How to regift

KATRINA: Hi I’m Katrina Szish for howdini.com. Let’s face it, we’ve all been tempted to regift. And it is okay, but you have to follow certain rules. Here to give us the breakdown of those rules is Melissa Kirsch, the author of The Girl’s Guide to Absolutely Everything. Hi, Melissa. Thanks for joining us.

MELISSA: Thanks for having me.

KATRINA: What are the most commonly re-gifted items?

MELISSA: The less personal the gift is, the more likely it is to be re-gifted. So scarves, accessories, liquor is big. There’s that old saw that there’s one fruitcake in the world and we all just keep giving it to each other over and over again each year. Really the less personal things are the most likely to be re-gifted.

KATRINA: I understand you have several rules for re-gifting. Share those with us.

MELISSA: Number one, know your audience. If you get a bottle of whiskey that you want to re-gift, you’re not going to give it to the alcoholic. Not every gift is appropriate for everybody. If you get something that is totally not your taste, then you’re not going to want to give it to your best friend or somebody whose taste is similar to yours.

Number two: make it new. You know, don’t give it in the half-opened package or with the card still in the book, from your grandmother or whatever. New package, new card, new wrapping. Just like it came from the store.

And number three is keep impeccable records. You never want to re-gift to somebody who actually gave the gift to you ten years ago. You never want to re-gift too close to home so that, you know, your sister goes over to your mom’s house and sees the sweater that she gave you last Christmas.

KATRINA: Very good. Should you ever tell the person that’s receiving the gift that it’s a re-gift?

MELISSA: Absolutely not, there’s no reason. You are giving the gift as if it were new. Remember. Make it new. You know your audience; you know it’s perfect for them. You never mention it.

KATRINA: What if that person asks you for a receipt because they want to return it or exchange it for something else?

MELISSA: You can say I got it on vacation or I got it online and I don’t have a receipt. Basically, if somebody is really going to push and give you the third degree, you might need to ask yourself why you’re even giving them a gift to begin with.

KATRINA: What are the no-no’s of re-gifting?

MELISSA: Never re-gift anything personalized, anything handmade, anything half-used or open or anything that is partially used in any way.

KATRINA: Any final words of wisdom on the re-gifting concept?

MELISSA: Don’t feel guilty, it really is true: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

KATRINA: Melissa Kirsch, thank you so much for the excellent advice.