skiaddict: I don’t think that’s true. A lot of times, trying to show how well you know them just shows how much you don’t know about them.
I’ll give you an example: I sketch a bit as a hobby, so friends/relatives who know me relatively well think it’s really personal to give me art-related gifts. Problem is, I like to use specific certain brushes/sketchpads/etc., so their gifts are usually useless. It’s a nice thought, sure, but the fact that they didn’t realize that I have specific likes in that area just shows that they don’t actually know me that well. Now, a gift certificate to my favorite art supply store would be a really personal gift. That would show that they know that I like art, and that I need to buy my own stuff. And even if they didn’t know that I specifically wanted the gift certificate over the actual supplies, it would feel more personal to me anyway.