I’ve done it. I’ve regifted. It’s rare, but yes…I have given away a gift someone else has given me.
For instance, when I received baby gifts for all of my boy babies, there would sometimes be a little outfit that my chubby babies outgrew before I could even take the tags off. I saved the outfit for someone else’s baby. And regifted it.
There’s a little controversy out there about whether or not regifting is okay. Is it rude? Mean? Thoughtless? Cheap?
I suppose it can be. But it doesn’t have to be. Right?
I just read a helpful article in Daily Worth, a daily (free) email newsletter I’ve been receiving for several months regarding saving money and investing money, written just for women. I don’t always agree with all of the Daily Worth articles, but usually I can find at least a nugget of financial encouragement and advice. Today, they talked about Regifting. Is it a way to gift someone without spending? Or is it best avoided because of the potential hurt feelings it could cause?
What are your thoughts about regifting?
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you can sign up for it by clicking here.
Lisa Grace says
I certainly do it. If someone gives us something that we (for some reason or another) are unable to use, I think nothing of regifting it IF it is a thoughtful gift for someone else. On a few occasions, I have even received a gift from someone that I could use and really liked…but it instantly made me think of a friend who would LOVE it, so I would tuck it aside to give to that special friend. Money is very tight for us, and if I didn’t bargain shop, “upcycle”, regift, etc., we would not really be able to gift with folks. We’re really learning about creativity, thoughtfulness, and DIY projects this year, with a touch of regifting thrown in.
Hannah @ Treasuring it Up says
I think re-gifting can be a wonderful and thoughtful thing to do! I have received many “regifts” that were just what I needed/wanted at the time and some of them were even gently used :-) Just be careful the original giver isn’t around!
However, the teapot we received for a wedding present in it’s original, very battered box with residual blue dishwashing soap inside it…wasn’t pulled off as artfully as could have been desired.
Kathleen says
I have no problem with re-gifting. This Christmas I am re-gifting a nice Starbucks cup and saucer for a Bunko gift but I also bought a bag of coffee and chocolate to go with it. I taught kindergarten for fifteen years and have received many ‘gift’s through the years that I have held onto. My only fear in re-gifting is giving it back to the person who gave it to me! Now I pass on a lot of things for my mom to give to her friends.
Bethany B. says
Lisa Grace said my thoughts exactly!
Kimberlee says
I regift and I shop the consignment and thrift stores for gifts. I think it is more important to choose something the other person will enjoy than to spend a certain amount of money. Finding a gift that is appropriate or even “perfect” for another person takes thought and time…not necessarily money. It goes back to “It’s the thought that counts.”
Jennifer says
“I think it is more important to choose something the other person will enjoy than to spend a certain amount of money.”
I think that sentence sums gift giving up nicely…period.
Jessie says
I think re-gifting is great! But only if 1.) It’s something you *really* think the new recipient would like and use, and 2.) If you’re very good about remembering who gave it to you in the first place! Although I don’t think people should be offended if someone re-gifts something they gave to someone else, it can happened. So you’d want to keep the re-gifting out of the circle of friends/family that the gift came out of in the first place.
For out wedding, we received a toaster from a couple who had gotten married shortly before us. We had already registered for a toaster, so we ended up with two, and we later found out that the re-gifted one didn’t even work! So that would be an instance of not-so-great re-gifting. :-)
josette says
I guess it all depends. I have recieved “regifts” at our wedding with remanants of old wrapping paper still stuck on them. I have regifted, but then added something I bought myself and told the person. Someone got this for me and I never could use it.
I have received regifts of giftcards to stores. I don’t mind that. (how do I know? Well, it’s from stores I don’t go to and…well I just know.)
Jenn @ Beautiful Calling says
Of course I do. At times, you receive a gift you can’t use {or just isn’t you}. It’s important to be thankful / write a TY card etc because of the thought that went into the gift but if it isn’t beautiful/useful to you or your family, part with it by either re-gifting (policy below) or donating it.
To regift just for the sake of giving a gift that cost you nothing isn’t something I would do but if I know of someone who could use it / would love it, then I regift. Otherwise I donate the unwanted gift to our local thrift shop.
Kellie says
I’ve never regifted in the sense that I gave something I received as a birthday or Christmas present to someone else as a birthday or Christmas present. BUT… if I received a gift from say a co-worker and knew my sister would love it more than me, I would just give it to her and tell her where it came from. I think regifting is ok as long as it is done with a thoughtful heart, and not just trying to get rid of something you don’t want so you don’t have to spend money on a gift.
katie z. says
My mother in law regularly sends copious amounts of clothing for my two girls. It would be wrong for me to keep all of this brand-new stuff for them. Sometimes, I give it to a family in need, but I do on occasion set aside things for nieces who could use a new set of PJs, etc. They’re too little to be into opening gifts, and their parents appreciate high quality clothes they couldn’t afford on their own (and I couldn’t afford as nice of clothes for them either!)
Hunie says
I think re-gifting is horrible. I had a friend who received a gift at her wedding shower…didn’t bother to take the wrapping paper off and gifted back to me for my wedding… tacky and thoughtless. Don’t get me anything.
You can also just give the item to the person instead of presenting it as something thought out.
Lisa says
It’s ok as long as the original gifter doesn’t find out, maybe????? I regift sometimes but I always feel a little weird about it. Most of the gifts that we’ve passed on have been baby items that were not the right size or a double. Actually, now that I think about it, baby stuff is the only thing we’ve regifted. We have taken things back to the store that we didn’t like or didn’t need.
Nora@ The Dollar Hollering Homemaker says
I just donate it or ask around to see if someone I know could use it or just return an item and buy something I can use instead.
Christina says
I haven’t been known to re-gift very often, but I think it’s a great idea and I would be very pleased to receive ANY gift, even one that I knew had been re-gifted to me. I have thought it would be really neat to be able to go an entire year without buying a single gift new…re-gifting, thrift store/yard sale finds, handmade…any time I give a gift to a person, I have to consider if the person would like the gift or not, it doesn’t really matter where the gift came from.
Diane says
I guess I feel that if someone else could use the gift and I don’t need it I would just pass it onto them but not as a “gift”. I would give it seperateley from a gift. I think if you cannot afford a gift you can tell them or make something hommemade.
Heather says
I think it is kind of funny that we all get so worked up about regifting at all. Isn’t a gift about the thought and not so much about where the item came from in the first place? If I give someone an item does it matter that it came from a certain high end department store, a thrift store/rummage sale or if it was given to me? I’ve regifted my fair share and I imagine that many items I’ve been given were regifts as well. I don’t worry about it one way or another other than to make sure I’m not regifting someone something they gave me.
I had a friend give my big baby girl some newborn outfits that I wished she could have worn, but were way too small. No gift receipt and the store is not known for their return policy. As I opened them she said to just pass them on to one of the many people we know having babies this year. She knew I wouldn’t be able to use them after she saw my girl and she saved me a trip to buy a baby gift at some point in the future. Was that bad manners? Or is it making the best of the situation and the fact that she cared about me and my daughter, but the gift wasn’t as perfect as she hoped? I appreciate her effort and it will be a gift when I don’t have to take my two year old and baby shopping.
Sorry for the soap box, but I just think we all need to relax about the ‘rules’ of where an item was found and remember what our Moms taught…it is the thought that counts! :)
Heather
Hunie says
Yes, but in my case, the person didn’t put any thought into it. I watched them open their wedding gift and then received one month later as a wedding gift to me. No thought… I know for a fact.
Joan says
I would say that the thought is what counts, but when there is clearly no thought it is wrong. Such as a gift that I received that was an obvious regift as it had the logo for a local senior center all over it. Not cool and do to my age rather insulting.
Sarah Falk says
One more vote Yes! on regifting! I regift and certainly don’t mind receiving regifts. I think it’s much better to regift something than “waste” it just because it wasn’t purchased new by the giver.
Julie says
I don’t think I’ve ever regifted exactly but I do pass things along if we can’t use them. As one who ‘gifts’ (is that a word?) I would much prefer that someone regift anything I give as opposed to just put it in a closet and let it gather dust. That doesn’t seem like a very charitable attitude to me and isn’t that what gifting is all about? The whole thing just boils down to attitudes of both the gifter and giftee. (I’m just making words up as I go along….:))
Sheila says
If it is brand new and I won’t use it but someone else will, then I will give it as a gift. Regifting should not be about used items or not taking the time to rewrap an item, it is so that you can let someone else enjoy a gift that you would not. A bonus is that it will save money for my family.
Nell says
Um, I have to say that I think regifting is a little tacky too. :/ I don’t have as big a problem with taking a gift I can’t use and adding to it, but I guess my momma drilled into me – “don’t give something that cost you nothing” and I just can’t let it go! :)
Brandy Fisk says
I don’t give many gifts but, the ones I do are usually free with RR from Walgreens, on sale, or regifts. For instance I might take a container I got as a gift put some lipgloss, hair ties, body wash, body spray, makeup ( I got free with RR) in it then add a card and maybe something I got on sale for my neices present. She loves that kind of stuff and she knows (she is 15) that I bargain shop and get many things free. She thinks it is cool.
Mkcoehoorn says
Shamelessly – but usually in white elephant/dirty santa/round robin exchanges. In years past, when I have had multiple to go to, I’ve made no secret that I buy a gift for the first and then I regift whatever I get until the last one. It saves a lot of money and others have agreed that it makes sense.
I did regift some baby items, but I made sure that they were not regifted to someone in the same circle as the original giver.
alyssa says
I’m all about regifting for Christmas Party gift exchanges since I usually come home with something I don’t like or can’t use! But ONLY if it’s still new and in good condition. For instance, my sister-in-law just received a totally obvious regift- a yankee candle that had been on a warmer so the wick was nowhere in sight, a hand massager that was dirty and used looking, and a box of chocoalates of which the chocolates had all turned white and old looking! Talk about cheap and tacky! lol! Regifting can be fine, but not like that!
Gigi says
Personally, I think that anyone who gets a gift of any kind from any source should be grateful that they have someone in their life who cares enough about them to give them anything at all. That’s more than a lot of people have. So in my book, anyone who even cares whether or not a gift is a regift is spoiled.
Julia says
Here are my thoughts (for what they are worth): I think it is just fine to regift (so long as you don’t give back to the person who gave it to you in the first place!). I don’t think with all of the Christmas parties and BD parties throughout the course of a year that it is humanly possible to buy something ‘new’ everytime. Or you have more money than you know what to do with and I have a suggestion for you…my address is…JUST KIDDING. I have a Christmas Tea I am attending on Monday and they are encourage regifting. It is really the fun of giving (and receiving) and not so much about the how’s or what’s. We are a nation in an economic crunch and we must all watch our pennies. And honestly, unless you say something, how will the one receiving the gift know the difference to begin with?!
Christine says
One way that I’ve regifted baby gifts is to make a diaper cake with items that I haven’t been able to use. I started when I got a huge box of diapers from diapers.com that my son outgrew before I could use them up. Add an outfit they didn’t have a chance to wear and baby toiletries from my stock pile and you’ve got a beautiful gift for almost nothing out of pocket.
Ariana says
In theory I think its a good idea. However, I can’t bring myself to do it. Hopefully I’ll come around because I think its a good idea.
elizabeth says
I have no problem being on the giving or receiving end of a regift. So long as the tags have been changed and you really think the new recipient will like it, then go for it.
I don’t give used gifts but I have no problem getting them, if it is something I need. One of my best gifts ever was a nice food processor, lightly used, from an aunt. It was a originally pricey item I would just never buy, but which I use several times a week.
Susan Alexander says
I think it’s fine to regift as long as the original gifter is none the wiser.
I’ve regifted a few items before – generally either I already had the item gifted to me and was unable to return it or the gift was more someone else’s style than mine (and again, unable to return).
I do prefer to return the item and buy something I will actually use if it’s really something I cannot use though.
Heather says
This makes me think of the regifting episode on Seinfeld. LOL
If I regift, it is because I am in a hurry and need something quick. If someone gave me a lotion and I need, let’s say, a lotion…I would regift it. If I regift though, I am careful so that the person who gave the gift does not know. I will regift, if the orginal gift giver is a few hours away or not in the same circle of friends. Regifting a wedding present, to someone who saw the original opening…TACKY!
Cathy says
I have no problems with regifting and would not be insulted if someone gave me a regifted item. But I’m also a very frugal and practical person. To me, as long as it’s useful I don’t care if they spent their own money on it or not. Truthfully, if someone can give me something I’ll enjoy AND they saved money doing it, that’s a win-win situation in my opinion.
Melinda says
I don’t have a problem with regifting, either, but I am careful not to re-gift in the original circle of friends/family. However, I would not just give something to get rid of it. I do think about the person I will be giving the gift and whether or not it will be something they need or can use. I would not give as new something that isn’t, though. I once heard someone say that it is an insult to the original giver, because then you don’t have a gift from them. I personally think that not having to shop is a great gift!
Tania says
I once had a friend give me scented candles as a birthday gift and immediately, I knew it was a regift because the box looked tacky and like it had been sitting on a shelf for ages. I was a little miffed that she would give me something she knew I had no use for and also I had put in effort in buying a nice birthday gift for her. The one rule I have for regifting is to not give something you would hate to receive yourself, unless you think someone else would really appreciate the gift.