Need a gift fast? Rejoice, reuse and re-gift this holiday!

Time’s almost up and you still have _____ (fill in the blank) people to shop for! OR do you? Do you really need/want to head “out there?” The last-minute holiday shopping rush is an ugly, spirit-killing scene. Parking wars, crowds, long lines, short fuses, crying toddlers that have been stuck in a shopping cart for too long—and perhaps the worst part—horrible renditions of Christmas carols blaring from every speaker. Instead, why not pour yourself a glass of eggnog, put on some good music and start thinking about what you already have that can be re-gifted (see sidebar).

Plenty of people think that re-gifting is tacky—even deceptive. Not me. I think re-gifting is brilliant! It endeavors to find an appreciative home for useful items we’ve found no use for ourselves and it minimizes the environmental fallout from holiday-style buying and selling of large quantities of new consumer goods.

We could donate or sell things we don’t use, but these are the holidays, and if one needs gifts, why go to the store and buy something else that had to be manufactured from raw materials and was probably shipped all the way from China or Indonesia or Taiwan. Instead look in the back of your closets and cupboards, on those out of reach shelves in the garage and in that taped up box in the attic. This kind of “shopping” is resourceful, thrifty and eco-friendly. However, re-gifting isn’t for dummies. You have to be smart about it. Here are some general rules I like to follow:

The item should be in like-new if not mint condition.
If the item obviously should come inside special packaging (e.g. a digital DVD player) you should have that packaging (including owner’s manuals) and be able to put it all back together as if it were never opened.
Disregard rules 1 – 2 if you’re exchanging gifts with an individual or group that has agreed to re-gift with abandon!
Check for personalized inscriptions or note cards. The former will make the gift un-re-giftable, the latter can be removed.
If re-gifting a store coupon, gift card or merchandise credit, confirm that it is transferrable.
If you received the item as a gift, you need at least 3 degrees of separation between the original gifter and your chosen recipient. In other words the two should have a nearly zero percent chance of running in the same circle. For example, consider it safe to re-gift something you received from your boss to your Aunt Delores who lives seven zip codes away. Don’t be as comfortable re-gifting your boss’s gift to your secretary!
Re-gifting shouldn’t be a way of just getting rid of something or saving money. Be reasonably sure your recipient will like and use the gift.
If your recipient inquires about the origin of the gift, they either want to know what store they can exchange the gift at or maybe they suspect it is a re-gift. Fess up, and own it. If the recipient is offended, well then you just learn something valuable: not that re-gifting is bad, but that people who don’t know when to just shut up and say thank you may not deserve a gift in the first place…or next time.

Whether you’re a proponent or opponent of re-gifting, we’d like to hear from you, so post your comments below.

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1 Comment »

I love re-gifting – even if I am on the receiving end. I think Xmas should be a huge white elephant exchange!

Comment by Liz — December 20, 2011 @ 7:55 pm