What to do with an unwanted gift?

I always think I bought just the right gift for someone. Then when they unwrap the gift, there's that look, the"what the hell is this thing, and why would I ever want one" look. The problem is that we don't really know what another considers a good gift. So we get them a lot of junk. Like I said, I'm good at doing that. I guess it eventually goes to Goodwill.
 

Butterfly said:
IMO, if someone takes the time and trouble to give you a gift, it would be incredibly rude to tell them you don't like it. I think, after all, the old saw about "it's the thought that counts" is still valid.

Now, do you have to hang the painted-on-velvet picture of Elvis over your couch? No. But you should still be gracious in accepting it.
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Can't tell you how delighted I'd be to get a velvet painting of Elvis. What a HOOT!
 
I would accept it and appreciate the thought of the giver. In the past I have either donated the unwanted gift to a Salvation Army store or a charity bin....or gave it to a friend or neighbor who liked it more than I did. I'd never refuse a gift and hurt anyone's feelings, just keeping it and not doing anything with it is better IMO.
 
I seem to have a sentimental fondness for all gifts I have been given. Whether I like the item or not, I always fondly think of the person who gave it to me whenever I look at it. I keep all gifts; somehow the idea of regifting, selling, or whatever, seems kind of rude to me. So my home is filled with all kinds of items that were gifts; some beautiful, some not so beautiful, some quirky, etc. In other words, I guess the thought is worth more to me than the gift itself.

I've asked my kids to please stop giving me gifts, especially things for the home. Part of the time, they listen. I've told them that the best gift to give me is a gift of their time; take me out for lunch or dinner, to a movie, concert, game, etc. I appreciate that a lot more than "stuff."
 
Its incredibly embarrassing when someone re-purposes a gift and the person that gave it to them is at the party where its given to someone else...yikes, huh!

My mother used to sweat over giving my aunt and uncle just the right gift. Then, when they retired, she watched those gifts being sold off in their yard sale. Oh well. That's life, I guess.
 
As a retired teacher who has gotten her fair share of dollar store mugs and such, I would use them, or display whatever it was for a few weeks in the classroom, then they would disappear quietly and go to our local charity shop. In truth, I still have a mug or two that I particularly liked, and I still hang up the ornaments I've gotten.
 
CarolfromTX said:
I remember cleaning out my father-in-law's house and finding Pendleton wool shirts still in the box, and new things we bought for him still unused, like a coffee maker. OK, maybe he preferred the old coffee maker, but the shirts? "Saving them" is my guess, for some special occasion.
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True story...have a friend that went out of the state he lived in to take care of his parent's estate. When he went into his father's closet he found many years of Christmas and birthday presents, still in the boxes like you mentioned, ties and robes and nothing touched over the years. His father has been a Postal worker, but he also found a million bucks in the bank. How bout that one...guess he didn't even break out the money to wear it out!
 

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