Is Regifting Tacky? (husband, house, appropriate, issues)
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You do not re-gift the very same gift that someone gave to you, by giving it back to them!! That's called White Elephant!
And it's also called rude!!
Yeah, that's pretty much the golden rule of regifting. If my sister gives me something that I know my coworker will love, they'll never cross paths, so it's all good. I'd never regift something that my mother gave me to my sister, though.
I have never thought to re-gift something. I just think it is tacky to pretend I bought you a present. If I don't care for something it just goes in the charity box.
My personal guidelines to this are:
1. If the present is in the original packaging, the original packaging must look new - No one wants to open a present with a box that looks like it's been through a tornado.
2. The object itself must look brand new - no books with a tattered corner, candles that have already been lit (you laugh, but this happened to my cousin once...), clothing with stains, etc.
3. When considering regifting, is this item something I would've thought to spend my own money on for this friend? - Meaning that I want to make sure that I think this is something I would've wanted to give my friend even if I had to spend my own money, because it's something they'd like - not just a stretch I'm making to get this item out of my house.
4. Does the person I'm regifting TO know the person I got the gift FROM? - This one's a biggie. If Lindsay gives you a decorative wreath that you then pass on to Carol, is Lindsay likely to go over to Carol's house only to see the wreath? It's far better to regift among separate social/familial circles to avoid any awkwardness.
Regifting in and of itself isn't tacky - but just like with "regular" gift giving, appropriate thought to both the gift itself and the recipient should be made prior to passing the gift along.
It's so nice when you don't have to compile such a list for the OP because someone has done all of the hard work for you.
I think its always tacky unless you give it as a non-holiday/birthday gift and let the person know. i.e. "Hey Beth, my mother in law bought me this scarf, but it really looks good on you, do you want it"
I decided to start this thread after another thread RE: restaurant coupons wandered off into regifting territory. What do you think about regifting? I mentioned being miffed that my little sister regifted her unwanted JCPenney gift card to me when it was my birthday. I was annoyed because we don't give each other gift cards. We both feel like they are too impersonal, and we are the closest people in each other's lives, next to our spouses. I was also not thrilled because I don't care for JC Penney. She and I have never given each other gift cards before or since, which is how I realized right away she didn't originally purchase it.
On another occasion, she mentioned liking Bath and Body Works lotions in the apple flavors, so I gave her two as a stocking stuffer at Christmas. Several months later, I received the very same apple flavored lotions as a present. I told her I had given them to her for Christmas, and she repeatedly denied that they were regifts, even though I was positive I gave them to her because I don't like the apple flavors.
I understand the concept of regifting. You receive a gift you don't like, it makes little sense to keep it at your home collecting dust, so you pass along said item to a loved one. I don't think that's tacky in itself. But it develops the tackiness factor when you're regifting something the person wouldn't appreciate, or something inappropriate for the recipient's tastes that suggests it was originally gifted to you. What do you think?
I agree with you- it's tacky.
Also, it's a little bit of a relief hearing I'm not the only person who has had something returned in the form of a 'gift'- I didn't say anything to the person about it, but I thought it was downright mean. However, the incident got me wondering if perhaps every gift from the person was a regift- that perhaps the person never picked out anything just for me.
On one side, if a person really hates a gift, has no use for it, etc., they have other options- even giving it away to someone else. But to pass it off as a 'gift,' well, I think that's awful.
On the other side, if a person truly can't afford to give someone a gift on a special occasion or holiday, even a handmade card is better than 'regifting.'
It's thoughtless and inconsiderate to the recipient- and even more so if the recipient was the original giver!
But it develops the tackiness factor when you're regifting something the person wouldn't appreciate, or something inappropriate for the recipient's tastes that suggests it was originally gifted to you. What do you think?
I think it's tacky to regift something back to someone, but not to regift it to someone else.
But that said, your sister sounds like a passive-aggressive jerk.
I'm all for it if it's done discreetly. When my sister got married she received a toaster from our millionaire cousins (note, how to become a millionaire,lol). Inside the box she found the gift tag signed by the original givers. lol. We figured it was a shower present to the bride.
We got a couple of wedding gifts like that! It was okay, because we liked both items. One of the re-gifters was in our Sunday School class at church. I never mentioned it.
We gave my husband's stepmother a beautiful picture frame for Christmas a month before she married his dad, thinking she might like to put a wedding photo in it. A few years later, I was at a bridal shower for a relative... yep... stepmother regifted the frame! She didn't even remove the strip of tape with Christmas paper on it from the box! lol
I think its always tacky unless you give it as a non-holiday/birthday gift and let the person know. i.e. "Hey Beth, my mother in law bought me this scarf, but it really looks good on you, do you want it"
I give my unwanted gifts to the grandkids, but I'd regift IF the giver & receiver didn't know each other. I wouldn't mind getting one even if I knew it was a RG if it was something I liked.
I had a friend invite me to her yardsale, and there was the clock I got her when she married. I wish she had regifted it so I hadn't seen how cheap she priced it.
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