Is Regifting Wrong?

If you re-wrap a gift you do not want and give it to another person under the guise of a "gift" you yourself spent time and money to pick out, then re-gifting is most certainly wrong. In fact, I'd say it's stealing.

On the other hand, if you're upfront with the recipient, you run the risk of hurting their feelings. The gift wasn't good enough for you; why is it good enough for them?

So the only time I think you can safely and honestly re-gift is when you don't present the item as a gift, but, simply, say to the person: I do not need this and was wondering if you do. For instance, each year my husband, who doesn't wear cologne, nonetheless receives at least two to three bottles of the stuff from family, friends, and colleagues. Five years ago, I put out a box by the front door filled with things to go to Goodwill. My father noticed the cologne bottles on top and asked why I was giving them away. He said, "I LOVE cologne. I'll take them!" So each year, my dad gets my husband's cologne castoffs. Likewise, years ago, a colleague gave me a set of nesting mixing bowls. I had several sets already, but a friend's daughter was graduating college and setting up house. I gave them to her, again stating up front that they were gifted to me and I didn't need them. But I didn't give them to her as a SUBSTITUTE for her housewarming gift.

Still, with very few exceptions, I think the best thing to do is give the unwanted gift away to a charitable organization.

To answer the title question,no...

Regifting is morally wrong.It involves hypocricy & cheating.

Better sell the unwanted gift,buy something new & be honest to everybody,beginning with your conscience...

Host a "White Elephant" party for Christmas with a church group or work group (people who do not know where the gift originated). Everyone brings a wrapped gift and places it in a pile. Number little post-it papers with the number of guests attending, put it in a large jar. When it's time to open the gifts, the host passes the jar around to all the attendees, they pick a number out of the jar. Starting with number one, each takes their turn picking out which gift they want and opens it. Number two picks and opens, to the last gift. Everyone has fun, gets a gift, and nobody knows the giver. We've had one plastic skeleton show up each year for many years, and it's become the joke of the group.......who is going to get the skeleton this year? The rest of the gifts have been appreciated or regifted elsewhere. Remember the old saying, "One person's trash may be someone else's treasure". It's true.

I think re-gifting is a awesome thing! Lets say this; my grandmother can't leave the house, so she ORDERS everythingfrom QVC. She's not all there, so she gets carried away and buys everything. Then she buys a big gift bag and puts all of our stuff in each others bags. There's ALOT of stuff in there, that I wouldn't use or wear on that matter. So, I re-wrap them and give them to people I KNOW that wants them or could put it to good use. Why throw it away..?? Theres people out there, that can't afford anything. If I know someone that doesnt want it, then I give it back to those who can't afford to get gifts. Beacause to them, its a wonderful gift =)

I don't get re-gifting. We run a company, www.takemystuff.com, that sells stuff people don't want anymore. Business has increased with the downturn but, even now, most people just say they don't have time to get rid of their surplus things .. and they lots of things. My point is, why get people more stuff they don't want or need or even have space for? Go for gift certificates, or give them some money, or if they're wealthy make a donation to charity and send them a card. Re-gifting is tacky (granted, so is using our service to sell gifts ... but I'm sure we'll have a January bump in business ... people really just have too much stuff lying around).

Why re-gift unwanted gifts? Just give them away to someone without pretending that you are giving the gift to people. Re-gifted gift doesn't mean anything, it is not special at all. It is also very cheap.

My friends and I purposefully do a "dirty Santa" with regifts. Sometimes the gifts are ones nobody wants and sometimes they fit someone just right. I know I've gotten some great gifts before, like a CD that they did not like but I love and some gloves that did not fit the other person but fit me just right. We have a lot of fun regifting.

The only thing I have ever regifted are bottle of wine that I have received. I am a red wine drinker and for some reason vendors continue to give me white wine. I bring them as a host gift for holiday parties or donate them for prizes at our office holiday party.

If I receive something, ie clothes, that either are too big, too small or not my style, I donote them to Goodwill.

Haha Keith, that's funny... I haven't made it to that point yet where everyone can regift within a family and not get offended!

Admittedly, I am a re-gifter. I give things I don't want to people who I think might enjoy them. Just because the gift is not my style doesn't mean someone else cannot enjoy it. In fact, I have already received two gifts this year that I am already deciding who to regift to. They are wonderful gifts in general, I just have no use for them.

I LOVE regifting...it's funny. In fact, I've actually got my regifts from other people that got it from the original person I regifted. It goes like this: I get a stupid gift from Grandma, so I regift it to my cousin Ned, because I'm not a big fan of need anyway, Well, Ned immediately regifts it to his sister Caroline's husband. Well, Caroline's husband also can't stand Ned, but dislikes my Niece Freida even more, so he regifts it to her. Well, Frieda is a spoiled rotten brat, and loathes Her cousin billy, so of the goft goes! Well, billy plays with it for an hour, and throws it in his toybox until his mom tells him he has to have a gift for his school party, and he draws my daughter's name, and SHE get's it! Well, not to be outsmarted, I immediately send the gift to my Uncle Ted, and he doesn't even open the gift, but instead takes the tag off and replaces his name with his brother, my uncle Eric. Well, Uncle Eric, unbeknowst to him, has drawn my grandmas name and Viola, she gets the regift again. Well, she is a bit senile, and when she opens it she thinks she accidently opened the gift she was supposed to send me, retapes it, and gives it to me again during the family Christmas dinner.
Curses, foiled again!!!
but my family has not seen the last of that gift, not by a long shot...Iput it in my attic in the box marked "Regifts" where it will make it's rounds next year!

Regifting is fun. I do it all the time, and in fact fully expect folks to regift my regifts...in fact I have recycled the same gift from my family 7 christamses in a row...I'd get it the gift from my grandma, then regift it to my cousin, who gives it to his sister, that gives it to my mom, that gives it to my brother, and he gives it to me...and the vicious cycle continues!
Woo-Hoo!

I see nothing at all wrong with regifting as long as it is something new, unopened, unused, etc. (and something that the regiftee might actually want). You are not necessarily passing it off as something you "bought". Do you feel the need to tell someone if you get their gift on the half-off sale table? I can see it now: "I didn't pay full price-I'm not worthy!" I think not. Besides, if you care so much about how much it COST and not the thought behind the gift, you don't deserve anything anyway.

Regifting is RUDE, INSENTITIVE & quite frankly TACKY!!! Why should you give something to someone tha you don't want for youself. If you absolutely hate it, you should just tell the truth. This was given to me as a gift, but it is not my taste, could you use it? Do not repackage it and pass it off as a gift that you purchased. TACKY! TACKT! TACKY!

What if your gift to a friend was re-gifted to another friend and you just happened to find out about it? Should you be offended? I mean, if I chose to re-gift something that I received from a friend I would at least give it to someone my friend didn't know.

In these difficult economic times, regifting is a great idea. For many years, I have made a point of re-gifting. My rule is, if it came from a family member, I re-gift it at work, and if it came from a co-worker, I re-gift it in the family. Those two circles don't ever cross, so I don't have to worry about offending anyone.
This year, my family and I decided to have an "Olde Worlde Christmas" - meaning that we're basically having a yard-sale under the tree. All of the kids are picking nice toys and things they've out-grown, cleaning them up and fixing them up, and giving them to their many, many cousins, and my siblings and I are doing the same. It is a fun way to save money, and forces the kids not only to get rid of some of the clutter, but to really think about what they know and love about their family members!

I regift fairly often-usually grabbing a bottle of wine received previously--a type we might not enjoy--and giving it as a host/hostess gift. This year I was out of work for several months the Christmas budget is tight. We received a ver nice large gift fruit basket from someone and since I did not have a gift for a family member, I passed it along. No harm done?