RE-GIFTING - A good or bad idea?

Christmas is the season for giving, and everyone loves getting gifts. But so often you unwrap that much-anticipated gift only to find something that you either have already or have no need for.

Now what to do with two blenders or one-too-many drinking glasses? Or that rather unusual-looking top your mother-in-law got you? Don't panic, because you can simply re-gift and it is perfectly acceptable, especially in tough economics times. But there are some important rules you must follow when you are re-gifting.

1. Make sure to keep track. Maybe keep a small notebook of who gave you what because you don't want to give the same gift to the person who gave it to you in the first place. This will definitely cause some animosity between you both.

2. Certain items are a dead giveaway that you not only are re-gifting, but you're also too lazy to put any effort into it. Don't ever re-gift these items: candles, soap, random books, mysterious CDs, cheesy jewellery, fruitcake, pens, cologne, boxed sets of extinct bath products, appliances or electronic gear that person on the receiving end would be puzzled to receive because they probably just got rid of theirs as well.

3. Update the wrapping. The next most common re-gifting faux pas, to leaving the previous gift card attached, is using the original wrapper that could be wrinkled and possibly torn. That is easily spotted so be careful.

4. Don't wait too long to re-gift. If you do, you may forget who the gift originally came from and chances are you might just re-gift it to the sender. And that will be putting your foot in your mouth.

5. Never re-gift something personal. So underwear, nightwear, lingerie are definitely no-nos.

6. Never re-gift an item that is out of style. It's best not to store it too long. Appliances and electronics also go out of style over time. You wouldn't want to re-gift something like a video player when everyone has upgraded to DVD player.

7. Give a gift that suits the receiver or that they would love to get. You wouldn't re-gift a blender to someone who hates to cook and bake, nor would you give a rustic country home décor item to someone with a contemporary styling.

8. Don't give something you've owned for a while. Not only is this in violation of the hand-me-down rule, but chances are the person you're giving it might just recognise that picture frame from your living room shelf.

9. Remember that re-gifts can be funny. If you think a friend would get a good laugh out of, say, a re-gifted self-help book, go for it, as long as you make the prank clear.

10. Re-gifting champagne is ideal because there are never hard feelings from re-gifting a bottle of bubbly, unless it's really cheap.

Source: housewares.about.com, ww.msnbc.msn.com

It's not a good idea to re-gift books.