Regifting - Good or Evil?

Tis the season, Ho-Ho! I'm ahead of the game this year, in that I've actually sent out my holiday cards, as I've mentioned before. I've even finished most of my Christmukkah shopping, which leads me to the universal question, Regifting, Good or Evil?

I'm going to admit straight up, that I have practiced the art of regifting. In my defense, I thought that giving it to someone else who might like the gift, was better than it ending up in the recylcling bin or at the Salvation Army.

Once, I regifted because I figured if the person who gave the gift to me was putting so little thought in to the present, why should I? The gift in question, was one of those books that you see on the $4.95 table at Barnes and Noble. This friend was notorious for giving cheap gifts to her friends, and spending huge amounts of money on her boyfriends/lovers. One year, she gave a married guy she'd been sleeping with a box of Cuban cigars and a coffee table book on cigars. What did he give her? A vibrator! Which just goes to show you, you should never sleep with married men, particularly cheap ones. I mean, he didn't even spring for the Rabbit!

Another year, she got a male friend to buy several copies of the same book abroad, (instead of using Amazon.com like a normal person), which then proceeded to give to her female friends at the same time, so when we opened the gift, we could all see that we'd gotten the same thing.

I had no qualms regifting anything that she gave me. Another friend I knew had just run into a store before she was due to meet me and picked up whatever was on the sale table. I knew this because I went back to the store in question, and discovered what she'd done. Again, no problems regifting.

I once saw my exes mother and stepfather regift a cappuccino machine someone gave them, that they weren't going to use. Now, I think that's okay. A cappuccino machine is a pretty expensive item, and it was still in the box unopened, and they were giving it to a young couple who would probably appreciate it.

I figure, as long as you're giving it to someone who has no contact with the original giver, you're pretty safe. The problems occur if you're regifting within the same social circle. That could be tricky. No one wants to go to someone's house and see the floor lamp that you gave someone else. Particularly if it's a one of a kind gift. Oops!

For me, when I give a gift of clothing etc. I will often include the receipt so that they can exchange the gift. I have no problem with that. Sometimes, I give gift cards because that way I know that the receipient will be able to use it for whatever they desire. Seriously, if I had been invited to TomKat's wedding, I would have either made a donation in their name to charity or bought them a giftcard. Katie seems to like to shop. That would have worked.

So, what do ya'll think? Is Regifting - Good or Evil?

Thanks for reading!

EKM