Mainstreet.com asked their readers to recount the worst re-gifting experiences they’ve had. People really, really seem to like re-gifting unwanted wedding gifts without removing the original cards first. But the real winner in the categories of both cheapness and stupidity has to be the person who checked a book out from the library, then gave it to a friend as a gift.

Dan, from Melbourne, Australia, shares this one: “For my 16th birthday, my friend gave me a copy of Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre. He knew I loved philosophy, and had looked up ‘famous philosophy books’ online. I was overjoyed until he told me that I needed to read it in the next four weeks, because he had borrowed it from his local library, and if I wouldn’t mind giving it back to them by the 7th of the following month, that would be much appreciated. While I was shocked, none of us could stop laughing that he had given this as a serious present and didn’t realise how ridiculous it was. Needless to say that this was the most memorable present I got that year.”

Memorable, yes. I’m always the first to encourage people to use their local library. Not, however, for gift shopping.

What are your best awesome (or egregious) re-gifting stories?

Legendary Re-Gifting Failures: Holiday Edition [MainStreet]

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