Regifting Christmas Presents: How To Do It Properly

By Dan Gould of Networx:

What's the deal with regifting? Is it a social faux pas? If you do it, does it mean you're a cheapskate?

These are highly relevant questions this time of year. You might be wondering if you can parlay something gathering dust in the back of your closet into a last minute gift -- or if you get a duplicate item this Christmas, should you hang onto it to act as a future present?

Here is what etiquette experts have to say:

Emily Post: The Emily Post Institute's stance is that regifting is alright, but totally depends on context. They suggest that one should only regift if the item is brand new and in its original packaging, and if it will not create awkwardness with the sender or recipient. They emphasize that the gift must be something that the recipient actually wants.

Jacqueline Whitmore: Ms. Whitmore, a business etiquette expert, gives the go-ahead for regifting, but reminds readers to "consider the taste" of the receiver and to destry all evidence that the item is being regifted. She wisely suggests that if a gift is expired or really not desirable, just chuck it; don't regift it.

Louise Fox: Protocol expert Louise Fox advises readers to be very cautious when regifting. She suggests that one should never regift something that is an heirloom or was handcrafted by the original giver. She also suggests that you regift only if the gift is something you truly would have bought the recipient.

In light of what the experts have to say, and in light of the Networx team's own thrifty-living prowess, here are our recommendations for regifting. Take them, leave them or pass them on. Pun intended.

All captions courtesy of Networx.

Dan Gould is a Networx - http://www.networx.com - writer. Get home & garden ideas like this - http://www.networx.com/article/the-5-secrets-of-successful-regifting - on Networx.

Comments

[Angelaaaa]

02:06 AM on 12/28/2011

No, I don't regift but I do give away unwanted gifts to those who will appreciate and use them. Many are freecycled.

I have no idea if this is considered tacky but I am pretty sure it is tackier to keep an unwanted item until it deteriorates into uselessness - and then throw it into landfill.

[onwisconsin]

05:57 PM on 12/27/2011

I regift fruitcakes to my parents all of the time. They like them and I don't. I always write a nice thank you note though.

As for other gifts, though my husband and I trade things around (like when someone gets him tools and gets me home organizing paraphenalia), we don't regift. We do give away lotions, perfumes, and soaps that have ingredients/heavy fragrances we don't use though. We give them to the local battered women's shelter. I don't think anyone who knows us would mind that at all. I'd suggest that to anyone. Those women often come into the shelter with only the clothes on their backs, children in tow. They deserve a little pampering.

[Lellie]

05:42 PM on 12/27/2011

How about donating it to a charity that can sell it to raise money???

Re-gifting is cheap and cheesey ... what a spoiled and pampered society we live in!!

[gurke75]

11:24 AM on 12/27/2011

The few times I've regifted, it was with gift cards, like Starbucks. Although I'm a coffee-drinker, I'm fine with instant or whatever can be had, so the cards make good regifts for the coffee-connoisseurs I know, or I'll use the cards for the office X-Mas party White Elephant exchange.

[JD Robert]

05:35 AM on 12/27/2011

Put #5 under my tree and you can forget the present. :)

[DeeJane]

09:51 PM on 12/26/2011

IF the gift doesn't fit me, I think of someone it DOES FIT and someone who wants it. I was given sachet packets last year and I don't really use them so I gave them to a friend who professed to really like them and use them in her drawers. She has everything she could possible want and use and it is difficult to find the sachets. Problem solved for both of us.

[dscat1029]

09:50 PM on 12/26/2011

I have many friends....If we all bought gifts for one another it would be an economic catastrophe. So we all take care of our family of course. For us though, we all place our names into a hat and everyone draws a name and buys one gift for that person. We all decide the limit each year. So 10 friends get a gift from someone in the crowd. Like a Secret Santa thing.

[Tikvah Bethany Adler]

09:03 PM on 12/26/2011

I bypass all the guilt + nonsense by being straight up with everyone I know and say: "I don't like getting STUFF for holidays/birthdays/anniversaries. If you give me STUFF I will give it away or sell it. Also I probably won't give you STUFF for your holidays/birthdays either. So let's all just hang out, have a party, and actually have fun!".... Luckily for me, my husband feels the exact same way! :)

[Poovoh]

08:51 PM on 12/26/2011

OH, and, if you do re-gift, remember to take out the card (addressed to you from the original giver) that's somewhere in the box. I had two friends that showed me cards that were in gifts that they got. The cards were thank you cards - "thanks for your hospitality, Mr. & Mrs. Smith" type sentiments. Each friend receive the gifts from Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but the Smiths forgot to take out the original cards before re-gifting.

Tacky.

[Poovoh]

08:45 PM on 12/26/2011

Ugh. The first rule of re-gifting should be DON'T.

Tacky.

When I get a gift that I don't want or can't use, I give it to someone who can use it. I don't wrap it up and pretend that I bought it for that person. I explain that I received it as a gift, but I don't have a use for it and I ask if that person would be interested in it. If no one wants it, I give it to charity.

[Jennifer Lucia]

08:39 PM on 12/26/2011

I don't understand the people on here who say that re gifting is cheap and tacky. We received a brand new Xbox 360 valued around $300 from my husbands boss and because we don't play decided to re gift it to a friend we know wanted one. Should we have just "given it to charity" as someone suggested? This was a much more expensive, quality gift than the ones calling us tacky probably got for their friends and family, and we didn't have to pay a thing. I call it smart.

[weareallzombies]

12:42 PM on 12/27/2011

It's tacky that you are taking credit for buying such an expensive gift.

[Jennifer Lucia]

03:54 PM on 12/28/2011

I'm not understanding your comment. I never said we bought it, and when we re-gifted it we explained exactly where it came from. How is that tacky? It would be tacky if I told them I bought it. Are you just offended that I re-gifted an item?

[colin72]

07:32 PM on 12/26/2011

For get wasting money on any gifts. Get together with friends and go out to dinner instead.

[Sabrae]

05:41 PM on 12/26/2011

If someone thinks enough of you to get you a gift, shouldn't you appreciate that enough to keep it?

[Poovoh]

08:42 PM on 12/26/2011

Yes, you should.

[Tikvah Bethany Adler]

08:52 PM on 12/26/2011

nope. i prefer it when people think enough of me to spare me from the fate of extra junk laying around the house

[Nat0101]

05:20 PM on 12/26/2011

Regifting is cheap and shows that deep down you really don't care about the person.

[seattleite4]

07:55 PM on 12/26/2011

I regifted this year. I care very much about every student in my classroom but I cannot keep all the candy, food or gifts. I ate most of the candy this year :o\ --but I gave away many gift cards to people who could really use them. I think regifting gift cards is okay to do. I hadn't used them so they had the full value. At first I felt bad about it but I gave them to people I don't even know so I think it was good. I still totally appreciate the thought and the care that went into each person that bought me a gift. I still have cookies!

[Nat0101]

07:06 AM on 12/27/2011

Seattleite4 you sound like an exception, and being a caring teacher makes you commendable in itself -- great work for little pay, but that's another story. I think the key phrase here is you "gave them to people (you) don't even know." And they were gift cards. To clarify, I have no problem with bottles of wine at dinner parties, or unused gift cards... My issue is with gifts from family or to family when it's done with an 'I don't care' attitude. I write from personal experience -- mostly from conversations with regifters and their responses when I ask them about it.

[erinsam42]

05:10 PM on 12/26/2011

I think it is a great practice to regift! How else will the receipient get a "white elephant" gift for the next party :o)