Regifting was first coined by Seinfeld writers about ten years ago. Today the practice no longer has the negative social stigma it once had but you still have to proceed with caution. You do not want to hurt the person who originally gave you the gift by being careless and having them find out about what you did with their present. Tips provided in a recent Associated Press article by etiquette authority Peggy Post and Gift.com's Leigh Zarelli warn not to regift within the same social circle and not to regift a one-of-a-kind item.
"The key thing is that the recipient would love to have it," she said. "Regifting out of laziness is against the principles of etiquette."
She added that the gift can't be "a cast-off or used item, and it can't be a one-of-a-kind thing. You have to be careful not to hurt any feelings."
One other common pitfall, said Leigh Zarelli, vice president of merchandising for Gifts.com, is regifting within the same social circle.
"It's best when you regift something to, say, a business associate or an out-of-town friend," she said. That reduces the likelihood that the original "gifter" will catch wind of the act.
The Associated Press article also mentions a website called Regiftable.com that runs regifting horror stories. The site also offers a Regifting 101.
More regifting resources can be found in this ABC News article which mentions websites like Swapagift.com where you can trade your unwanted gift with others. There is also a site called ToySwap.com, which is specifically for swapping toys. The ABC article also includes more tips such as removing any identifying inscriptions or details on the gift before regifting and completely rewrapping the gift in new wrapping paper -- "don't just leave the old wrapping on it." For more advice, read the "Reduce, Reuse, Regift?" article on the EmilyPost.com website.
Another way many people part with an unwanted gift is to sell the item on eBay, Amazon.com or another website that allows third-party sales. An article about the 2005 holiday season said over 50% of Americans have regifted an item and about 10% have sold a gift online.
