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Don’t Re-gift. Re-sell.
It is a practice that’ both amusing and destructive. It happens every year, either intentionally or not. It’s the regift party.
Why Amusing?
A regift party is fun. I’ve even seen the same gift given between friends throughout the years. And each year it’s like rolling the dice… who is going to get the paper mache cow this year?
Why Destructive?
You’ve been invited to a party of friends of friends and are madly scrambling to find a gift to bring. Then, in the garage or attic, you find a dusty box. It’s a blender you’ve never used. So, you wrap it up and bring it with you.
When getting to the party, you hand out the gift and say “Happy Holidays”. Later in the evening, when everyone is opening the presents, yours is opened and then you see it: the blank expression of the person opening it. They gave you that gift last year…
Solutions
The main solution is to deal with the gift right after you’ve received it. Honestly, you probbaly knew the minute you opened it anyhow whether it would be going into storage or would be put to use.
So, if the plan is to just store it somewhere, piled with all those other unwanted gifts, how about considering some alternatives:
- Return it
- Throw it away
- Sell it
Not all gifts can be returned. Only a few big box stores will take items without a receipt, and throwing it away is just wasteful and harmful to the environment. So why not put it up for sale (perhaps on your local Used.ca site)?! You’ll be sure to make some money out of that gift, and then with that cash you could get something else that actually will be put to use.
The regift is surrounded in debate and controversy, so we want to hear what you have to say about the practice!
Nick Kempinski
Nick Kempinski is the leader of UsedEverywhere's social media efforts. Working with a team of writers to create this blog. But also works with great programmers to make all sites in the UsedEverywhere network more sharing friendly.
