Tis the season to regift
The gang at Regiftable.com has officially declared the third Thursday in December as National Regifting Day. The company stands by their completely unscientific research that the third Thursday in December happens to be the most common day for a holiday office party. Many employees take the third Friday off, and you might as well forget about Christmas week.
Interestingly enough, research does show that 4 in 10 regifters (about 41%) target coworkers as the recipients of their regifts. Regiftable.com suggests dusting off those unused gifts, vouchers, and gift cards and hopping aboard one of the hottest trends of the year – regifting. For those looking around the office and wondering if others are doing the same thing, according to Regifiting.com, a majority (60%) of people think that regifting is becoming more accepted.
- 25% believe that regifting is becoming more accepted because it is a way to save on holiday expenses.
- 14% believe that regifting is becoming more accepted because it is a method of recycling.
Some rules of regifting
Regifting has taken off in popularity since comedian Jerry Seinfeld first coined the term a decade ago. According to the Macmillan English Dictionary, the increasing popularity of the word and its recent link to online auctions has made the phenomenon of regifting more acceptable. In fact, more than half of adults recently surveyed by Money Management International (MMI) find regifting acceptable. Even the etiquette experts at the Emily Post Institute approve of the practice in some circumstances.
Don’t regift a gift to the person that originally gave it to you. Try and ascertain if the person you are regifting to is in fact interested in the gift before regifting it. Never regift handmade or one-of-a-kind items. Signed books and monogrammed items are off-limits. As a young boy, I received a monogrammed robe from an aunt. It was freaky having to wear it and wonder who’s it was – hoping that the person didn’t pass away while wearing it.
If regifting, please remember to use common sense and feel free to drop me a line if you are having or attending one of those outrageous Christmas parties.
Source: nationalregiftingday.com
