Regifting is usually thought of as trying to pass off gifts you receive to someone else as their gift, things that are not that desirable, but I share things that I think are good but I can't use, enough to justify keeping, so I call that regifting too.
As you may have picked up from one of my posts, I regift. I do this from time to time. I just regifted a piece of software/ game (unopened). If I have two of something or know I will not use it and no one in the immediate family is putting it to good use (and that the giver, if I'm close enough to ask him or her, would not like to use it or borrow it), I donate it or regift it, especially if it is unopened. I have had good luck doing this.
In return, I have received at least three things just this year that have come my way because someone else has asked me if I wanted it, could use it, and have given it to me and I was grateful to get these things because it saved me money and time too. It wasn't as if they wrapped it and put a bow on it, but it still seemed like a gift to me, and to the giver.
I of course make or do things or get things (when I can afford it) for special people outside of my immediate family, just for them, that no one else would think of, that is special, just for them. (I admit I do this for my own family all the time, especially things I do and make for them, to the point of spoiling perhaps).
I have one friend who says she would be embarrassed to regift and doesn't want anyone to regift her, as she called it. She doesn't remember that I did one time about five years ago, and told her that that was what I was doing, so I will have to remind her since she brought it up yesterday but immediately went into another long story about her work. She borrows things from me sometimes and occassionally doesn't return that fast, so that is already a little like regifting to herself especially when I say, after looking at it, oh, you can keep it. I tried to keep something and get her to say, "oh, you can keep it," but it only worked like one time. She knows it's true and she claims she makes up for it in a million other ways. She's got a point there.
The toy trade we do between the kids across our families is a form of regifting. Well, maybe not in the exact sense, but not too far from it.
What is your opinion of regifting? Have you done it before? Are you ok with receiving a regift if it is something you want or can use? Do you want to be told it is a regift? (I would want to know in most situations. One time I got a host gift that I saw my friend just give to one of our local politicians, who I won't name, you know who you are, as his host gift... he didn't know I knew she had given it to him, and I was thinking, what a cheap snickerdoodle when he gave it to me the next week, but that was really because of other things he does and not that, and he should have said something like, "we got so many and I wanted to share this one with you" or something like that, and I would have been, "oh, cool, thanks." I still said, "oh, cool, thanks" but inside, you know I was rolling my eyeballs).
Also, do you buy used things? I just bought a used kitchen small appliance (a blender for $5!) to augment the one I had because of some things I make at the holidays.
I saw a list that said that fruitcakes were the most regifted. I wonder if that is true or just the trendy thing to say. They actually get eaten around here, especially if we make it or we get or are presented one from Corsicana. We also don't participate in the fruit cake toss because we were taught it was a sin to play with your food, in the wasteful sense. Skipping rocks on the water always seemed much more fun. Except, I am doubting as I think about it that the fish enjoy it that much. I can just see some poor unsuspecting bass getting hit in the head with a flat rock.
