Re-gifting!

I don’t know if I’ve ever been given a regifted present (I doubt it) but I’d never do it myself. It seems wrong to me to make a present of a present. Having said that, I might pass something on in an ad hoc way - or does that amount to the same thing?

About 3 months after I met David, he said he had a present for me, and presented me with a matching brooch and earrings set. Just as I unwrapped them his mother came into the room, and she said "isn`t that the set you bought for Carol?" Carol was his previous girlfriend!

My son bought matching earings and pendants x 2 for a girlfriend. They were very pretty. Unfortunately the relationship split up a few weeks before Christmas. I bought one set off him and gave them to my sister who was very pleased and my son gave me the second set with my agreement!

I do regift, and I’ve no problem with having gifts passed on to me either (just as well, with my birthday just after Christmas!). It’s just a form of recycling, as long as the gift is something the recipient would want, and it’s better than leaving things unused in a drawer, as some people do. When one relative died, we’d to throw away years’ worth of lovely perfumes, too old to be used. Such a waste.

Many years ago, 2 of our girls, whose birthdays are Jan 1st and 5th, were given boxes of chocolates by hubby`s parents. When they unwrapped them, there was the little label that used to be on choc boxes then, saying to and from. One said Happy Christmas Grandma from Anthony, the other the same, but Grandad instead. Now our girls were 8 and 10, it was a bit puzzling for them, but I couldn`t help wondering what their grandson would have thought if he`d known what they did with his presents.

My gran was impossible to buy for and very frugal. She had a drawer full of bath cubes, ornaments, chocolates, etc. Presents she’d been bought. Each had a note attached as to who bought it for her, she then recycled them as presents to other people.

I could have re-gifted a tub of body shop stuff but by the time I had used a bit of it I realised how dreadful the
stink of it was. A very pervasive nondescript perfume that would overpower any other perfume you might use.

It was not even a perfume that you could have identified.
I had to scrub my legs clean before I went to bed.

I sometimes receive perfume which does not smell good on my skin so tip it into a reed diffuser bottle. I have never given away a gift given to me.

Slightly off topic, when we cleaned out the house after my mother died we found a lot of the birthday and Christmas gifts we had given still unused in a drawer. Such a shame, I make a point of using/wearing all the gifts my family give me.

I only use one particular fragrance I will put away gift sets that are different into a box for re gifting during the year.

I am not sure if I have been given a re-gifted present so I obviously enjoyed what I got if I did. I have re-gifted a £50 box of chocolates to someone I would normally spend about £15 on but I had feedback that they were enjoyed. Would it have been better to throw them away (I can't eat them)? I don't think so.

My dd re-gifts a lot of things she's been given for her two very little ones - so many toys and clothes anyway, and she so often has new babies or toddler birthday parties to buy for. I just hope she can always remember who gave what...

I've never re gifted anything to a person, but one or two things have gone to charity shops.

I had a similar experience to callgirl1. I have a January birthday. A friend, who was a teacher at the time, gave me a box of chocolates for my birthday. She had failed to notice that there was a label attached, which said "Happy Christmas Mrs X with love from Natasha xx"!

A few years ago I bought a lovely little china pin-tray at an antiques fair to give to a friend for Christmas. The following year, I received from that friend: the lovely little china pin-tray, wrapped in the same, but creased, paper. ?!

Oh Marelli, were you effusive with your thanks? lol!

My DM had some rather strange regifting habits.

One Christmas she regifted a rather expensive ladies pen that my DB's family had given her to my DH for Christmas. It was a very odd thing to regift within immediate family and not anything that DH would like or ever use.

There was also an embarrassing moment where my young DN recognised it when we were staying with them that Christmas
"isn't that the pen we bought granny" she said
"oh - I think granny must have liked it so much she got one for us", I bluffed ......

callgirl1, I was!! I think I remember saying to her that she always knew just the type of thing I liked! ?

My mother always re-gifts presents it has become for my DC and DGC a laugh over what we get. This year our eldest DGS received a tool set she'd won at the bingo. He's 12.

Anything we get that we don't like or can't use is saved for the McMillan coffee morning in September. My friend has had ovarian cancer for many years and is has been fundraising for as long as she has been suffering, she has raised nearly £100000!

I have regifted the occasional small thing, toiletries, notebooks etc.but have to know it’s right for the person I’m giving it to, my Mother always taught me to only give things that would be nice to receive and the recipient would like.
Most things I just take to the Cancer Research shop, a very good cause.

I love the toolset!

Rather than re-gift, I have sometimes handed on unwanted or unloved presents as raffle prizes. But on one occasion, I won some rather unpleasant body lotion (though an expensive brand) and hadn't the heart to pass it on to some unsuspecting winner.

Suspect this was regifting, but not certain. Years ago, at my daughter`s 6th birthday party, one of the little girl guests handed her a parcel and said "my mum says you`ll have to have this, it`s all we`ve got in", it was a matching fountain pen and propelling pencil set, very nice, but not exactly what you`d give to a 6 year old.

I wouldn't wrap it back up and pretend I'd bought an unwanted gift, but I'd have no problem passing it on.