Receiving gifts is the love language most often misunderstood, because at first glance it can look materialistic. It is not. For people in this group, a gift is a visible symbol that someone was thinking of them while they were apart, and that symbol is what carries the love. The object is a marker of attention, memory, and care, and its emotional value usually has very little to do with its price.
The defining quality is thoughtfulness made tangible. A small thing chosen because it matched an inside joke, a snack picked up because someone remembered a craving, a token saved from a trip, these land far harder than an expensive but generic purchase. The message a gift-led person receives is, you noticed me, you remembered, you kept me in mind when I was not there.
People whose primary language is receiving gifts are frequently observant and generous gift-givers themselves, attuned to the details that would delight someone. The strength is the ability to make ordinary moments feel personal. The watch-out is pressure, because a partner who is skilled at noticing can feel a missed occasion or a careless choice more sharply than intended. Clearer meaning, not bigger budgets, is the fix.