Have you ever "re-gifted" anything?

Yes, and I always wonder how successful it was afterwards and feel guilty even if it was a good gift and a good fit with the new recipient.

And what was it that you regifted?
(That should have been part of the question.)

I’ve never had the need to do it but I don’t think there is anything wrong with that especially since she already had that toy. I don’t see much difference between giving that to someone else as a gift vs taking it to the store for a return or exchange. It saves you time especially if you know its something the new person will like. And hey, recycling is such the “in” thing and thats a form of it so congrats!

One item was an antique evening bag. It was beautiful, but I did not have enough opportunities to use it. I gave it to a friend that collected them.

I have regifted a few things especially at Christmas if I see someone that I might of forgotten and say oh here you go merry christmas
Problem sloved.

guilty: DVDs, books, costume jewelry

I will only do it if I’m sure the new recipient will like the gift. Otherwise I either take it to Goodwill or try to exchange it for something I don’t already have/actually have a use for.

All the time. I even have a rubbermade container in my attic just to for this purpose. Candles, picture frames, DVDs, knick knacks. All sorts of stuff. The trick, or course, is to remember not to give it back to the person who gave it to you. Post it notes work great for this.

Can’t say that I have. I’m big in to buying gifts for the recipient. I will avoid vouchers, money, etc. as far as at all possible. I think giving a gift especially picked by the giver for the receiver is something quite special and I don’t like to compromise that.
I also never exchange a gift unless if it’s a size-thing.

I might forward a gift if I found it to be the perfect thing for someone else, but I can’t recall that ever being the case.

Yes. I am guilty of re-gifting! I am like cprevite. I have a place in my attic just for the gifts to re-gift. My in-laws have no clue about what I like. Ten years and they still don’t know! Mind boggling to me. Anyhow, I got the UGLIEST cheap ceramic nightlight from them last year. Nothing like our taste (have they been to our house? YES!). I plan on re-gifting it back to them just out of spite. Is this horrible?

@thebeadholder You are looking for trouble, I wouldn’t do it if I were you. I would instead re-gift it to someone else, that’s for sure. I have a database in my pc with a list of the gifts I got from whom and in what occasion, then I have a list of potential givers. It takes time in the beginning to create such a list, but once is done, the updates are few so is easy to keep it current. I’ve told I’m a re-gift fanatic

I do regift (usually gifts from people who don’t know me very well and give things that are not really to my taste). You just have to be careful and make sure to never hurt anyone’s feelings (I am so not as organized as edmartin, though).

@edmartin…you are probably right. Christmas is not the time to spite someone.

Yes, its kinda of a joke with my parents friends..They’ll hold stuff for 5+ years and regift to each other. We were regifted the same microwave when we moved to our new house that my parents had bought for a friend 10 years ago.

I received a very nice mechanical pen and pencil set, in its own little leather box lined in satin, from someone who was allegedly one of my closest friends. This was twenty years ago and I still remember looking at the set after Christmas. Both pen and pencil had my friend’s monogram on them.

Why is it that we are more able to take it on the chin than embarrass our so-called friends? I said nothing, but the friendship ebbed, for myriad reasons. So now I NEVER regift, unless for a Yankee Swap or a joke.

NYT today has a funny op-ed piece about how stale croutons reuited an adult daughter and her father. Registration is free.

When my son was young, he and my kind brother used to mail a broken pencil back and forth from Philly to Olympia, wrapped in various disguises.

The place for the ugly gifts (unless from close family- then you haul it out for their visits) – is the tag or garage sale, the consignment shop, or the curb (where someone is sure to steal it.)

@gailcalled Thanks for the chuckle. The mind boggles. Did the friend not notice the monogram or just assume that you would not?

I regift all the time (leave me alone, I am a college student). Whenever someone gets me a gift I don’t care for (you can only have that many candles, lotions, bubble bath things etc), I store those gifts (unopened) in the basement. As birthdays or occasions come, I first go to the basement and see if any of those gifts match the recipients, if they do, then great! wrap it up and i am on my way. if not, then i will go and buy them a gift. I see nothing wrong with the concept. In fact, I find it wasteful if someone uses a gift when they don’t really want it. And i don’t really like a cluttered house either.

@Marina: I have a suspicion that she probably didn’t notice originally. However, since the gift was from HER sister, I bet that the info about monogram slipped out somewhere. Good, I say. I did enjoy writing with the set. (And what about the regifts that still have price tags or rings of dust or the look of something that would bring $15 on the Antiques Road Show.)

I have regifted things, yes. A couple of years ago, I had received a strange dalmatian purse (with ears and everything) from a friend. I was in my twenties at the time, and thought this was an odd gift. (She was in her twenties, too, but from a foreign land; the sensibilities are charmingly different.) I regifted it to my boyfriend’s five-year-old daughter, to her delight! I would not hesitate to do this again :)

@Blue: THAT makes sense. I do send huge care packages to my little great nephews and nieces with things for their dress-up boxes..they love the stuff.

Haha, I do it all the time with baby stuff, because I get so many multiples! I think that people are ok with it as long as it is not happening in their face, like HA! I don’t want your duplicate gift!!! You know? As long as they contributed, they win.

Yeah, I have given away a lot of things that were given to me as gifts. Only when I don’t have a use for it and someone I know could actually use it and appreciate it.

The same friend gave me a pair of striped socks with removable, surprisingly large, dog heads on the tops of the feet. I have been searching for a way to regift them for going on three years now! If you’ve got any suggestions, or these sound like something you can’t live without, please let me know! :)

@blueberryme I bet nobody will take them even if you put them for sale on ebay for a cent!!! lol

@blue: I love stuff like that and I live in an artistic community where no one would even blink if I showed up wearing them (What do you do about shoes?)

What size are they? And what about Halloween?

I bet I would like them. Got a picture?

gail – the removable heads come off for shoe-wearing.
gail and Marina – I will try to get a picture soon! My digital camera is on the fritz, so I’ll have to come up with Plan B. I would be delighted to send them to a fellow Flutherer!