The Art of Re-Gifting

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

10 Oct 2006 04:23 PM

The holidays are just around the corner... so have you gotten all of your shopping done? (I haven't even started.) If you are still in the "planning" stages--don't fret--it happens to all of us (Okay, maybe not Martha Stewart), time marches on (often without us) and sometimes procrastination becomes the mother of invention. Enter the art of re-gifting.

You know what I am talking about. Re-gifting: the art (and the best re-gifters truly make it such) of taking that unwanted picture frame you got from Aunt Edna and giving it to your co-worker (tucked inside a beautiful box and tied with a fabulous bow, of course). For all of you who admit that this scenario sounds familiar-I have good news. According to a recent study, re-gifting may not be as taboo as it once was.

The study was designed by a market research firm, which surveyed more than 1,500 American adults, and found that over half of the respondents admitted to "re-gifting." Proving that giving others items we find undesirable is "becoming a far more common and acceptable phenomenon."

In fact, the study found 78% of consumers who were polled felt that it was acceptable to re-gift some or most of the time. Seventy-eight percent! WOW! I was surprised the number was so high. But, I'm not alone; the spokesperson for the company that conducted the study admitted she was stunned by the number of people who admitted to re-gifting.

"It's not something I've thought about and when I saw that nearly half had done it -- 52 percent have re-gifted and or would re-gift -- it's quite a significant number," the spokesperson told reporters.

So what items are the most common to be re-gifted? According to the survey, decorative household items, such as vases, paintings, picture frames and other trinkets are the easiest to pass on to others.

Another interesting finding: 77% of respondents said they re-gifted because the item was perfectly suited to the new recipient. The study also found that 9% of people admitted that they re-gifted out of laziness to purchase a new gift and 4% confessed that they re-gifted out of dislike for the recipient.

Okay, confession time... do you practice the art of re-gifting?

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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