This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chatham chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Why spend hundreds of dollars every year on brand new gifts? Have you ever received a gift and thought, “No, really, you shouldn’t have”? Be monetarily sustainable this year and regift your unwanted presents!
As a courtesy, there are several rules of thumb for regifting:
- Never regift personally monogrammed or addressed items. Handmade items are off-limits too. (Yes, you’ll have to find a different way to get rid of Aunt Sue’s knitted sweater.)
- Never use a gift before regifting it. If you don’t like it, take it back to the store or ask for the receipt.
- Clean the gift before regifting. Nobody’s going to want a dirty cake pan or a crummy toaster.
- Remember who gave you the item so you don’t accidentally regift it back.
- Don’t just regift an item to give a gift—make sure the recipient will appreciate it!
- Make the “new” gift look good! Use old newspaper as wrapping paper, and make your own card!
- Don’t announce that your gift was a regift to everyone—keep it a secret!
- Throw a “regifting” party. This way, the cat’s out of the bag and you can relax. Just don’t invite the original gifter!
- Think about putting items on eBay and Craigslist. You can use the money to buy a “real” gift.
- Explore your options. Organizations like Toys for Tots and Goodwill would love your gifts, too!
In following these 10 rules, you can save yourself a ton of cash, get rid of some unwanted gifts, and avoid embarrassment. Happy (re)gifting!