This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chatham chapter.
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!