Regifting: Present swapping tacky or tasteful?

Ever wondered what happened to the red and green speckled fruitcake the family received as a present but that never quite made it to the dessert table?

Chances are it was packed up and passed along to another unsuspecting recipient during the holiday.

Rewrapping, or not rewrapping, and redistributing an unwanted gift is not a novel concept. Author J.R.R Tolkien wrote about it in his novel The Fellowship of the Rings: Concerning Hobbits in 1954, calling them mathoms. White elephant is another term used over the years.

But it was TV sitcom Seinfeld's “The Label Maker” episode, which aired Jan. 19, 1995, that is credited with bringing the word regifting to the American modern language and making the practice socially acceptable.

Consumer credit counseling service Money Management International conducted a survey last year and found that 40 percent of respondents admitted they had regifted. According to several news reports, a more recent Tassimo survey shows the 78 percent of those polled found it to be an acceptable practice.

Senior education major Amanda Fritz had no issue with passing along some of her unwanted gifts that could not be exchanged.

"Mainly it was graduation gifts from … high school. Our whole dining room table was filled with all these gifts. A lot of them I just didn't like, so I just gave them to other senior graduates," she said.

"You have to be careful about it. When we regifted them, we had to not give them at people’s parties who knew they gave me that gift, or if I knew a particular person gave the present, I wouldn’t take it to a party I knew they would be at."

Fritz followed the number one rule of regifting—don't give it back to the person who gave it to you in the first place.

Stanley Sayler, an adjunct communication instructor, has faced the dilemma with the redistribution of one of his own gifts.

"My wife and I gave our friend a present. Four years later, she gave it back to us as a gift," he said as he raised his eyebrows in amusement.

According to etiquette guides on the subject, the most important fact about recycling an unwanted gift is to remember who bought it for you in the first place.

Sophomore nursing major Jana Carter said she has never considered regifting any of her unwanted presents.

"It's not something I would not do, but it is a personal choice. What I would do is donate the gift to a nursing home somewhere that could use it, but not to someone else," she said. "It is up to the individual if they choose to regift. It is not about me; it's about them. Either you are OK with it, or you are not."

Carter's opinion falls in line with etiquette expert Peggy Post of the Emily Post Institute. "Only you can decide whether to regift—and how to do it appropriately,” Post said. “Think through each situation carefully: If you’re in doubt, don’t do it. A gaffe during the holidays isn’t worth the price of a coffee maker.

“You can always keep the item in storage or pass along the holiday spirit by donating it to a non-profit or shelter, where it would be used and appreciated without ambiguity."

For the holiday season, Money Management International wanted to add some fun to the topic.

The group’s Web site, regiftable. com, gives the rules of regifting and asks readers to write about their personal encounters. There are 450 stories and blunders currently posted online to read, which contain advice on some do's and don'ts of regifting. After reading the stories, people can rate their favorites.

MMI is awarding prizes to the best three stories. First place wins a Seinfield Season six DVD, a label maker and an autographed copy of Barbara Bitela's comedic look at the time-honored practice, The Art of Regifting.

In the end, according to regiftable.com people should always consider if the gift is recyclable, is it new and unopened, does it work, is it being done under good intentions, are there other options and, most importantly, can the person handle living with the secret before regifting?