One of the most frequently asked holiday etiquette questions involves the practice of re-gifting. So I asked readers recently if they thought that taking a gift they had received and passing it on to someone else was prudent or just plain rude.
I'm in the prudent camp. Despite what some may think, re-gifting isn't (or shouldn't be) miserly. We all get gifts that aren't suited to our taste but are still perfectly nice items for somebody else. Re-gifting allows you to give those presents to people who might enjoy them.
Of course, not everyone agrees with me. Here are some comments from readers who think re-gifting is unacceptable:
• "I would never re-gift because I believe in karma and it's not good practice. Because someone gave you a gift you did not want, that is no excuse to pass it on to someone else."
• "Gifts should make someone feel special. It is tasteless to risk doing otherwise."
• "If it's the thought that counts, the re-gifting thought is, 'I can't be bothered to consider your tastes, and I'm giving you something that doesn't even suit my tastes, but I don't care what you think of me; so I guess that tells you what I think of you.' Nice message."
Here's what proponents of re-gifting had to say:
• "I have absolutely no qualms about doing this; it saves us all from perpetually contributing to the destructive grind of consumerism."
• "I don't feel that re-gifting is rude so long as the gift is unused, unopened and not expired. Sometimes when I receive a gift, it's not always the case that I don't like it. I usually end up realizing . . . that I have an abundance of the item or I end up not having a use for it."
• "I am a strong advocate of re-gifting. It's like the old adage -- one man's trash is another man's treasure."
