<P> The tradition was also embraced by retailers, for whom the weeks and, eventually, the entire month before Christmas became a very profitable period . Around the turn of the 20th century retailers started directing marketing efforts at children in the hopes that they would entice the parents to buy more goods . </P> <P> In the early 2000s it was estimated that shoppers in the U.S. alone spend over $4 billion each day during the Christmas shopping season, with an average individual spending over $1,000 on gifts . </P> <P> There are concerns that gift - giving during Christmas is too commercial . Seventy percent of respondents to an online survey of 13,576 people in 14 European countries in 2016 said that too much attention is put on spending during the Christmas period, 42% said they felt forced to spend more at Christmas, and 10% borrowed money to be able to afford the gifts . </P> <P> Economist Joel Waldfogel noted that because of the mismatch between what the giftee values the gift and the value paid for by the giver, the gifts lose between 10% to one - third of their value; he calls it the "deadweight loss of Christmas". This leads to gifts often being returned, sold, or re-gifted . In the 2016 European online survey, 15% of respondents were unhappy about their gifts and 10% could not remember what they had received . Twenty - five percent of respondents said they had re-gifted their presents to someone else, 14% sold the items, 10% tried to return them to the store, and 5% returned the gift to the giver . Seniors were more likely to send their unwanted presents to charity, while those aged 25 to 34 "simply threw them away". Gifts that are least likely to be appreciated rely on personal tastes, and include items like perfumes and cosmetics, ornaments, and clothing . </P>

When did we start exchanging gifts at christmas