Our Regifting Bin

Some people may find this in bad taste, but others might find it ingenious. We didn't start this on purpose. It started out as a place to stash things that we didn't know what to do with. Then, it became the place we put gifts that we couldn't return. Now, it's our re-gifting bin. The trick is to remember who gave it to you and to not give it back to them!

In our bin we have a glass mixing bowl from Pampered Chef. It's in there because I registered for one for our wedding and we received 3. As it turns out, I really enjoy having 2. I use them all the time. However, I really don't need 3. After I got them, I researched returning them and found that it was incredibly difficult. Bad Pampered Chef! That is not a good thing to be known for! Oh well. It's a really good gift though, so I won't feel bad for the person who eventually receives it.

Next we have a wine stopper. It has a giant 'diamond' on the end. Again, we received 3 for our wedding. I really like them, but I don't need 3! When we first started getting wedding gifts, we put them in a box in our closet while we waited to get a house so we didn't even realize we had 3 of them until almost 2 years after we got them so we didn't return it. Again though, not a bad gift.

Another item we have in there is a mirror. It's one of those that swivels and fits on a desk or something. It's nice for putting on your make-up, especially since when you flip it over, it's magnified. The problem? I already have one. I got one from IKEA right before I left for college. Why can't I return it? Because I got it for free from Bed, Bath, & Beyond. It's a really nice thing they do for newlyweds! They have this 'party' where they invite multiple couples in the area about a month or so after your wedding and you get 20% off anything left on your registry (although they told us you can pretty much get anything, not just stuff on your registry). They'll even order things for you. They have cookies and drinks. They give you a free gift of your choice (something small-they have a couple things to choose from-we got a drying pad for dishes) and a mystery gift (this was our mystery gift). These things have a slash through the barcode so you can't return them.

I know you all love hearing my life story, so we'll move on to the next item. It's a blanket. My husband wanted this blanket on Amazon that has his favorite college football team on it for Christmas one year so my parents got it for him. Well, about a month later, they received another one. I guess there was some kind of mix-up. The sellers said to keep it if they wanted, but since they aren't fans of the team, they gave it to us. We have no use for 2 of the same blankets so it's in there. It's a very nice woven blanket.

If you are one of those people that thinks having a regifting bin in my house is in bad taste, I ask you, what should I do with these items? Donate them? Maybe. Sell them? That's worse in my opinion. And what about the people that receive these unwanted gifts? Well, in my personal opinion, they're lucky. Clearly, I like every single one of these items because I already own them. I would never give someone something that I wouldn't love to receive.

Thanks for reading! Do you have a place in your home where you keep items to regift? I'd love to hear about what you've received or given.