I’m a Regifter. Are You?
Raise your hand if you like to get gifts.
Keep your hand up if you have gotten a gift you didn’t like…where you actually said out loud, “What were they thinking? Why did they give me this? They don’t know me at all!”
For the record, I am typing with one hand since my hand is still raised.
The question is, “What should you do about it?”
- Do you return the gift to the store?
- Do you toss it away?
- Do you keep it in a drawer and take it out when the person who gave you the gift comes to your house? For the record I believe most people have done this (including yours truly).
- Do you do something else?
Or do you do the unthinkable………
- Do you give it away? Do you wrap it up and regift the poor little defenseless item?
At this point, most people are probably either chuckling or are appalled that people actually consider this—and more importantly do it.
Before I go on, I will let you in on a little secret: Research has shown that 40% of people have regifted because they wanted to save money or time or felt the new recipient would like the item.
When I first thought this and asked myself the question “Do I regift?”, I immediately said no, but then needed to think about it and actually the answer is yes.
Here are a few tips on regifting:
- Don’t give the gift back to the person who gave it to you! Don’t laugh this happens.
- Always rewrap the gift
- Make sure you have taken off the tag that says “To Merrill from ________”
- Only give items away that are new and still in their packaging
- DON’T ever regift handmade items!
So when do I regift? Good question. When I replayed that question in my memory banks, I have come up with a few times:
- Bottles of wine – since I am not a big drinker, I will regift wine
- I also have regifted photo albums, so if you have received that in the past from me….. I’m terribly sorry
Are you a regifter?
If so, what items do you regift?
I look forward to your advice and comments!
December 22nd, 2006 at 11:36 am
funny enough, all the gifts my mom buys me are more suited for one of my best friends, so i pretty much regift all of my christmas gifts from my mom, to my friend on her birthday. Luckily my mom and my friend are not in market research, so they won’t see this! however, if my mom were to visited my friend, she would notice all of the regifted items around my friend’s house! Yikes!
December 22nd, 2006 at 11:38 am
One more item that is regifted a lot. The “My Boss was Raised by Wolves” book that was given by a certain someone at a meeting in September. That one seems to float from manager to manager…
December 22nd, 2006 at 5:51 pm
Yes, I too, am a regifter. Only in the past few years though. Never regifted earlier in life, had more time and patience to deal with crowds, traffic, malls, etc. Sometimes it’s just the thing to do because you know the regifter recipient will certainly appreciate whatever it was you decided was not for you but perfect for them…BTW Merrill, I will never buy you a bottle of wine! I’m trying to file that in my what not to buy Merrill gifts file…
Enjoy the holidays!
December 25th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
In recent years, I have fine tuned my regifting. Instead of taking chances that I might carelessly offend someone, I now give all the gifts I have no intention of keeping to a local charity. This way I know these well meaning gifts will eventually have meaning and impact for someone in need.
December 28th, 2006 at 10:20 am
This year I am guilty. I regifted incense and an incense holder. I can’t use incense it gives me a headache. The person that I regifted it to loves incense so in my mind it was a nice gift to the person that I gave it to. Is it wrong when you use your gift cards to buy someone a gift? Would that be just about the same thing?
January 3rd, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I regifted for the first time this year. It was a hard decision because I was raised by a wonderful mother who kept everything she ever received so as never to cause hurt feelings. But this year, I received a nice candle from someone, and although i like candles, i never burn them (much to my husband’s dismay, as he would like candles at dinner for ambiance on occasion) because I had an apartment fire once and am paranoid. My daughter needed a gift for someone and after debating whether or not I should part with my candle (which i would never use) I handed it over. I actually feel good about it and have decided regifting is a good thing. My candle got a home where it will be used and displayed, which I think is what my friend was hoping for in the first place.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:10 am
I too have regifted but used the items in a White Elephant setting. Just make sure that the person that gave it to you is not a member of the group when you have the White Elephant party! Such fun!! Thanks!
January 8th, 2007 at 11:09 am
One variant on re-gifting: if the gift is small, and something I definitely will not use (such as a perfume that I have never worn - it’s amazing how many people choose this as a gift!), I will keep it in my work area. Invariably, someone will comment on his or her fondness for the item, and I will say, “Would you like it? I don’t wear that brand.” Works every time.
January 14th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Another good one. Did you remember I only give you checks!
I’m a quick study!