Holiday gift shopping has recently become a hassle for customers and is no longer a fun way to share with a cheery, giving spirit.

Popular gift items, such as the Hatchimals from a few years ago, are targeted by people looking to make a little extra money. When an item is given increased interest, groups of individuals buyout available stock of that item before customers can get ahold of them. They then turn around and sell it for more, in some cases five times the original amount. Given the difficulty to find the item, customers are forced to buy the gift at unreasonable prices if they wish to buy the toy.

Furthermore, if the parent decides to not buy the gift because of how expensive it is, they risk devastating their children over the holidays. Weighing the pros and cons of money versus happiness is unfair to everyone involved.

In addition, holiday shopping prime time is Black Friday, which is when hot gifts are on sale and still in stock. This both forces those who work in retail to work on Thanksgiving and requires those who wish to have a good spot in line to wait hours before the doors open. Once the doors open, however, fighting over gifts with other greedy customers begins, contributing to unenjoyable shopping.

With all of these unjust occurrences, including unrealistic prices, emotional and financial complications, retail workers forced to work over the holidays, waiting hours in lines to get the best deals while items are still available and having to fight your way through to get the gift your child so desperately needs, holiday shopping has officially become more than stressful.

At the same time, we’ve become so concerned with attaining the best gift possible for our loved ones that we have forgotten that the holidays are not about the gifts. The holidays are meant for spending quality time with friends and family and for reflecting on what we’re thankful for as well as to remind our loved ones how much we care about them.

This holiday season, keep in mind that it is not about the gifts, it’s about the memories.