During this period of giving, is it OK to provide someone a gift you don’t desire or can’t use?

Or is it in impoverished taste to regift a gift?

“Like so many things in etiquette, it really matters how you do it,” Lizzie Post, the great-great granddaughter of etiquette maven Emily Post, told USA TODAY.

“We’ve heard some horrible regifting stories where the item comes back to the original giver with the original cards,” said Post, who is an author, co-president and spokesperson for The Emily Post Institute.

Is it impolite to provide away a gift?

It’s significant to ponder carefully about how you regift, said Post.

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The Emily Post Institute offers four tips, she said:

• The gift should have its original packaging and all essential parts and manuals.
• The gift should not be anything distinctive, handmade, or personalized, like with monograms or names or dates.
• Make sure you are 100% sure the person you’re giving the gift to and the person you received it from would not be offended if the regift was discovered. (Post said it is secure territory if you are 99% sure.)
• You have to genuinely depend the person receiving the regifted item would appreciate and enjoy it.

“This is not about getting rid of your junk and just not feeling guilty about it,” said Post.

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Should you inform the person you are regifting?

It’s up to you whether you disclose that the gift is a regift, but sometimes people don’t mind or even appreciate a regift, Post said.

The other way to regift safely, said Post, is when you have received two of something and you’ve decided to pass one along. “You can just be open about that,” she said.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a buyer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or pursue her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include buyer information on Fridays, here.