Recycling gifts.
What is the etiquette for recycling gifts when you want to keep your house clean and
tidy and free from a bunch of clutter of stuff somebody gives you that you never wanted and
you can't use?
Great question and we're going to talk about that today.
Hi there, I'm Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner.
This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer.
Now, today's show is brought to us by SavvyPerks.com
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Okay, on to today's show, which is a question that's a really valid question; what do you
do with gifts people give you that you don't want.
All right, that's a really super sticky situation, because people give us gifts out of one of
two reasons: they love and they want us to have this gift, or they're giving it to us
out of obligation.
Now, we probably all have relatives that we've given gifts to out of obligation.
Those people ironically are people that we either know really well, or we don't know
them at all.
And so if you know them really well, you know exactly what to get them.
And if you don't know them very well, you have no idea.
So over the last few years, it's become really popular to give gift cards, because a gift
card, somebody can say, "Oh, well, there's a value attached to this, and I can take this
and I can either regift it or I can use it."
But it's not like storing trinkets and knick knacks and things that are going to collect
dust that a house cleaner would have to clean.
Also it doesn't take up space.
So a gift card is a wonderful gift, if you don't what kind of a gift to give someone
and you're on the edge wondering what to do.
Also there are people that are hard to buy for, because they have everything money can
buy and they don't need or want anything.
And so that's a lovely problem to have; what do you get those people?
So, you got to get to know those people, because there's probably something that they use,
but it might be something like stamps for their business, or it might be something like
hosting for their business, for their websites or something like that, that would be meaningful
to them, but you wouldn't know that unless you really know them.
So when people give you gifts, let's say that you get things like umbrellas, and candles,
and bath and body design products with smelly stuff or whatever.
I bring that up because I have a relative that every holiday gives me a bunch of perfumes
and potions and stuff that have sense to them, they smell funny, and I can't use them because
I am allergic to those things.
And so immediately when I get them, I say, "Thank you so much."
I write a thank you note, I appreciate it, and then I tag the product.
And I say, "Hey, I got this from so and so, and I got it on this day."
Because I don't ever want to give this product back to the same person that gave it to me, right?
And then I want to go one step beyond that.
If I'm going to regift this package of sweet smelling stuff, I want to regift it to somebody
that's not in the same family.
Now, if we were sitting around at Christmas and somebody sees me open this lovely gift,
and then they get it the next Christmas, that's super tacky.
So, I want to give it to a different family member that's like on the other side of the
family, or I want to give it to a friend or a someone else that's not in that same circle.
So, these are the rules of regifting: Number one, you want to be very gracious for whatever
it is that you received.
Whatever the reason is that you don't want it, you don't want it, you can't use it, you
don't need it, whatever.
Okay, that's fine.
But first of foremost decide right up front, am I going to use this product?
And if you're not going to use it, don't open it.
Don't open it and make it unused, because then you can't regift it.
So if you decide, "Hey, this is not for me," then the very first thing that you do ... and
I always put it on my kitchen counter.
It stays on my kitchen counter until I write a thank you note.
And that's usually a day or two.
But then I want to get it off my kitchen counter, because I don't need it, I don't want it,
and I can't use it.
So write the thank you note first and say, "Dear so and so, thank you so much for thinking
of me, lovely gift, I appreciate the thought or the spirit in which you gave it."
And so once you send the thank you note off, then I take the item itself, the package,
and I label it with that person's name; this came from so and so.
That way I can turn around and regift it to someone else.
Then I have a storage shelf, and the shelf is inside a closet in my home, and I call
it the gift shelf, because everything on that shelf is brand new, and it looks lovely, and
it's gift-ready, it's already like in a little package with like the little bows around it,
and it looks fancy and whatever.
Okay, so that's great.
Let's say that a new neighbor moves in and you want to go give them a little welcome gift.
You don't know them, they don't know you, and they don't know that somebody that you
know gave you this gift.
They don't know where it came from.
So you can take the little Post-it note off, and I just use a Post-it notes so it doesn't
leave a sticky residue, I put a new note on and say, "Hey so and so, welcome to the neighborhood."
And then I go over to them like, "Hey, welcome to the neighborhood, and I regift them this gift."
Right?
Because that way I get it out of my house, I'm able to pass it on, and maybe that person
loves this scent.
Now, if they don't, they can regift it to someone else.
I've often wondered when I receive a gift, like where in the regifting line am I?
Am I like number seven or am I number one?
Did someone go out and buy this gift for me, or has it been regifted so many times that
now finally I'm just the recipient?
Like musical gifts, it's kind of funny.
And so, the key is you want to get rid of it as soon as possible, and you want to make
sure that it never gets back to the person that gave it to you.
So if you are a regifter, and I know I am, I think a lot of people that are organized
are, because we all get stuff that we don't need, don't want, and can't use.
So, the key is, if you have a gift bag, don't actually write anyone's name on the gift tag,
because if they're going to regift it to someone else, they can put their own sticker or their
own label on it, and that way they can just keep the packaging and the wrapping and everything
all as it is.
Also if you're giving a gift card, it's great to write the amount in.
But you don't need to write to so and so, from so and so.
That can go on the outside of your card.
And the reason I say that is because gift cards also get regifted.
So for example, let's say that you give me a gift card to a particular ice cream store
or something, I'm making this up.
But let's say that I'm not eating sugar at the time.
So, I'm not going to be using that.
So, your gift card, although you spent the money, and although you gave it to me in the
spirit of fun and excitement, I'm not going to use it.
And so instead of it going to waste, I could turn around and regift that to someone else.
But if you've written in a magic marker or something, on the gift card itself, "To Angela
from so and so," I can't really regift it.
I can't use it and I can't regift it.
So that's just your money down the toilet, just you wasted it.
So, the key is you want to make it possible for your gifts to be regifted and recycled.
And so not only do you want to regift and recycle, you want to make sure the gifts that
you give are regiftable and recyclable.
All right, that is the etiquette of regifting.
Don't ever tell the person that gave it to you that you regifted it, and don't ever tell
the person you're giving it to that is a regift.
You want them to think they are number one on the regifting cycle.
All right, that's my two cents for today, and until we meet again,
leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.
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