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Mya Williams: 4 Rules to Follow if You Must Re-Gift

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Last Christmas, I received a very nice and extremely useful gift from my friend; so useful that by the time she visited in the New Year, it was already in use in my living room and I was almost halfway through the oils. It was a terracotta oil burner with a selection of sweet smelling oils to accompany. I loved it! I love incense, scented candles, burning oils, anything that makes the room smell nice. I also received another gift from another friend – a Tea Tree bath and body lotion set; also a lovely gift but I sincerely had no use for it. The thing is when it comes to my body, I am very basic – A simple moisturising bar of soap or shower gel and Vaseline moisturising lotion does the trick. It is only my face that receives top treatment from a specific brand. So on unwrapping this beautiful gift, I just knew I wouldn’t have use for it and right on the spot I thought of someone else who I knew would love and appreciate it and most importantly, use it.

I know, I know, it was a gift and a very nice one but surely we must all have that one gift or the couple of gifts that we never used and just relegated to the back of our closets. Very early on, I identified the opportunity to turn these gifts around for someone else’s pleasure. Think about it, that hundredth bottle of perfume you received, that you don’t particularly like the smell of or the umpteenth Ankara your Aunty bought you, when you haven’t even sewn the ones in your closet or the book you received that you’d already read? All of these could make nice gifts for someone else. A world of opportunities and possibilities exists when it comes to re-gifting, however, there are some basic ground rules one must follow:

The gift should match the personality
This is obviously a general rule for gifting but yes people sometimes miss-judge what others might like. This is not a crime, anyhow you look at it, a gift is a nice gesture and it is the thought that counts. I make this point only because the gift is getting a second chance at a new home; try to make it count this time.

Do not re-gift personalised items
This should be a no-brainer but I will state it anyway. Personalised items such as those with inscripted messages, or those with evidence of its previous whereabouts e.g. wedding souvenirs with the sticker still on should not be re-gifted.

Do not re-gift within the same social circle
You MUST NOT re-gift within the same social circle or family or group of friends! The obvious reason is that it may get back to the original giver and this will hurt their feelings.

Ensure the gift is in excellent condition
Damaged packaging, scratches, dents etc. are all no no’s when re-gifting. The gift must be in its original pristine condition. Remember, because you are re-gifting doesn’t mean you should treat the process with any less care and thought than you would if it was an original gift.

I know different people have different opinions about re-gifting but I love the idea. So far the above points are taken into consideration, it is the perfect avenue to give a second lease of life to the items we receive as gifts, that aren’t necessarily quite suited to us.
I believe it is far better to re-gift than to leave the item sitting in your closet for years, after which you would probably still just give it out anyway without putting much thought into it or much worse, sell it.

So what do you think? Re-gift or not.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime | Syda Productions

Mya Williams is a fiercely passionate and fun loving rebel/nonconformist. She loves to write in her free time. She emphatically believes that certain societal customs and norms must be challenged if one is to have a truly fulfilled and happy life.

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