Following on from "worst gift ever* have u ever had a gift given back to you that you bought the person...

A couple of weeks ago I gave my Dil a lovely bowl for her birthday, which I think she liked but didn’t say so, and some fridge magnets to use for grandsons paintings. She wanted to give them back to me as ‘she doesn’t like magnets from places she hasn’t been’! I wish I’d taken them back as this was the beginning of a horrendous weekend with her. I’ve realised she’s jealous and it has caused a complete breakdown with my son and grandsons.

My eccentric great aunt Emily was a hoarder and regifter, although two deceased husbands had left her quite well to do. After her death even stashes of long out of date banknotes were found in her cellar. I still remember the lovely tin of biscuits she gave the family one Christmas. When we opened it it was crawling with maggots. Poor mum threw the tin into the garden in shock

I have an ex sl who always gave me regifts in recycled paper. She clearly thought more of my oh as he always had new sparkly gifts and paper.

Please note the ex ... my db got rid of her pdq. Hasten to add it wasn’t because of me but because she was such a controlling two faced personality. Utter horrible passive aggressive person.

The general spirit of recycling gifts and paper/gift bags is absolutely ok if everyone is gifted in the same way from that person. In the case of my ex sl, it was just another way for her to show her dislike of me in a passive aggressive way.

Feels better to get that off my chest!

I bought a jigsaw for my brother one year. I got it back as it was 1000 pieces and they didn't have a table big enough to use it on. I was rather miffed, I have to say as I'd chosen it with great care.
As for plastic bottles I'm also going over to bars of soap and I'm trying to cast my mind back to how we bought shampoo in the 50s/60s. Mum would have been responsible for this but I cannot remember for the life of me. I recall plastic becoming widely available when I was a child - tulips were a free gift with washing powder.

We have an aged relative who we know "re-gifted" good quality tins/boxes of biscuits/chocs to her carers and others. (These were not huge tins, and there were not a lot of them.) I felt sorry for a younger relative who I know made a real effort in choosing & buying the gifts. In the end the family members stopped buying such gifts for the aged one. (Said aged relative always offered us awful cheap biscuits when we visited!)

I have re-gifted via my DD to a friend, I know these gifts won't find their way back to me

I often re-use gift bags, a few years ago we had a lovely bag which came out at Christmas & went round various female family members, I think it finally fell apart.

After finding an expensive pan set still boxed 3 yrs later in the kitchen cupboard when I was minding the DGC and cooking their tea I now give money booze and chocolates to them. Same for all the nieces and nephews it's wine, biscuits or chocolates which are always gratefully received. Great nieces and nephews get selection boxes or tins of chocolates and only toddlers/babies get a toy. I have 3 sisters so we do a secret Santa where we write 3 items we would like value £20 in a sealed envelope and pick one to buy for which works well.

This was the subject of a Margaret Atwood short story years ago and the gift that went round and round the female members of the family was a bottle of Evening in Paris perfume.
I had that book of short stories and lent it to somebody who never returned it. I've since looked for the collection of Atwood Stories containing that one and have never found it. Probably out of print, but really enjoyed the story.
Back on track, I've never received a gift that I've given. I'd quite like some of them ?

I'm 'guilty' of recycling gifts. If it's something I really don't want or know I won't use I give it to someone whom I know will appreciate it. I do make a point of sticking a post-it on the item as a reminder of the donor. Have one beautiful and expensive gardening book which I'd love to pass on but can't remember who gave it to me (have my suspicions) so daren't take the risk. I don't think it's an awful thing to do. Somewhat practical: a kind of recycling. It was lovely to be thought of by the original giver methinks. This, of course, implies all the obvious considerations like date of consumption etc. Wouldn't dream of passing on any sort of perishables. Good Heavens! Interesting and fun topic. Thanks.

My daughter used to have a high powered job which meant staying in a lot of hotels. At Christmas, her female boss gave her a fancy basket filled with the freebies you get in hotels! This woman was very wealthy.

I akwats wrap bottles in bright pink tissue paper with the ends at the top then tie a gift tag round the neck with a bauble which can be put on the tree. I too hate waste and even re-use tissue paper. I've never (yet) had a gift returned as a 'gift' nor ever re-gifted. Friends tend to ask what others like and I have welcomed L'Occitane Pivoine hand cream many times. Cream candlestick lampshades were another favourite gift.

I was once given some lovely William Morris stationery by my neighbour which was exactly what I had given her the previous year.
She said she knew I liked Wm Morris which is why she thought of me.
As it was Christmas Day and I was in her house ,drinking her gin and tonic ,I just agreed about liking Wm Morris and said thank you.

I usually give money (always gratefully received, but so far never regifted)

A friend of mine and myself have used the same paper bag with an angel stamped on it to give our presents to each other - it must be at least 12 years that we do it and its still in good condition - which reminds me must check my box to see if its my turn this year or hers!

My brother and SIL gave an aunt a gift she had given them. She (the aunt) spewed vitriol down the phone to my mother and never spoke to my DB and SIL again. She took first prize in the family for holding a grudge!!

Slightly off the original thread topic but interesting that other people are changing back to hard soap (regifted or new) instead of liquid hand wash as well. After watching several programs on plastic waste I was appalled at how much extra plastic had incrementally crept into our house even though I consider myself reasonably aware about the issue. Stern words to self ensued and a number of changes in household management have now been implemented.

My mum gave my DIL a pair of Lacey black stockings (unwrapped!!). She thought she should wear more enticing clothes for my son!!!! Fortunately DIL is gorgeous with a great sense of humour and we did explain mum is a bit old school (dress up for your husband) sort. It was the unwrapped bit that made us wonder....

J52.Ours was a wedding present from a great aunt of mine of a glass, not even crystal, monstrous fruit bowl. Another relative informed me that she had seen it on display over the years on the sideboard of the aunt. I put it away until such a time I felt it reasonable to take it to a charity shop.

I was telling my mother what I was sending my God mother for Christmas, don't she cried, she gave it to me and I gave it to you!

I gave my sister a box of scented drawer liners for her birthday one April. I got the box back for my birthday in September minus one of the sheets!

The closest I've come to this is when my mother bought herself a ring (unbeknown to me), and gave it to me for my 50th birthday. A few months later two of the stones had fallen out and when I told her she said 'Oh that's strange - I'd only worn it a few times'.

We went to stay with friends and took them a bottle of a good whisky. On the return match they brought us a bottle of good whisky. God's honest truth we are sure it was the self same bottle ! We are still friends - some people can turn being tight into an art form.

I never regift, but my Mum did it a lot and as she got older she couldn't remember who had given her what!

But I once gave a good friend an exquisite (and very expensive) long wool scarf which I had taken great care in choosing - she wore a lot of scarves. She seemed thrilled with it and expressed her great delight. So I was a bit surprised to receive it for my birthday two years later! As I opened it she said "I hope you like it, some ghastly person gave it to me and I would never wear anything like that!!" I never gave her another gift. I gave the scarf to a charity shop, although it was lovely every time I looked at it I thought of her rude remark.

My mil was a very 'lucky' person, ie if she bought a ballot ticket she inevitably won a prize. I'm pretty sure I received some of these prizes as gifts. Once she gave me a ghastly dinner set for Christmas, as I opened it my fil said " oh you've managed to get rid of that at last"!

Just spotted Lancslass1 post. "They" said to us that they knew we liked that good whisky.