Question: I am sure you get this question ALL THE TIME about regifting. But I still do not know if it’s okay to do it. I do it all the time and my friends give me grief about it. What’s so bad about giving away a gift you don’t need???? What is someone else out there can actually use a Ninja (food processor)???? Why is regifting so bad?????
Answer: I don’t think there’s a person who’s reading this that either 1) has regifted something or 2) been the recipient of a regift, whether you knew it or not. Oh, yeah, it’s that prevalent!
Even I’ll admit I’ve given away a gift that I’ve received — and found no use for — but I don’t disguise them as gifts. I literally just give them away. I’m like you, if there’s someone else out there who can make better use of something I have, by all means have it. There’s no point in me having an iron, for example, when I don’t use one. (Hint to Mom.)
But still, no one likes to talk about regifting, at least in public. We may do it in the privacy our own homes, in total secrecy, not even revealing what we’ve done to our spouses or best friends — some of whom might be recipients, as a matter of fact — and so the discussion doesn’t get very far.
So if you’re going to do it, do it right. Here’s some advice:
- Don’t mention it. Meaning, don’t tell the person you’re giving them something you don’t want — from someone else. Better to keep that to yourself.
- Don’t give only a part of the gift. Like, don’t give a gift card after you’ve used some of it. Or don’t break apart a set and give a portion away. That’s just tacky.
- Don’t regift something old. You shouldn’t be “gifting” used items or hand-me-downs. It should be an actual gift, something you received recently. Not something you got in 1986 that you finally decided to give away.
- Don’t use the same wrapping — and card. Seriously. If you’re not going to spring for an actual gift, you may as well pony up the cash for new wrapping paper and a card.
- Don’t give the gift back to the person who gave it to you. (That’s pretty obvious.)
Anyone got a regifting story to tell? Anyone willing to admit they do it? Let’s hear it!
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18 Comments
Hello Cat!
We do it all the time as grab bag gifts.
@M Yup, Grab Bag! My buds get together and limit each other to a $20 grab bag. One year I got a female tank top which definitely didn’t fit me. Good thing someone wanted to trade for it.
Once I couldn’t figure out what to buy so I got a few bricks and lightly glued them together with a $20 bill taped to one of them. I have no idea what happened to the bricks.
@harrycovair @M My grandmother does stuff like the brick thing all the time. You’d think that people would pick up on it and grab her gifts sooner, but no. They still don’t have a clue why they’re grabbing bags of pecans until they dig through and find money inside.
Ha ha, we were talking about ths last night. We got a cold press coffee maker for our anniversay (I’m not a coffee drinker). But my wife doesn’t want to go through all the hassle. So my daughter asked if she could have it. Yeah, room in my cabinet. Good list of reasons. Never ever give it back to the one you got it from.
Oooh, I’ve had someone regift something that I gave to her. I wonder if she regifts a lot and/or forgets, because for every occasion for the last 3 years, she’s given me those scented sticks in oil!
Cat, I’m like you – I just give it away, I don’t give it under the guise of a “gift” – that’s what white elephant grab bag events are for. Harrycovair is hilarious!
@mjc_808 I’m a fan of just giving it away, too. Although, it’s not to have an extra option when you need to give a gift, don’t have time, and that Ninja is sitting in your closet brand-new and untouched…
if i ever regift it’ll probably be a fruitcake, and i’ll probably give it to Mari Taketa cause, at least i know it won’t go to waste.
i know a woman who does something i call ‘non specific’ gifting. she buys stuff year round and keeps it all in a spare bedroom, along with wrapping paper and cards. when she needs to give someone a gift she shops through her stash and comes up with something she thinks would be appropriate and appreciated. i told her she should just bring the person to her house, let them in the bedroom to pick out their own gift. she said: “your’re an idiot”
@turkfontaine lest u think i’m indiscriminate, i said HOMEMADE fruitcake. don’t give me that storebought cr…ake.
Giving stuff away to a person that wants the gift that you didn’t like is OK, otherwise regifting just feels weird to me…like passing on a bad curse or something. I guess maybe it’s better than just throwing away a gift, but sometimes a bad gift is a bad gift and it might be a good thing to kill it off once and for all and break the cycle of evil for the sake of humanity haha.
<lf:user type=”lf” name=”808marv” id=”[email protected]”/> I hate when I get gifts like that, usually gifts that other people are regifting. Sometimes there are just bad things out there that no one should own, much less give away.
I say it’s all good unless it’s simply a bad gift to begin with…
Or we’ve done regifting parties. Bring the gifts you don’t want — and make sure the person who gave it to you isn’t there! — and swap. It’s fun and productive — and no one gets hurt.
@Cat can we have a nonstop regifting party???
<lf:user type=”lf” name=”nonstopmari” id=”[email protected]”/> WE SHOULD! It’s like recycling!
@nonstopmari @Cat this is a test post, will delete immediately
Regifting, the OTHER gift that keeps giving; I’m also a fan of gifting ‘gently used’ items…
My neighbor hase given me twice< regifts that had their names on the card…. To: Tony and Loy Hipolito.. uhh Not me