"The Gift of the Magi" and "The Ransom of Red Chief" both use situational irony to teach a moral lesson. In one story, the moral lesson shows the protagonists in a favorable light, and, in the other, shows them in a negative light.
Situational irony in literature occurs when a plot unfolds in a way opposite from what is expected.
In "Gift of the Magi," Della sells her most prized possession, her long, beautiful hair, to buy an expensive watch chain for her husband. She and the readers of the story expect him to be delighted with the gift. Ironically, he has sold his watch to buy her a comb and brush set: now, neither one of them can now properly use the gifts they were given. Nevertheless, the moral of this story is that such sacrificial giving shows the true spirt of Christmas and expresses...
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the couple's deep love for one another, which is the best gift of all.
In "The Ransom of Red Chief," the irony is that the kidnappers think they will earn quick and easy money by kidnapping the young son of a wealthy man. Instead, the child terrorizes them to the point that they pay the father to take him back. In this case, the moral lesson is that illegal "get rich quick" schemes backfire.
Both stories create surprise and delight by defying reader expectations and by ending with a satisfying lesson in which the characters get their just desserts: Jim and Della confirmation of how much they love each other and the kidnappers loss of money rather than gain.
Clearly both of these stories are ironic, at least in the sense of things not turning out the way you would expect them to. So in that sense, they're similiar -- they both have surprise endings.
What's different about the two is the nature of the irony. In "The Gift of the Magi," the irony is bittersweet. It makes us feel sorry for the main characters. In the other story, the irony is much more amusing. I suppose you could feel sorry for the kidnappers, but really, they were criminals and got what they deserved. It's more natural to laugh at them for getting into that predicament.
So the two stories are very different since the ironic endings provoke very different responses in the reader.