The Confessions and Experiences of a Reformed Regifter

When I was younger, I thought regifting was the way to go. After all, you have a really nice gift that someone has given you, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. Since you are not going to use the gift, why not give it to someone who could appreciate it and put it to good use? He or she does not have to know that it was a previously given and received gift. I soon realized after two learning experiences that regifting was not the solution to economic gift giving.

On one occasion, I received a pretty sterling silver bracelet that was just too small for my wrist. I kept it in its gift box for a few years thinking that my wrist might somehow magically shrink, and the bracelet would be a comfortable fit. Needless to say, this bodily change did not occur, and I made the decision to bless someone else with this lovely piece of jewelry.

When I handed the gift box to my friend, I thought about how she might open it up and be really excited over this eye-catching wrist adornment. However, my memory did not serve me well, and I had forgotten that this particular friend had been the giver of this gorgeous gift.

When she opened the box, my friend looked at the bracelet for a moment and said, "Hey, this looks just like the one that I bought for you a few years ago." I was stunned and had no idea how to respond.

I ended up telling my friend the truth of how I had loved the bracelet but that it had never fit my wrist, and I thought it was a shame to just have it sit in my jewelry box. My friend was very kind and understanding and told me that if any of her gifts ever did not fit or work for me, she could give me the receipt to get something else in its place. What could have been a really bad situation turned out well, thanks to the grace shown to me by my friend.

My second regifting nightmare involved my giving a gift that my daughter had received as a present. It was a beading set of which she had a duplicate. I thought, "Well, since she already has one, we can just brighten someone else's day with this one." My daughter had a friend's birthday party coming up, so I decided that I would include the beading set in the gift for my daughter's friend.

My daughter and I went to the party, and when the time came for the birthday girl to open her presents, everyone was all crowded around and anxiously watching as she began the opening process. When she came to our gift which was in a gift bag, she started pulling out the various contents of the bag. As she pulled out the beading set, I noticed to my horror that there was a tag on the set that was addressed to my daughter from the girl that had given her the set. I felt my face begin to turn red as I saw the girl look at the beading set as well as the other items that we had included in the gift bag, and if she saw the tag, she did not acknowledge it. To this day, neither the girl nor her mother has said anything to me about finding the tag that was addressed to my daughter, but I have learned my lesson never to regift any of my or my daughter's gifts again.

If you are considering regifting something, I strongly encourage you to think twice about that. I am no longer a regifter, and I do not recommend being one. The chances for hurting someone's feelings and embarrassment for yourself are much too high.