The subject of Re-Gifting for Christmas has come up again in many conversations I have had with different folks. Is regifting (giving a gift you received previously) gauche?
As a method of de-cluttering your house, regifting can be a very effective technique for clearing out junk that is in your basement. If you have 4 deluxe cheese straighteners or worse 4 calling birds and you feel you don’t need these backups, giving them to your friends might be a good thing (for your basement). If your friend is in dire need of either of these gifts, they would appreciate receiving it as well (and thus it is a Win-Win for you).
From a Personal Finance point of view, regifting is ideal. You don’t spend any money on it (OK, you bought wrapping paper, but that better be it).
I know of one very fun Christmas party where you brought a gift, but it had to be a re-gift. We then had to pick a present, but then the next person could take your gift, or one from the pile of gifts. This ended up being a great deal of fun, and a lot of crap left folks’ basements too. The only unfortunate part was that some folks took their new found crap home (I left mine at the bar).
The best type of regifting would be to find useful things and donate them to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. No they don’t want your Deluxe Cheese Straightener either. This is the highest level of regifting. If anyone asks where the present went that you gave you, say you gave it to the Goodwill, because you thought it was that good of a gift, or you could simply say it got broken and you had to throw it out (the danger then is your friend might buy you another one, with this answer).
A Simple Rule of Regifting
I don’t really have a big problem with folks Regifting. I gave them, but I do have one very simple rule:
Big Caj’s Only Rule of Regifting: Don’t give me back something I gave you, or I will urinate on your front steps
I believe I did amend that rule to also include Fruitcakes. Anybody who gives me a Fruitcake, please expect some yellow ice on the walkway.
I may have other helpful holiday gift ideas as the season approaches, but if you have other good gift ideas, please send them to me, I’d love to hear them.
Ho, Ho, Ho….
Hi All,
It is interesting to hear you all discuss re-gifting as I am currently doing my Masters Research project at the University of Canterbury on the topic. If any of you have re-gifted before and would be interested in taking part in the survey, just click the link below.
http://canterbury.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1FBqjUxRZgByXAw
It is only short and everything is confidential.
If you wish, you will be entered into a draw to win one of three Amazon.com gift certificates worth $50 USD.
Elizabeth
There is nothing wrong with regifting…within reason. I regifted a nice Tiffany bowl to my mom because I knew that she would love it and I am not a Tiffany kind of girl. However, you most DEFINITELY can not give someone something that they gave you!!! That’s the first rile of regifting. The second rule is to give something to someone that will appreciate it. If you know that someone won’t like it, don’t give it.
Regifting sucks. It’s like saying, “I really don’t care about you enough to get you a gift”. Urination is more than justified for regifters.
If you are cheap (like my brother) or just low on funds, buy someone a card or a cheap bottle of wine to let them know you care.
I have no real problem with re-gifting, especially since it’s getting more and more difficult to get people really interesting gifts and not just the same cheap stuff from Target or BestBuy that everyone gets them, too. But I’d have to agree with you on giving me a gift I gave you. That’s a no-no.
Can I hire you to urinate on my brother’s front steps?
Only if he gives me a Fruitcake, I have my standards.