Re-gifting

 I would like to say I have never re-gifted. The truth of the matter is I have---but I have rules. Because fundamentally I believe re-gifting is wrong--unethical. I can’t help but think that re-gifting is modified cheating or lying or a combination of both.

The only items I believe “legally” can be re-gifted are alcoholic beverages or gift cards. That’s it. That is my cardinal rule. And it’s because you may not return bottles back to the liquor store of origin (the law forbids it) and a gift card is equivalent to cash.

I believe that if you receive a gift and either you do not like it or you have no need for it then either it must be donated to charity OR given to someone with the clear understanding that it is something you received from someone else but perhaps they might like/and or be able to use.  But it cannot be done in lieu of buying something new. Items “up” for re-gifting are surplus— freebies-- not wampum.  They are the bonus—like when you purchase Estee Lauder mascara and you get the free mini make-up bag with ubiquitously colored lipstick, nail polish and eyeshadow.

And it is okay to make the surplus item a supplemental gift as long as it does not factor away from the monetary value of the intended gift. So the mailman, in addition to receiving his standard appropriated cash gift also receives that box of Rocher chocolates that I do not like that was in that gift basket I received last May. The chocolates are a bonus.

And here’s the final thing—if you hate a received gift item that much why would you inflict it on someone else? To do so is almost abusive. Besides which the point of a gift is to selflessly elate another with an offering –not force pawned off ugly crap that belongs in a dumpster on a captive recipient.

I have a very close relative who shall remain nameless because she is not always appreciative of the extensive blog-time she receives. That relative and her cronies exchange gifts every year. The exchanged gifts are re-gifted so often that at some point there is a high statistical probability that the gift recipient will receive something they gave someone else two years prior. Their re-gifting cycle is a closed circuit. The only portal of escape is death.

Some people define re-gifting  as “re-purposing” or “going green.” I call it being cheap.