree on that and they never agree on anything, LOL! Over the years we received so many bad gifts that we finally had to just bite the bullet and tell her to only get us ONE gift, off a list. She came from the school of thought that a bunch of wrapped stuff under the tree=happy Christmas. Ugh, sadly, NOT so! She would give us all of the "free gift" calendars that she got for donating to every shifty "charity" under the sun. Sometimes we would get stuffed animals, t-shirts, cheap tote bags, lots of that kind of thing if they were "gifts" she got for donating.

Now on to the things she actually bought (even bigger sigh!). Most of this stuff came from the cheapie mail order places that send out a 152 page catalog of junk nobody ever wanted 2-3 times a month, like serrated grapefruit spoons, spaghetti forks with zigzag shaped tines that supposedly help the spaghetti stay on the fork ( Never will understand that one), oddball fishing tools for DH that never worked, a motorcycle alarm clock that revved loudly to wake you up (thank goodness that one didn't work right out of the box!), a plastic corrugated yard sign stating "Free Snow! Take all you want!", clothing that never was even close to the right size or style that we couldn't return or exchange, books we would never read, a plastic microwave potato cooker (she didn't realize you can do that without any special tools), flimsy plastic refrigerator organizers that fell apart. Oh, I could go on and on. Every year there was an unspoken contest for who would get the worst gift.

On the rare occasions when she would buy something from a local store like Target, she would never ever include a gift receipt. So if you did take it back, you wouldn't even get what she paid, you'd get the lowest price it was sold at back in a gift card. It got to the point where we would literally sort the stuff into bags (surreptitiously) to take "home": one bag was the stuff that we could drop off at Goodwill, the other bag was the stuff that was destined for the trash or recycling. Unless food items were tightly wrapped in shrink wrap, they had to go in the trash too because everything from her house tasted like cigarette smoke.    

I could understand if she was someone with very limited means and was doing her best, but MIL was very well off and could easily have afforded to buy each of us one pretty nice gift and left the rest of that junk at the mail order house. It just killed us knowing that she spent good money on all this stuff nobody wanted, and then paid shipping on top of that too.

I didn't put it in the donation pile. I put it directly in the trash. And I'm still annoyed by it. LOL I sort of can laugh about it now... But my first Christmas married to my dh I worked almost double the hours in retail to make enough money so we could buy gifts for everyone. His aunts/uncles, stepmom, dad, etc. We spent a lot of time getting it right, I was a newlywed and wanted to make sure the gifts were thoughtful and "right". So Christmas eve comes around, we gather. Everyone exchanges gifts. I get nothing. Not one gift. So I'm sort of shocked and not sure what to do so I just sat there. My dh's step mom says "Oh! We forgot your gift, it's big so it's behind the chair" out comes a brown paper bag, top folded over with a bow stapled to it. (Big grocery bag). I open it. It's a dusty used pasta machine. They tell me they don't know if it works, don't have a manual, maybe have the parts they couldn't find at home somewhere. It had been sitting on top the fridge for so long they weren't sure. 

It didn't work. I didn't bother to find out. I just hauled it out to the city bin in the alley and unceremoniously tossed it in. It has been mostly better over the years (some years better than others). Thank goodness. At least I have low expectations and have from the start so I'm rarely disappointed.