How do you feel about regifting?

[Laurajean1014]

I don't do it. I think its bad taste. If the gift is not something I like, I give it to charity. I always think of the person, buy them a gift that I think they would appreciate, enjoy or like. I hope no-one does it to me or uses my gifts to give to others.

 

[lilpritch04]

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There are a lot of rules to regifting IMHO!

Very, very true!

 

[BabyTigger99]

I started re-gifting to a woman in my office. There are 4 of us that sit in the back of the office, and we have always gotten each other birthday and Christmas presents. I have just gotten sick of getting crappy presents from her. Last year for my birthday I got a pack of 4 washcloths that match nothing in my house, that I saw the following day clearanced out for $1.87 at Walmart. I have always gotten her something nice. But she has no problem getting one of the other ladies in our group beautiful presents (ie, gorgeous bathroom set) for her. So she gets re-gifts from me now. I don't feel one bit bad about it.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I'll regift if the gift is nice. If not, then I'll just give it away to a friend/family, or Salvation Army.

 

[aprilgail2]

I have a family member who gives us the crappiest gifts....I used to get them 50.00 gift cards etc....now they get anything and everything I can regift!! When my daughter was born she got a baby quilt that they bought at a thrift store! I have one child, an only child and an only grandchild to my mom and only neice to my brother....she is VERY spoiled and I do not put used thrift store clothes on her and she certainly was not going to use a used baby blanket. I normally give really good gifts to people and it ticks me off what we get from them...I would rather have a nice new outfit from K-Mart rather than a couple used thrift shop things!

 

[MerryPoppins]

If I get something that I really don't like, I give it to goodwill. If it's nice, but I don't need it and can't return it, I put a sticky note on it with the giver's name so I won't mess up and then I add it to my gift stash. When it's time to give a gift, I look in the cabinet where I store gifts to see if something fits the situation/receiver. If not, I go shopping. If there is something there that fits and the receiver and original giver will never know, I think there is nothing wrong. After all, we got tons of cheese trays when we got married. They weren't tacky, but how much cheese can one couple eat? So we regifted them to others.

 

[Lorix2]

I was the recipient of regifiting for my wedding.

My boss at the time who was and still is extremely wealthy, gave us a beautiful crystal bowl. At the bottom of the bowl were the remnants of chip crumbs and the grease from them. I found the receipt from Bloomingdale's in NY in the box and a note from his daughter who gave it to him for his birthday.

I wanted to march into his office and smash it on the floor, he's the cheapest man alive. I chose to just chuckle when he asked if I had liked his gift.

Moral of the story...remove notes/receipts and food evidence before giving

 

[Amberle3]

I don't think it's necessarily a BAD thing to do in the right scenario. But I don't do it. If I get something I don't need/want/like, I either donate it to charity, or if someone I know wants it (and they know it was a gift for me and I am not giving it as a gift to them...) then I'll let them have it (as long as I know the original giver would never find out!). I have gotten a few things over the years that I suspect were regifted to me...and I think it's tacky.

I have to agree with everything above. I've been given a few items that really weren't my "bag" - I either offer them up to friends or give them to charity. This year I'm going to save anything like that up and give it to the conference that DFi and I attend every year - they do a silent auction at the conference to raise funds for the student awards and scholarships. Some of the items are big, some are just small things. This year they had a rubber chicken that DFi got out-bid on (don't ask me why he wanted a rubber chicken!). They even have home-made things there, so I'm sure that some regifted items will fit in. That way I don't feel bad about having an unused/unwanted item around, and someone else gets to benefit from it.

The thing I find really tacky is regifting USED items. I'm sorry, that's just a no-no in my books. Next week is our annual christmas tour, and we do a gift exchange with/amongst our passengers. They draw names on the bus and are given a dollar limit ... well actually they draw questionaires with numbers on the bus, and everyone has a number on their nametags as well as their names. The questionaires give enough information for the person to buy a suitable gift. Several people bring things from home, that way they're already wrapped and assuming they're suitable for the recipent, well that's just fine. But on some occasions people have brought used or old things from home, and that's just not fine. Like the little shaped guest soaps that sit out for 2 or 3 years and get a little dusty, and are then given away in a little basket with a cheap washcloth. Not a good thing. That's why my little speech about the exchange this year is going to include the "please no previously-owned, aka experienced, aka used items for the exchange".

 

[cats7494]

I have never done it..but I can see - if under the right and careful conditions - that it could be ok.
I do not think that I could do it myself..but I am sure I have received a "regift" and never knew!

 

[momsgonwild]

I have done this is the past, and will do so again because I do not like to waste things that others could poss have a use for. That being said, I am very picky about the types of things I regift. If the gift is not approp for another person I know, or just downright tacky, I take it to Goodwill.

 

[Octoberbeauty]

I guess the saying "What goes around, comes around" applies here. My DW and I are guilty of regifting(wasn't there a Seinfeld episode about regifting?) on a few occasions. I remember we received a punch bowl which wasn't ugly but it just wasn't us. Well, we decided to give it to my MIL not too much longer after. Well, just last year, she reboxed it and gave it to us for Christmas! You should have seen the look on our faces! We could have died from laughing alone! Do we still do it? Not recently but just wait...

Okay, now you HAVE to give it back to her again!! It can become the family joke.

As for me, I don't mind regifting if it's a nice item that either I truly think someone else will like or they think I will like. Mostly I regift for things like group exchanges (note: I did NOT regift for the Kitchen exchange, lol - it's all new) things like Church or office parties.

 

[maleficent1959]

This year I'm regifting Disney Charades and a Blockbuster movie quotes game. They are both brand new and very nice, but just not suited to my needs. It's pretty well known among my family that I dislike Charades, and I don't think my two toddlers will get anything out of either game. So I'm giving them to families that would love to have them. I don't think that's tacky under such circumstances.

 

[RobinMarie]

Make it a theme party for January Winter Blues - a REgifting party! It's fun, it's interesting and ya might get a gift worth keeping while decluttering at the same time!

Otherwise I don't like regifting - just not for me.

 

[Tinkbell]

I have regifted to Office Secret Santas. Generally, the things I regift are very nice items, just not my "cup of tea".

 

[Blondie]

Regifting is a fabulous thing as long as the recipient does not know it's a regift and there is no reason for them to think it is.

That about sums up how I feel on the subject. I've been fortunate enough that most (if not all) of the things I've been given during exchanges I have liked! There was one time that I got these nasty Lavender colored soaps that were so old that the scent was gone! They went into the trash as soon as I got home!

 

[Lewski709]

It's a beautiful thing year round!

 

[dopeys biggest fan]

I think regifting is fine. I would rather regift to someone who would enjoy the item than to leave it in the attic or throw it away. I just make sure that I remember who gave it to me, so I don't give it back to them by accident.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

It depends. If someone gives me something I'm not crazy about but can't return, and I know someone who would absoluetly love it, I see no harm in it.