In November, ahead of the holiday shopping onslaught, the fitness lifestyle brand Peloton released a 30-second commercial called “The Gift That Gives Back.” If, somehow, it hasn’t wound its way onto one of your screens, the ad centers on a youngish mom who receives a Peloton bike ($2,245 and up) from her husband and proceeds to chronicle her year of biking along with strangers every morning.

Regardless of whether one reads the ad as sexist (a man giving a woman a not-so-subtle hint to work out) or empowering (you can join an exercise community with a cult following without even leaving the house!), it is true that gifts like the Peloton bike, ones that promise life-changing experiences, are popular.

They’re also expensive. Consider Net-a-Porter’s six fantasy gifts ($8,110 to $294,900), which include a ski weekend at Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang and a personal shopper to help the recipient build a new wardrobe.

Or Town and Country’s roundup of gifts for “the impossible-to-shop-for person on your list,” featuring a hot-air balloon over Mount Everest ($5,950,000 per person) and V.I.P. tours of Disney World (from $425 per hour). Though the price tags are, in a word, insane, and the gifts themselves do little to mitigate the environmental impact of giving season, the point is to bring people together.