Does gift giving stress you out during the holiday season? Do you have some gifts that could be regifted to get rid of some of your clutter and bring joy to someone else? What is regifting?
Regift- To give an unwanted gift to someone else; to give as a gift something one previously received as a gift. Webster’s New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.6).
Regifting has gained in popularity and more than half of adults recently surveyed by Money Management Institute find regifting acceptable. And the etiquette experts at the Emily Post Institute approve of the practice in some circumstances.
If you are considering regifting this holiday season, ask yourself the following questions:
What is your intention? Be sure that the recipient will appreciate the item. If you are regifting simply because you ran out of time, gift cards are simple to obtain and always well received.
Is the gift a good candidate? Some gifts that are good candidates for regifting include good (unopened) bottles of wine, new household items and inexpensive jewelry.
What is the condition? Only new, unopened gifts in good condition should be considered for regifting.
Is this going to work? Only regift items to people who are not likely to see the original giver.
How does it appear? Gift bags in good condition can be reused, but wrapping paper is a one-time use. And always use a new card or gift tag.
Can you keep the secret? If you don’t plan to announce the gift as a regift you need to be able to keep the secret and you need to be able to not feel guilty about regifting.
Have you looked at all your options? Gifts can be donated to a charitable organization or can be donated as drawing prizes for fundraisers.
So consider regifting this season to help take some of the stress out of gift giving. There is also the National Regifting Day on December 19, 2013.