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The worst re-gifted gifts Aussies have ever received.

There are certain presents you know you’ll never use.

Like that collectable plate your auntie gave you last Chirstmas.

Or that fancy non-PH balanced soap sitting in your cupboard, giving you hives just from thinking about it.

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There are also certain presents you’d love to use, but which are given so abundantly you’ll never be able to. Not even if you burn scented candles from dawn ’til dusk for the remainder of your natural life.

So what do you do? You re-gift them.

Unfortunately there are those whose motives fro re-gifting are less noble than your own, however. Who re-gift so badly one might label them Christmas-ruiners.

GroupTogether — an easy, user-friendly tool that organises group gift collections — conducted some research to discover the worst re-gifted gifts Australians have ever had the displeasure of unwrapping.

Seriously. Image via iStock
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These were the top ten:

  1. "A bunch of scratchies for my birthday that had been scratched and re-gifted. Needless to say none of us were winners."
  2. "An engraved salad bowl engraved with the event it was won at 10 years before."
  3. "Cracked Dinnerware complete with a $5 reduction sticker."
  4. "A scarf that I had given someone for their birthday a month prior to mine."
  5. "A book which had a Happy Birthday note for Sally. I am not Sally."
  6. "Make-up with finger marks through it…"
  7. "Freebies from a hotel. Not even a real re-gift."
  8. "A gift card that had already been spent. It had a big fat zero balance."
  9. "A box of Xmas chocolates that wished the person who gave it to me a Merry Xmas"
  10. "Bath and body products with the internal seals removed."

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Now, we're not saying never re-gift. Quite the opposite, actually.

The trick, you see, is to be mindful about it.

So, what's to be done with that umpteenth bath bomb you can't use in your shower? GroupTogether had some ideas about that too.

Here are the rules for being a thoughtful re-gifter:

  1. Make sure you do not give the gift to the person who bought it for you.
  2. Make sure that you do not give it to the original givers friends or family.
  3. Remove the gift tag, price and any left-over bits of old wrapping paper or tape.
  4. Never re-gift something that is bespoke, handmade or homemade.
  5. Only re-gift brand new gifts that have not been opened.
  6. Make sure to re-wrap in new wrapping paper or a new gift bag.
  7. Donate to charity.
  8. Check for any forms of personalisation e.g. message in a book.
  9. Next time you have to organise a gift for a friend, family member or colleague, pool together and get one great group gift or voucher that you know that they will really want.

Got it? Go forth and give! Again.