The gift is the very fact that it’s non optimal. I wouldn’t spend $500 on a coffee grinder. That’s the gift. Otherwise I’d already have that coffee grinder. It

The gift is the very fact that it’s non optimal. I wouldn’t spend $500 on a coffee grinder. That’s the gift. Otherwise I’d already have that coffee grinder. It’s only a “net negative” if the receiver of the gift can’t afford their necessities. The same is true when there is information asymmetry. I wouldn’t spend $10 on this specific candy from Japan, because I didn’t know it existed. It’s “non optimal” and again that’s the gift. I get to try a new candy I’ve never heard of.