The pre-loved gifter’s first time

20th August 2022 - 2 min read

I want to share my first experience of pre-loved gifting with you. I have to tell you straight up, it was a bit scary but quite exciting. It was Maggie’s friend’s 7th birthday party (I’ve forgotten her name… let’s call her Shaniqua).

Maggie had a cute LEGO Juniors Vet clinic set she wanted to give to Shaniqua. She thought it was great. It was great! It was way bigger than any LEGO set I would have bought new for a kids’ party. So that morning we wrapped the present in a sheet of (hot off the press) Gift Rebellion wrapping paper. As ridiculous as it sounds, wrapping the present stressed me out a bit. I was anxious about a 7-year-old’s birthday present! Maggie, on the other hand, couldn’t have cared less: A present’s a present, right?

(LEGO Juniors vet clinic. The hedgehog usually has a cute little ice pack on it’s head.)

On the way to the party, I had sweaty palms and butterflies in my stomach thinking about how Shaniqua’s parents might judge Maggie’s present (and me, because everything our kids do is a reflection on us, isn’t it?). I was excited to be taking the gift wrap for a test drive but I hadn’t met Shaniqua’s parents so I wasn’t sure how their family would receive a pre-loved gift.

We got to the party and Maggie gave Shaniqua the present, which she unceremoniously dumped on a pile with the other 19 presents she’d was given. During the party, my anxiety compelled me to explain our pre-loved gift and to tell Shaniqua‘s mum about my new enterprise to make pre-loved gifting socially acceptable. She loved the idea! Phew.

Later that day Shaniqua’s mum messaged me to say that Maggie‘s present was Shaniqua’s favourite and she had spent the whole afternoon building it. The stress was for nothing (as usual).

The second time we gave a pre-loved gift, I felt compelled to explain The Gift Rebellion again but after that I stopped because I realised that the presents we were giving were great in so many ways. Better than anything we would have bought new, so why explain? The gift wrap and card make it clear why we are giving pre-loved and I think that’s enough.

It took me about four goes before I started to feel really comfortable giving pre-loved gifts. Now I just want to use the paper to spread the message. Sometimes I wrap stuff even if it doesn’t need to be wrapped, like wrapping a book I’m giving to a friend just because opening something is more fun! (I usually re-use gift wrap for those ‘just because’ presents)

Have you given a pre-loved gift before? How did you feel? And how long did it take for pre-loved gifting to become a comfortable practice for you?