Each year on the Thursday before Christmas people across the United States participate in National Re-gifting Day. This day was chosen in honor of office parties and the unique Christmas gift exchange that they do. This particular December Thursday appears to be the most common day for companies to hold their annual employee/company Christmas party.
As a method of recycling, approximately 14%, of those surveyed, believe that regifting is becoming more popular, for that reason alone.
HOW TO OBSERVE
While it may be an official holiday in some states, we suggest caution when deciding to re-gift something. The term does suggest, after all, that the item is unwanted, to begin with, and may be unwanted by its next recipient.
Keep in mind the following re-gifting etiquette when considering participation in this holiday.
- Re-gift only when certain the recipient will enjoy your (unwanted) gift. If at any time you referred to it as junk, clutter or dust collector, it’s probably not re-giftable.
- The gift is brand new (aka unused!) and in its original packaging. No, hand me downs!
- Don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. If the gift had special meaning to the original giver, don’t re-gift.
- Don’t re-gift if the item is handmade or personalized. If Uncle Joe spent his spare hours whittling that panic whistle, you should keep it.
- Be careful not to re-gift something to the original giver. If you aren’t sure who gave it to you, don’t re-gift.
- On that same note, to avoid embarrassment, re-gift only when you are sure the new recipient won’t tell the original giver what they received from you. (Is it starting to feel deceitful yet?)
- Re-wrap all gifts and remove any tags that may suggest you didn’t do the shopping for the re-gifted item.
- Be prepared to answer questions about the gift. Questions such as “Where did you find this? I’ve been looking everywhere for one!” may give up the secret if you aren’t able to give a convincing answer. (It should really start feeling deceitful, now.)
If at any point you find the above list exhausting, then you probably should reconsider regifting.
HISTORY
National Regifting Day was made official in 2008 by Colorado governor, Bill Ritter, Jr.
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