In my family the pre-gifting read-through by the gifter is called “checking that there are no pages missing”. 
My wife and I quit exchanging gifts about 20 years ago; a total relief, I’d say. If we want something, we buy it. I recently bought her a pair of socks with a buffalo design by a Native American artist on them. She wears them non-stop.
I send cash for things like weddings and graduations. I don’t bother shopping for birthdays or Christmas, as I don’t live near kids or grandkids and have zero ideas for what they would like. What I DO do is order something if I perceive a need for it, e.g., a grandkid wants to take guitar lessons, I buy him a guitar, or my son could use a cast iron frying pan, since he loves to cook. Both of those are actual examples.
I send each of my kids smoked sockeye salmon around Christmas, as I know they like it, and I know where to get the best around. I can buy a case of jars and they divvy it up between them.
I called my mother to tell her our new phrase, this is wonderful! We don’t usually give each other new books anyhow, but our tastes are close enough that of course we check every page for mistakes.
Except the Lovecraftian books. She hates them and has no idea what is good and only buys them because she sees certain keywords. She did once give me a second hand book missing a bunch of pages, but it was OK. The book was dreck from start to finish, the missing chapters probably wouldn’t have made a difference.
Mrs. L really got the gatherer genes, too. It must be anticlimactic for them to know exactly what to buy.
Preach it! The older we get the more we think about downsizing, getting rid of junk we already have. Ugh! Consumables are nice.
My mom sent 2 emails this year telling all and sundry that she doesn’t want gifts. Period. No kidding! No gifts! But I don’t count wine. It’s not something she has to dust or plug in or find a place to display. She drinks it, recycles the bottle, and life goes on. Perfect gift!