I think you have to take into account how well the giver and the giv"ee" know each other before you can accuse the exchange of being "tacky".
What I noticed personally was my own tendency (shared by DH) to give more impersonal, yet vastly more expensive, gifts to people who were rich... whereas our 'regular' friends would be happy with something cheaper, yet more intimate. It wasn't that I scaled
down intentions to give expensive gifts to less-rich friends; it was more that I instinctively knew that rich relatives would not appreciate "humble" gifts.
I never gave such expensive gifts in my life as I did to members of DH's family who were above our "station"... no more! We never got a thing, a single thing, not even a card or written thank-you from them in return, but that's not the main reason for cutting back on the largesse; more the pointless waste of money and consumerism.
I don't care if it's "tacky". Not having servants was once "tacky". A gift should express either a true bond between two people or at minimum an expression of recognition that they will appreciate X,Y,or Z. I think it's "tacky" that I bought a set of crystal glasses ($400+) as a wedding present for our niece (as per their gift registry), who married a very wealthy family's son who displayed Renaissance museum-quality oils in his LR, but who never thought to write us a thank-you, or even ever invite us over for dinner. However, at the time I was so confident in my "non-tackiness"!! We had made the appropriate
homage.
They initiated a divorce w/in a year. Who knows what happened to the glasses; they are probably forgotten in some storage room. I've had it with "etiquette" as I always seem to be on the wrong end of it.
I no longer know anyone who keeps track of gifts and cards as people used to in the 1950s and '60s.
Freebird is being very cool in keeping with the spirit of the holidays on a budget!!