Regifting...do or don't?

[hffmnheidi]

It's already been a fun holiday.

Sister in law(L) and future sister in law(T) already had a knock-down drag out on Christmas Eve.

L gave T a Bath and Body works gift set. Well, L got gift set last year because it still had last years to/from tag on it. So, T said she'd rather L take it back. L called her ungrateful, ect...so they didn't speak to each other for the rest of the gathering.

Would you regift in your own family or not? I would regift to people outside of my family, but not my family.

 

[sookie]

haha! well i don't really regift - but i would try to keep it outside the family or if I did it, I would give from one side of the family to the other.
just roll with it - i know its stressful though to see them go at it. what did the rest of the family do? i'm cranky today because my husband went to go turn on christmas music and turn off the tv when we started to open presents for the kids (MY kids). well - my husband turned off the tv, which happened to be LOCK UP On MSNBC. Not exactly Christmas fair. My diva brother got pissed and left - he wanted to watch a show about teenaged prisioners while my 4 year old and 9 year old opened gifts. I was cool with it while they finished breakfast, but not while they were in the room trying to have "christmas". Oh well. i'll probably be re-gifting his gifts.
I didn't drive 6 hours and spend 100 in gas and tolls to be treated like that. Next year we are staying home - and we can trash our own house and not worry about lugging toys / luggage / etc everywhere.

 

[coolbeans]

dont' regift to family.. and always remove tags!!! duh!

 

[rusty4]

I regifted some movies to our DS's. They thought it was a hoot! We had given them to them a year or so ago. When they moved out on their own they were left here. Still unopened. DH was cleaning up all our movies ( I had watched a friends son the other day and he tore through them all and left a mess) and found them. We laughed and decided to stick them in their stockings. Now if it was their only gift I doubt any of us would of found it as funny.

 

[firstcruise]

That is a funny story...never heard of someone re-gifting to the same person before. To answer your question I wouldn't re-gift to anyone, but would donate it to charity or someone else who could use or appreciate it. If it's really tacky then I just throw it out.

 

[LuLuO]

I've never regifted to family but if I do regift outside the family I make darn sure that all of the tags are removed...lol.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

1. Regifting a gift,especially out of laziness, should NEVER be obvious. Bath and Body works is timeless, but at least freshen up or change the packaging.

2. One should always receive gifts graciously.

3. Nothing wrong with regifting of anything so long as the intent was of genuine kindness. Regifting it back though...tacky.

In any case, the regifting isn't what us bad. How one handles it is what can be bad and in this case---both women were wrOng to be public about it.

 

[hffmnheidi]

This is not the first time L has regifted to family. One year, she gave my grandparents gifts she had left over from her wedding a few years previous. The gifts she gave my grandparents were nice, but not things my grandparents could use because of their diets(cheese slicer and cheese plate) which were highly controlled due to medical problems that my sister in law was well aware of. There was a receipt in the boxes that had the date of purchase on them.

Or the year she regifted earrings she'd gotten from her mom to my mother(her mother in law).

 

[disykat]

I'm not against regifting if it's done subtly or as a joke, but not bothering to take the tags off and pretending that's acceptable IS really offensive IMO!

I think the recipient should have said thank you and left it at that, knowing now exactly where she stands with this woman who publicly stuck it to her. However, I think I might not have been able to resist putting it back in her gift stack later, and, if questioned said it should go home with her since it still had her name on it.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Don't you just love the holidays. Let's see my family regifts the same fruitcake every year. I bought it at the dollar store years ago and this is my year to receive. We also reuse the same gift bags over and over again. My favorite is the one my sister and I trade. It, too, is from the dollar store and says YAPPY BIRTHDAY. But seriously, I have regifted but never to family. Chances are I will forget and give it right back to the person that gave it to me.

 

[fakereadhed]

Oh the holiday family fun!!!

Doesn't sound like an accident when you leave the tag on. Sounds like she wanted a fight and got one.

I am all for regifting if it was something nice but you can't use it- allergic, already have it, etc. But take the tags off first!

 

[Fly4free]

My family and I had a good laugh last night. My grandmother, who is 90 and lives in Austria, sent me a lovely and expensive box of chocolates. When I opened the celophane wrapping on the outside I found a thank you card tucked inside. I thought maybe it was for the gifts I gave her for her bday. But unfortunately it was a thankyou note from my aunt to my gmom.

My grandma called last night to wish us all a Merry Christmas.......It was hard for me not to giggle when she asked how we all liked our presents. I'm not offended by this regifting. Anyone who is 90 years old and still sending gifts to her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren gets a free pass.

 

[lovepurple]

DH gave his mom a gift one year and a few months later she gave it back to him as a birthday gift. She said she didn't like it and thought he would since he bought it the first time. I think she hurt his feelings. I don't regift but I will give someone something I got but don't want or need. I just don't count it as a gift and I definitely don't give it back to the person who gave it to me.

 

[disneychrista]

I do not "regift" but will pass on a gift I don't want to someone I know who can.

 

[luvthemouse71]

I don't regift. To me, it's the height of cheapness and laziness. If it's a joke, maybe it's ok.

And to regift to family? Horrible- nothing says I love you like giving someone else your unwanted gift.

 

[Minnie_me]

I don't regift. To me, it's the height of cheapness and laziness.

I disagree!! If I'm given something of value that I can't use or don't like, what's the better plan: to throw it out? to keep it and never use it? or to give it to someone who would use it?

I regift ALL THE TIME!

And (I'm sure I'll get flamed for this), I'm a teacher and regift many items given to me by my students. I get a LOT of bath stuff: lotions, shower gels, etc. I can't use them, and neither can my DDs. So I either throw it away, or regift it to my mom or an aunt or a girlfriend! This year, I got a set of kitchen towels/potholders that absolutely clash with my kitchen. But they match my aunt's kitchen perfectly -- so I wrapped them back up and gave them to her last night. She was THRILLED with them!

 

[disneychrista]

I disagree!! If I'm given something of value that I can't use or don't like, what's the better plan: to throw it out? to keep it and never use it? or to give it to someone who would use it?

You can simply give the item to someone, it does not have to be a gift (birthday, christmas, etc).

 

[hffmnheidi]

My sister in law is already ticked off at me when she left today after our meal.

She asked about what I got my niece as a "big" gift this year which was a Cabbage Patch Kid Doll...she told me that she already bought one on clearance and was planning to give it to her for her birthday which is in July, so I'm the dirty dog now.

Oh, well...I don't need to run what we buy her and I am not going to start now.

 

[WeekdayDisneyland]

Regift from the family to a friend, yes. And vice-versa, as long as you know it will be a hit. If in doubt, then don't do it!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Another teacher that regifts all the time. We can not have sented items in the house..bath products, candles, etc. I get a LOT of those. I make sure all tags are gone, they are in perfect shape, and they get given as gifts. A nice bath and body set saved us last night when we realized we had forgotten a DN's girlfriend that was going to be at our breakfast. Why throw away a perfectly nice gift because we have allergies!!! I often use these in my emergency gift closet. Now I would not just pick my sister or niece a gift out of here but if DS get a birthday party invite for a casual friend, yep, we check the closet first!