The term "regifting" does not have a very positive connotation for most people. They think of it as tacky and maybe even cheap for someone to go into their closet in their Richmond Virginia real estate or California home and pick out something they don't use rather than go shopping for something new. But in a world where we are putting more value on the concept of reusing there might be a place for regifting as well. Here are some tips for doing it right.

The first rule is that there is a difference between regifting something that you have never used or opened and giving someone something secondhand that you just don't want anymore. It's ok to give your used woodworking equipment to someone who builds furniture as a hobby but you shouldn't present it to them as if it were a gift that you purchased in a store. A good regift is something that's useful to some people but you just don't need. A good example is if you got several sets of china for your wedding and couldn't possibly use them all. You could regift one of these as a housewarming gift for someone who's moving into a new home Ontario based who might not have a nice set of dishes yet.

Avoid those gifts that everyone seems to want to pass on to other people. Everyone gets those generic gifts every once in a while for volunteering for a charity car raffle or as part of the office Secret Santa and you they usually end up moving around the house without ever being used. But trying to regift things like candles, bath soaps, books, random gadgets, and ugly jewelry is a dead giveaway that you are trying to unload something rather than give a nice gift.

Lastly, make sure that you're regift still looks new and is something that you can presently buy in stores. If you moved into your Toronto condo five years ago and got a rice cooker that you've never even taken out of the box than this might be a great regift for a niece that's going off to college. But, you'll want to make sure that newer models have not come out of the same design since you got that present. Otherwise, you're likely to be found out. You should also make sure that everything is in tact in the box. This includes all of the pieces and the instruction manual, should there be one.

Some people have the question of whether or not they should be honest that they are regifting. While this is your choice, there is no reason to spoil the present if you're giving something you might have bought for them anyway.