Some S3V commentary on MSN's article on "12 Rules for Regifting Without Fear," a subject with which we are intimately familiar since our entire business is centered upon multi-owner items: A dozen rules for regifters Don't mention it, please. Post thinks "the best approach is to be upfront" when regifting, but I have to ask: Why spoil the moment? If you tell your sister-in-law, in so many words, "I have no use for this nasty vase, so I'm giving it to you," even a person in need of a vase will hate you. I say, keep your yap shut unless there's a good reason not to.
I agree here. There's nothing dishonest about keeping your lips sealed as to the origin of a gift, whether it be from a friend, or a flea market.
Do update the wrapping. The next most common regifting faux pas, after leaving the previous gift card attached, is to regift in the original, now crinkled and possibly torn (hello!?) wrapping paper or box. If the phrase "Hey, it looks almost new" crosses your desperate holiday brain, remember that the "almost" is a dead giveaway to the new giftee.
Eh. Depends how pretty the wrap job was! If it comes wrapped from the store, and you haven't opened the packaging, I say keep it, as is. However, if you already opened the paper, that's another story entirely.
Don't give hand-me-downs as regifts. Novice regifters (and those who are terminally tacky) often get these two categories confused. Don't. A hand-me-down is an item you've already used that you'd like to pass along to someone who will enjoy it and use it more than you will. For example, a sweater you've removed the tags from and worn twice. You could wrap it up and give it as a "gift" only if another real gift is provided. A regift should be just that: a gift you've never used that you're giving away as though it were a . . . real gift!
Generally, I agree. The only exception might be on some vintage items, like this fetching Diamond Necklace. Do keep track of who gave it to you first. Writing on The Dollar Stretcher, Joyce Moseley Pierce recommends creating a stash of regifting items you can always use in a pinch. I say, OK, but keep a small notebook of who gave you what. I had a harrowing experience that involved regifting a pair of earrings to a cousin -- who had given them to me two years before. I forgot. She remembered. And she let me know about it.
Personally, I come from a family that would find that sort of thing hilarious, so it doesn't worry me too much. However, it's foreseeable how that could cause a rift. A the very least, you would know that the person would like the gift!
Don't EVER regift these items. Certain items are a total, dead, instant giveaway that you not only are regifting, but you're too lame to put any effort into it: candles, soap, random books, mysterious CDs (unless your brother wants the hip-hop version of "Man of La Mancha"), obscure software, cheesy jewelry, scarves (do we not all own a scarf?), fruitcake, pens, cologne, boxed sets of extinct bath products (Jean Nate? No, no, no), videos or DVDs obviously acquired on a street corner, socks and any appliances or electronic gear the giftee would be puzzled to receive because they probably just got rid of it (including hot-air popcorn poppers and anything with a cassette deck in it). Total disagreement here. Candles are fine gifts. So are soap and books. Though not the most personal, they are useful, and as a hostess gift, or as a small token to a co-worker, they are completely fine. In fact, sometimes, the occasion calls for a somewhat impersonal gift. It would be equally strange if you gave your boss a hand-knit sweater with kittens on it because you knew she had 18 cats and lived with her mother.
Do have the courtesy to clean your regifts. I once got a rice cooker . . . with a couple of kernels of rice still clinging to it. Some hand-me-downs can be passed off as regifts if the packaging is intact, like the wine glasses you've belatedly decided to share with a loved one. Just wash the lipstick off the rim, 'kay? Agree. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, especially in re-gifting.
Don't give partially used gift cards. As technology pushes the envelope of regifting possibilities, the chance of looking like a ninny only grows. Don't give a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble that has $14.56 left on it. Would you give a pie with a slice taken out of it? We hope not. There's a work around for this one -- take that $14.56, add $.44 and you have a perfectly acceptable gift to give. No one will ever know the difference.
Do remember that regifts can be funny. A friend of mine said that when he was younger, he and his sister would jokingly regift the same two board games back and forth to each other. If you think a friend would get a good laugh out of, say, a regifted self-help book, go for it -- as long as you make the prank clear. This reminds of a story from my childhood, where my mom accidentally re-gifted the same box of "Jarts" to my brother, two years in a row. Needless to say, he didn't like it the second year either, but we all just about died laughing at his reaction, especially at the dismay on his face after shaking the hefty box, and saying, "This better not be Jarts." Now, that box is a regular under the Christmas tree.
Don't give something you've owned for a while. Not only is this in violation of the hand-me-down rule above, the giftee can and will recognize that picture frame from your living room shelf. (And while you're at it, don't regift picture frames, either.) I disagree. If something is in very good shape, without nicks, etc., there's nothing wrong with giving it to someone else, provided you think they will actually like it. Picture frames are a fine example -- add a picture of the two of you, in a frame you already have, and all of the sudden you have a meaningful gift. Some items hold up well over time, though without out a doubt, many others do not. Use your discretion. However, as a general rule, we need to move away from the stigma of "used" being "bad." It's harmful to our pocketbooks and to the environment.
Do regift champagne. You know the joke about fruitcake: There are only two fruitcakes made each year, and we just keep foisting them off on each other. The same is true of the 11 bottles of champagne that circulate during the holidays. But there are never hard feelings from regifting a bottle of bubbly, unless it's really cheap or given to a confirmed teetotaler. Eventually it will find a happy, champagne-guzzling home. No arguement here. In fact, we're happy to accept bottles of bubbly at S3v HQ ANY time!
Don't give products from defunct companies. Someone gave to my husband and me a lovely crystal decanter from a department store that no longer exists. The decanter is a classic. It was just a little depressing to think it had been in someone's closet for that long. Just common sense.
Do sell your gifts on eBay. When someone first told me that, rather than regift, he sells unwanted presents on eBay and uses the proceeds to buy real gifts, I was awed. Then I realized everyone is doing it. "My father gave my brother a boxed set of Kurosawa films, which my brother promptly sold for a pretty penny on eBay," one woman told me. So THAT'S where all that stuff comes from.
This is PRECISELY where S3V helps you out! Be sure to let us take the hassle out of all of your unwanted gifts, and make you some cash while doing it! 
