I like to think that I defer to others when I feel I'm out of my realm of knowledge. But I can't possibly see how that is either (1) effective or (2) not-insult

I like to think that I defer to others when I feel I'm out of my realm of knowledge. But I can't possibly see how that is either (1) effective or (2) not-insulting to the recipient. "Here, you can't be trusted to buy these yourself, have a free one so you can get back to work!"