Check for a receipt. Some people get that not everyone shares their love of heart shaped dishes, and will thus, include a gift receipt in the gift box. If you don’t see a receipt try to figure out where the person got the gift, with a well placed, “Wow, where the heck did you find this!”

Don’t mess around with the gift. Either you want it or you don’t. If you open it up, untape the box, or install batteries, it can make it harder to return.

Return it asap. Waiting around means you might only get an exchange price that’s current, i.e. lower. Once I waited so long to return something the store had quit carrying it. Doh!

Ask for uppers. If a clerk gives you grief about a return, ask to talk to someone higher on the store food chain. If you keep on being persistent, you’ll get an exchange.

If all else fails – it’s re-gift city time. You won’t get a gift, but you will save cash the next time you need one to give. Check out Karen’s top re-gifting ideas for the thrifty.

[image via stock.xchng]

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We’d love to hear from you!

P.S.  Don’t forget to check out my Top 10 Regifting Tips for the Thrifty.

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Give them to those in need.
1.  Donate new, unwanted toys to the Salvation Army, Marines, or some other organization that gives toys to needy children at Christmas.
2.  Use small, new toys to fill up shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. I remember one year my daughter got so many little stuffed animals.  She was too little to know better and I used them to help stuff my shoeboxes for children in need.
3.  Donate new toys, clothes, and other items to a ministry or non-profit organization.  They will find needy homes for them or sell them and use the proceeds to help those in need.

Try returning unwanted items.  This can somtimes be a real pain because you may not know where the item came from.  Also, many times items are significantly reduced after Christmas, but $6 is better than nothing.

Resell the items.  You can put the items in your yard sale or you can consign them.  You may not get much money for the item, but at least it won’t be sitting around your house collecting dust.  You may also want to try E-bay.

It is almost a given that we will receive some gifts every year that we don’t need.  To avoid having your gift regifted, I would suggest asking the person for gift suggestions, giving a gift card, or asking for suggestions from their spouse, etc.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I hope you enjoy these regifting tips.  Check out Regiftable.com for some laughable stories on regifting.  You may learn some not-to tips there as well.  If you don’t want to regift, but don’t want to hurt your pocketbook, try this certificate from Regiftable.com.  You can make a certificate for something you want to give someone, such as free babysitting.  I’d love for someone to give me some free babysitting or housecleaning. 

1.  Don’t give partially used gift cards.  This is a tacky one for sure.  I remember when my daughter was born, someone gave me a gift card for $17 and change.  That left me wondering if they returned something and just gave me the gift card from the return or if someone gave them a gift card and they used it, and were giving the leftovers to me.  By the way, I did return something to JCPenney yesterday without a receipt.  I got back $16 and some change on a gift card.  What I may do is add another $3+ onto the gift card to make it out to be an even $20.

2. Only give new, unopened gifts. If you have to dust it or clean it first, then don’t regift it.

3. Don’t just regift something to get rid of it. Make sure the person will like or appreciate the gift.

4. Remember who gave you the gift in the beginning. Don’t regift the item to someone who will show it the person who gave it to you.

5. Make sure all the paper, tape, etc. from the gift is gone. You don’t want evidence that the item was already gifted to you.

6. Be careful what you say. I’ve heard stories of people that laughed about the gifts they received from others and then regifted the item the next year. The people knew the item was a regift because they remember hearing something about the gift the year before.

7. Make sure you know what’s in the box. You may get a present that has a crock pot on the box, but that doesn’t mean that there’s a crock pot inside. Some people simply reuse boxes. It would really be a mess if you thought you were giving someone a crock pot, but you gave them something else. Or worse, there could be a card inside with your name on it.

8. If you don’t have money for a gift, then choose something that your friend has complemented in your home. Then tell them that you didn’t have any money to buy them something, but you knew they really liked the crystal clock you have on your dresser, and you wanted them to have it. Honesty would probably be appreciated and the person would actually get something they like.

9.  Don’t regift handmade items.  If you do, then it will be very odd when the person says, “Did you make this?”.  And you know they’ll ask.

10.  Only regift items that are up to date.  And what I mean by this is don’t give someone discolored cologne, a bath product that is no longer sold, out of date CD, 1990’s cassette tape, etc. I remember one year someone gave me some Bath & Body Works stuff. It was a scent I didn’t like, so I tried to exchange it. Bath & Body Works had new and different packaging from what was on my gift. To make things worse, when I opened the gift, there was an expired coupon inside.

According to Regiftable.com, 2 out of 3 people have regifted or are considering regifting.

Check out this book from Amazon about regifting.

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy