Is re-gifting a violation of proper etiquette? Absolutely not! In these hard economic times re-gifting is not only proper but encouraged. How many times have you seen someone open a gift that you know is not suited for them? It could be for a myriad of reasons; not the right size, not the right color, or just plain wrong! How many times has this happened to you? Tis the season to everyone getting what they need and want.
Of course re- gifting has to be done, carefully. Improper re-gifting can then lead to bad etiquette, and no one wants that for the holidays! Here are a few points to ensure a proper procedure.
- Make sure the gift is appropriate for the recipient. In other words, don’t just give it away because you don’t want it. Make a true effort to find it a good home.
- Make sure any distinguishing marks that may point out this is a re-gift are removed. Cards, names and the like are taken off or covered up well. The receiver of the gift need not know this is a re-gift.
- Any gift you don’t want and cannot find a good home for consider giving away for charity. Someone will be able to use it and you can get a tax write off to boot!
- Avoid giving the gift to someone they may know. I know this may seem like a no brainer but I am sure this has happened many times so be careful, its a small world after all.
- Consider posting your item on ebay or craigslist. This way you could take the money and buy something you may need or just plain want.
- Be careful of the yard and garage sale “re-gifting”. I once gave my future husbands mother a bath gift set for Christmas. It was the first gift I gave her and I worked really hard to find the right look and scent. Three months later when I dropped by her house to drop off some items for her yard sale I saw my bath set gift. Needless to say I was crushed and I think of that every year.
That last bullet point leads me to this tip: There is always the chance that your re-gifting could bring on a slew of new problems so be sure to consider that scenario as well. For example: does Aunt Betty visit every year and expect you to wear your new “fill in the blank”? If so, take in to consideration the giver’s feelings and only re-gift when no one gets hurt. After all isn’t that what etiquette is?
