Am I in the minority on the idea of giving a used items as a holiday or birthday gifts?

debodun said:
Once my boss gave me a brooch for Christmas that I had given her daughter as a birthday gift. Now THAT was thoughtless!
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OP, of course we don't know the nuances of the relationship between you and your boss. However, I think giving the brooch back to you was a passive-aggressive move on the boss's part. Regardless of where you got the brooch neither daughter nor mother wanted it. So it was given back to you.
 

Shalimar said:
It was. One can hope they couldn't recall that you were the person who originally gifted the brooch.
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It could've been accidental. I've done it; I asked one of my granddaughters if she'd like to have a pretty glass paperweight I'd gotten from "somewhere." She said, "Grandpa! I gave that to you."

The only thing I could think to say to fix that one was, "Well, no wonder it made me think of you." But talk about awkward.
 

I've never regifted anything, but if I were going to, I would make sure it wasn't to the person who gave it to me. I could see giving a gift to someone who would want or use it more than I would, but I would also make sure they knew where it came from. Anything else would feel like fraud.

[This was in response to Shalimar's post.]
 
Cap'nSacto said:
It could've been accidental. I've done it; I asked one of my granddaughters if she'd like to have a pretty glass paperweight I'd gotten from "somewhere." She said, "Grandpa! I gave that to you."

The only thing I could think to say to fix that one was, "Well, no wonder it made me think of you." But talk about awkward.
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I bet! I suspect this happens more often than we think.
 
A couple of years ago after spending hours trying to find a gift for the friends and relatives on my Christmas list who had everything, I asked them when we were all gathered together if buying each other some used item or making something for each other might be a fun idea for the following year. You could have heard a pin drop. The younger ones rolled their eyes and the older ones sat with their mouths open. Obviously they thought it was a terrible idea. One of the nicest gifts I ever received was from my sister in law who is on the same page as I am about gifts. She gave me an an old cookbook held together with a piece of ribbon. I collected cookbooks at the time and really appreciated it. I still have it.
 
I wouldn't mind if I was given a used gift. It might be something someone thought I might enjoy. I've always felt that it was the thought behind the gift,not the gift itself.
 
I'm with you there, Deb. Don't care if it comes from a thrift shop, garage sale, a possession of the giver. If it's something I like (or have coveted, LOL), it's something the giver can certainly give me.

Actually, I've been meaning to ask my kids if there's anything that I have now--although I have very little--that they'd like. My parents asked each of us if there was anything specific we'd like to inherit, then made labels to put on everything that had been spoken for indicating who got what. Labels in places where they wouldn't be noticed, of course.
 

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