Following on from "worst gift ever* have u ever had a gift given back to you that you bought the person...

Hi guys one year i gave a toiletry set to my sister in law for xmas in the morning time and got it back the same xmas day in the afternoon as a gift from her re wrapped in diffrent paper! I knew it was the same gift as a bit of original paper was stuck on some cellotape underneath.

My son was given a bright pink toy doctors set by my SIL for his birthday which had obviously been a duplicated gift for her own daughter. I wouldn’t mind but she is very keen on boys play football girls have dolls kind of mentality.

I have never received a gift I have given, but we once received a gift ( a book of home design) from a good friend that still had the handwritten card in it from the friend who gave it to them....We kept the book and the card and laugh every time we look at it!!

My grandmother kept unwanted gifts in her sideboard. We were given hankies with her initials embroidered on them.
One year chocolate biscuits reeking strongly of mothballs, which she also kept in the sideboard. We ate them anyway, chocolate was a rare treat in those days.

I bought my OH's best friend a very nice bottle of malt whisky ,he's really into whisky.I was a bit taken aback when he told me in front of a houseful of guests that it was awful and not to buy that brand again.Guess I'll leave the whisky buying to my OH in future ,even though his friend is usually happy to drink any of our whisky collection and I bought most of that .

Not exactly. However, I had a very nice coffee set given to me by a relative as a Wedding present, who had obviously received it as a gift as she accidentally left the original tag on. I just laughed.

Over the years I've had a lot of use out of that coffee set.

I never know what to buy DB, sometimes I get it right and sometimes horribly wrong - but I always know because he tells me. I once bought him a book about a celebrity in one of his interest areas. Quite out of the blue next time I saw him he told me he hated this person, but I didn't see the book again so I suppose it went to the charity shop. He also regifted a present I bought him to my mother, who also didn't want it! I'll keep trying.

This has happened to a friend of mine who received a present from a friend to whom she had sent it the previous year. Another friend organised a raffle for an local event and a woman won a prize which was the gift she had received from her the previous christmas.
Me? It's not happened to me because I refuse to get caught up in the game of buying presents.

One aunt of my ex husband regularly returned the gift we had given her the year before ,,,,, so I always made sure to give her my favourite talc soap etc ...one year I unwrapped a gorgeous grey silk nightie with lace and very expensive ...I was amazed ...THEN she said Oh you;ve got the wrong one ...that is for Sandra C (I was Sandra G) ...but I never ever received the gift that should have been mine !!! I I had done this to someone I would at least have felt so guilty I would have said nothing !!!

Doodle
You should use your bar soap. It's much more environmentally friendly than gels in plastic bottles.

Grandma gave us a electric blanket as a wedding present. We knew she'd bought it for herself, and used it, but didn't get on with it!

I agree with Kim19 that’s it’s a way of recycling. But I’m very careful and usually “re-gift” something as an extra or give to a charity shop. I’ll need to be extra careful though - my memory isn’t what it was!
Annifrance

My DD has a relative on her OH's side who quite regularly looks at a birthday or Xmas gift and hands it back, saying "No - I don't want that." She is otherwise entirely normal!

As the thread has moved a little to soap vs hand wash thought I would share a recipe I use to make my own hand wash. I recycle plastic containers which have the thingy that makes the hand wash foam when you press the nozzle (keep reusing them). Put four fifths water, tablespoon almond oil,few drops essential oil - I use eucalyptus as supposed to have antibacterial properties, then top up bottle with liquid soap (I use Castile for babies). Replace the cap. Give a quick shake and Viola, hand wash made from soap using recycled bottles. Lasts ages and I think a bit cheaper!

I had a friend who was a blatant regifter and I had had things back from her- as others have said they were nice ones so I didnt mind.

But I am always reminded of snooty aunt who would actually hand things back to Mum..."Oh I don't use that perfiume/handcream/wear that colour anymore". Mum had usually spent more than she should trying to get it right and would privately be very hurt.

My mother re-gifted things, so I have always been very careful not to, as I find it hurtful to be given something that I know I chose with great care for someone.

Fortunately, now we can return presents to the shop where they were bought if they are marked as presents, so I take care always to ask for a gift marking when I buy a present that I am not absolutely sure the person will want.

My mother certainly re-cycled carefully ironed wrapping paper and just as neatly ironed ribbons, before the synthetic kind of gift tape put in its appearance.

Shampoo was sold in glass bottles until the mid-seventies, as far as I remember. Once plastic bottles became common, public baths banned the use of glass bottles, as they were a nightmare if anyone dropped one which shattered!

My late mother-in-law always did this. She had 4 married offspring and we all used to compare gifts to see who had got whose previous gift.
She once gave me a pair of white metal with blue stones earrings, she said they were a gift but she didn’t wear cheap silver earrings. I had bought them for her 70th birthday, they were white gold and sapphire and cost over £300! At least she gave them to me and didn’t just throw this ‘cheap tack’ away.

Our family use Amazon wish lists for our wants and needs during the year so everyone always gets what they want for Xmas & birthdays. I cannot believe some GN’s buy gifts they like to give to a person with the thought they may get it back. My thought is if this happens maybe it’s time to end the practice with this particular friend/relative. Surely gift giving is supposed to be about giving joy to the recipient and given with selflessness.

Yes , my MIL used to give my gifts back to me - I don't think she could remember who gave her what. The worst part about her was she used to keep and iron the wrapping paper no matter how cheap and nasty, so I often got that as well. She was the meanest person I ever met. he even split an M&S gift set between her son, grandson and granddaughter - they put the lot in the bin.

I had a friend who would just pass the gifts she didn't like to another of her friends. Not for a birthday, just because she didn't like them! Never did find out what she did with the presents I gave her, but I never saw them in her house either! Eventually I stopped giving.

years ago I gave a handcrafted belt to the daughter of my boyfriend at the time. I had purchased one for myself some time before and had received many complements on it. was i surprised when he handed it back saying that it was something she would never wear and that went for her friends as well, could I get her some jewelry like I had gifted her in the past. like a dummy I did get her a bracelet and gave the belt to a friend who had admired it.

Just spotted Lancslass1 post. "They" said to us that they knew we liked that good whisky.

My mil was a very 'lucky' person, ie if she bought a ballot ticket she inevitably won a prize. I'm pretty sure I received some of these prizes as gifts. Once she gave me a ghastly dinner set for Christmas, as I opened it my fil said " oh you've managed to get rid of that at last"!

I never regift, but my Mum did it a lot and as she got older she couldn't remember who had given her what!

But I once gave a good friend an exquisite (and very expensive) long wool scarf which I had taken great care in choosing - she wore a lot of scarves. She seemed thrilled with it and expressed her great delight. So I was a bit surprised to receive it for my birthday two years later! As I opened it she said "I hope you like it, some ghastly person gave it to me and I would never wear anything like that!!" I never gave her another gift. I gave the scarf to a charity shop, although it was lovely every time I looked at it I thought of her rude remark.

We went to stay with friends and took them a bottle of a good whisky. On the return match they brought us a bottle of good whisky. God's honest truth we are sure it was the self same bottle ! We are still friends - some people can turn being tight into an art form.