Stanek weekend Q: Do you regift?
I feel like taking a break from the heavy burden of our pro-life work for a fun community chat this weekend.
So! Let’s talk! This weekend’s question is: Do you regift?
I heard a report yesterday that even wealthy Americans regift!
Per the report, that regifting percentage is up 10% from last year.
If you regift, what sorts of items do you recycle? Here’s what the survey says…
As for me, the answer is yes, I regift! In fact, I have a box full of items to regift! (I put the giver’s name on the gift so I don’t make the mortifying mistake of regifting to the original giver.)
Last Christmas I elevated my regifting to an artform. I have a group of friends with whom I exchange presents, and I announced to them early on my gift would be to bring my regifting box to our little party and let them pick whatever they wanted from it. They loved it!
So, how about you? And there are all sorts of related questions, like: Do you regift used items? (Me? No.) Do you return used items? (Me? I don’t make a habit of it, but yes, I’ve done it with clothes I’ve tried but didn’t like.)
Also, be sure to take the poll!
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I’m a re-user. I shop thrift stores. I love finding good second hand bargains. I donate items to Good Will instead of throwing them out (I know people who toss perfectly good clothing and housewares in the trash rather than take it to Good Will!!!)
So in that spirit–yes, of course I regift. I’m not money bags so if someone gives me a gift I truly can’t use I regift. It is all about recycling and reusing and repurposing.
We got a video game once that we don’t own the system to use it so I found a friend who had that system and we regifted the game to her child for a birthday. Saved me 30 bucks! :-)
Oh, definitely. If I have something I don’t want/need and I have to get a gift for someone who does, it seems like a win-win. However, I would never re-gift a used item, as that would appear cheap and thoughtless.
I give cash. Always appreciated.
I forgot to mention I’ve also regifted gift cards!
I don’t know if you’d call this re-gifting, but:
My Mom loves to shop, especially Christmas shopping, whereas I’ve always hated all forms of shopping. Anyway, Mom usually goes overboard on things, and buys tons of stuff just because it’s on sale, so she puts it away for next year. Sometimes she also buys something for someone and then discovers they already have it, or someone else just gave it to them, as often happens during the Christmas season. So away it goes into the closet.
It used to be that when I start to make out my list, Mom always said, “I know the perfect thing for X; I bought it for Y last Christmas, but Z had already given it to her. I can let you have it. And I have something for B and D too.” I would pay her for things, or at least offer to. Sometimes I got most of my Christmas shopping done this way, through Mom’s “store”!
It hasn’t been nearly so convenient since I moved away from home and don’t have Mom around all Christmas season. But she’s still good for last minute gifts when I’m visiting. This year, though, she says she has given up on shopping. We’ll see.
I’ve recently discovered that I don’t hate online shopping that much. But I refuse to start right after Thanksgiving, like so many people. I hate cooperating with a greedy retail industry and mindless consumerism. I guess now is the time to be getting into gear. . . Actually I’m really with Del. Just give cash!
I don’t have any gift-giving holidays, so it’s never an issue :)
It depends. I would generally re-gift new, generic items, but not ones that I felt the giver had put particular thought into (even if I hated it/had no use for it) and never ever from people very close to me.
People returning used items is my pet peeve unless the store openly accepts used items(like some stores do with cosmetics etc). Returning it by pretending it’s not used is rude. When I worked in retail in college, people would do that all the time. Everyone thinks their reason for doing it is legitimate, but none of them are. You have the opportunity to try on the clothes when you get home and make a decision. Once you cut the tags off and wear it out, you should be stuck with it unless it’s defective in some way. This goes for all items. I once bought what I thought was a new iron, but had to go back to the store and return it because it had CLEARLY been used and someone just boxed it up and returned it. I know it’s ultimately a first world problem, but it’s my first world pet peeve big time.
This very topic came up last year in our office. One gal said, “Regifting is my peoples way of solving the “shovunda” issue, so I’m all for it.”
I asked her, “what in the world is a “shovunda” ?
She said, “A ‘shovunda’ is when somebody gives you something you don’t WANT, don’t NEED, will NEVER use, and never even LOOK at again…..so you take it home and shove it unda the bed, the dresser, the nightstand, etc.”
Regift? If I was given some pre-owned Louis XIV furniture and it did not go with my danish modern, what should I do? LOL!!! Lincoln car ads started that instead of saying “used”.
If you ever visit Palm Beach, there is a Goodwill there. Something has to be done with the designer clothes, i.e. the ball gowns, that are way to fancy for their regular stores. BTW how many times can a pair of jeans be tried on in a store and no longer be ‘new’?
Walked into one of the ‘Antique Row’ stores in West Palm Beach. They had a ‘Coca-Cola’ kitchen set-up. My friend was remarking on it when a clerk came up and said that it was “Mid-Century Modern”. After the shock of hearing that we just burst out laughing! Now when someone says that I am old fashioned I just correct them by saying that “No, I am Mid-Century Modern.” ROFLOL!!!
In order to pull off a successful “regifting” one must be verrrrry careful not to get busted :
After one of my sister’s wedding and reception, the wedding party and about 25 people came back to my parents house for another small get together. We sat around and watched the bride and groom open their gifts. Everyone “oohed and ahhed” at the gifts and everything was fine until they opened the gift from the maid of honor, whose name was Karen.
It was a spiffy new 4 slice toaster.
A few minutes later, the toaster accidentally got knocked over and fell on the floor. When my sister picked it up, a card fell out of one of the slots where the bread goes. The inside of the card said, “To Karen and Phil…love Aunt Suzanne.”
That poor girl was absolutely mortified, but it was actually funny because she had done an enormous amount of work to help pull off the wedding and everyone laughed and thought it was hilarious. We still get a chuckle out of that to this day. Yes, my sister and Karen are still BFF’s !
“Now when someone says that I am old fashioned I just correct them by saying that “No, I am Mid-Century Modern.” ROFLOL!!! ”
Yes!!!!!!
I am totally stealing this!!
I, too, am mid century modern.
I regift but not like giving it wrapped or for a birthday, etc. I just tell the person that someone very kindly thought to give me the item, but I can’t use it and offer it to them.