Re-gifting is not option number one. Sometimes, though, poor planning or crunched deadlines call for desperate measures. To avoid the minefield that comes with going this route, you need to know the items you should never re-gift. Read on to learn the nitty-gritty details that go into knowing whether what you have on deck to gift someone falls into one of these categories.
A Handmade Gift
Rule number one: Do not re-gift something a loved one spent their time, money, and effort making with their own hands. First, the person who gifted you that knitted hat or ceramic duck had you at the front of their mind as they made it. It not only carries a part of them but parts of you, as well. It’s not respectful to give away something with these ties.
Second, because someone made it with you in mind, it isn’t personalized for your re-gifting recipient. Handing that ceramic duck over to them may be nice enough, but it likely doesn’t fit their personality. Invest in your own personalized gesture—even if you need extreme creativity here—to avoid this kind of re-gifting. This principle also applies to pieces with inscriptions; you don’t want them to turn over that plate someday and see your initials on it.
Clothes, Art, Etc.
Meanwhile, even non-handmade gifts can be hard to change hands because they are too specific to you. Clothes and art come to mind here. Though it’s eternally tempting to use re-gifting as a disposal method, this leads to a bad style match. Your one blouse or oil painting that you want to get rid of doesn’t leave you many options, after all. Don’t risk giving a bad gift by convincing yourself to re-gift via convoluted mental gymnastics.
Something You Opened
Our last item you should never re-gift is something you opened. This gives you a bad look and it’s near-impossible to hide, so don’t even think about trying. If they do suspect something, a lot of the intentionality behind the gift-giving process disappears in an instant. Best to keep already opened items out of the gifting equation.
Quinn’s Mercantile
Rather than re-gifting, rest easy and peruse our Quinn’s Mercantile shop. We offer artisan-crafted pieces online and in our Tennessee-based gift shop in Murfreesboro.