Holiday Re-gifting Tradition
November 19, 2007
It’s that time again. Your opportunity to re-gift. You know you want to.
Wikipedia cites the following rules of re-gifting etiquette:
- The primary rule is not to give a gift back to the person who gave it to you.
- Similarly, re-gifting to someone who knows the original giver carries the risk of exposing both your lack of attachment to the gift, and your failure to select and purchase a new gift for the recipient. (Made popular on the ’90s sitcom, Seinfeld.)
- One should remove any cards and other indicators that the gift was originally given to you.
- Finally, using the gift before re-gifting it — so that it is no longer “new” — is generally considered inappropriate.
Etiquette guru Emily Post suggests that re-gifting should be done only rarely, and under specific criteria:
- You are certain the gift is something the recipient would enjoy.
- The gift is brand new (no cast-offs allowed) and comes with its original box and instructions.
- The gift isn’t handmade, or one that the original giver took great care to select.
According to results of the November 2005 Re-gifting and Holiday Credit Card Use Survey posted at Regiftable.com:
- More than half of surveyed consumers do not find re-gifting rude
- Nearly 4 in 10 people have practiced re-gifting
- Women 35-54 years old are more likely to regift than men
- Re-gifting is more practiced among those who are college educated
- One third of re-gifters do so to save money
In general, don’t regift the following:
- Used or opened items
- Expired items, such as last year’s Dilbert desk calendar.
- Champagne/alcohol
- Eclectic items the receiver might not be interested in
If your feeling tacky about the whole idea, give your stuff to a charity or resell on CraigsList, Amazon or eBay.
Related links:
(You’ll enjoy this song) Regifting for the Holidays by The Alice Project
MSN 12 rules for regifting without fear
That’s all folks. Let the re-gifting begin!
-BD
It bothers me that there is even a term for it. “Re-gifting”. Sheesh!
I’m dreading our upcoming office “holiday” party. I got an email instructing me to spend up to $15 on a secret Santa gift. Last year there was a game played to pass gifts randomly around. Fortunately, no one got a knitted office mitt. Best gifts seem to be bottles of wine.
By the way, if you never saw it, check out NBC’s The Office Christmas Party 2005 episode. Priceless! Synopsis here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Party_(The_Office_episode)