Put another way, if you give someone something, and they don’t like it, wouldn’t it be best for them to give it to someone else, preferably someone who will like it? Or would you rather they gave the gift to charity? What if they don’t have that option (perhaps it’s inappropriate or unacceptable to charity– most charities just won’t take things they can’t use or sell).

I think it shows lack of forethought when the re-gifter just finds something around the house to hand off (usually motivated by guilt), like last year when I received a 7 year old canister of bridge mix for the holidays (at work), from someone who clearly did not originally intend to give me a holiday gift in the first place (I’m guessing on the age, based on flavor).

As a re-gift recipient, what about the re-gift would bother you? That it was something someone didn’t like? That they didn’t spend money on it? The bridge mix was a bad re-gift because it was food, and it had spoiled; it would have been a lovely gift if it had been made sometime in the 21st century. Actually, if the giver had emptied the canister and filled it with any dry good, it would have been a fine present.

Re-gifting a book is a perfectly acceptable practice, I’ve learned. Rare is the book-lover who shies away from receiving a book from someone else’s shelves. So why is it unspeakable to re-gift other things? Like glassware? Or a video game? Or a clock radio?