Regifting. Would this be considered regifting?

[QMPMom]

I work for a luxury department store group. They are based in Dallas, TX if that gives you a clue. I work in their main call center but don't handle much phone work unless absolutely necessary. The company gives away to employees all sorts of great stuff. From crystal to clothing to fragrances. It's great stuff and not inexpensive at all.

In the last couple of weeks I've gotten a gorgeous Christmas Votive set and Miss Dior Cherie Parfum - the real stuff, not the cheap stuff. Over the last year or so I have gotten other fragrances, crystal, clocks, vases, etc.

The fragrances I always use. I have become quite a fragrance snob since I've started working for this company and love designer fragrances.

My question is this: The crystal, vases, votives, etc. - If I were to give one of these items as a gift, would it be regifting?

I don't want to commit a faux pas and have no real plans to give any of these items to anyone, but I'm just wondering if it would be regifting if I did so?

[Mrs.Matcom]

1. Technically...

If someone 'gave' you the item and you 'gave' it to someone else as a gift, then I think it would be 're-gifting'. The rules I have seen on this subject are pretty much, go ahead and re-gift if: 1. the person receiving the item, did not give it to your and/or was not present when you received it. 2. the gift recipient will enjoy it, meaning, you are not just giving it to someone to get rid of it. I am guilty of doing a 're-gift', but try to make sure the person receiving it will like it.

[madeline_con]

2. Wrap it up and pass it on...

it sounds like great stuff. If you won't use it, give it to someone who will, IMO.

[Fuzz]

3. Naw, pass it on to someone, especially if they would enjoy it more

than you would. :D

[Nicole]

4. Yes, it would be regifting

since they were gifts to you.

I would do it. It sounds like things others would love to receive.

[pitohui]

5. that is not regifting, i see no reason why you can't give these as gifts

can i get on your gift list?

[Left Is Write]

6. Yes. But I don't see the problem with it.

You want my address? ;)

[Lisa]

7. sharing in workplace freebies ...

I guess that it's technically a form of "regifting", but I tend to place gifts from institutions in a different category -- not like something given to you by an actual person, let alone someone you have a close relationship with. Yes, QMPMom, I would pass these kinds of things along, if I thought someone else would like them more. And I very seldom regift, discard, or donate to charity ANYTHING which I've received from an individual, even when I probably should (and I am dragging around nearly 4 decades' worth of stuff as a result). So I'm not saying this lightly!

If I feel a particular gift will please the recipient, I admit to breaking the unwritten "gifting" laws, because I believe that putting a smile on someone's face overrides everything else -- that includes buying secondhand (something my mother said was a no-no) to get a hoped-for out-of-print book or article of vintage clothing. I've found that personalizing the item (a handmade card, or including some of the recipient's favorite candy) can help one get past the "is this a faux pas?" jitters. Last week I received a gift basket from the local public library board as a thank-you for some volunteer work, and I felt barely a pang of guilt as I added a few things and repackaged it for a friend who's been feeling kind of bummed out this winter -- I already gave her the Christmas gift (a set of cookbooks and some utensils) this past summer, when she moved into her new place.

A lot of it depends on the recipient's feelings. If s/he is the sort who would be delighted to be in a select group who will share in the largesse, go for it! I know there are folks who just don't like getting anything that wasn't purchased new with them in mind ... but I'm not on gift-giving terms with many of them in any case. (People who know me tend to be used to getting stuff that's weird, secondhand, homemade, or delivered at odd times of the year -- sometimes all of the above.)

There are actually some situations when something which is clearly a re-gift is better than something bought intentionally ... especially if it's luxurious or expensive. I know a couple of people who get embarrassed if they think you went out and bought something for them ("It's too much, I don't deserve it", or "Take it back, I'm not a charity case!") -- I once rubbed a brand-new stockpot with steel wool so I could pass it off as "something I've had on the top shelf for ages" and casually hand it over to someone who really needed it. I even faked a publisher's form letter, for a book which I had just purchased, so I could stuff it into some recycled packaging and claim that this was an "extra" desk copy given to me by a colleague. (The ruse was so successful that the recipient's spouse now thinks I'm a tightwad, but I can live with that.)

[QMPMom]

8. Thanks everyone. I appreciate the input.