National Regifting Day – December 18, 2026

History of National Regifting Day

The term ‘re-gifting’ was first popularized in a 1995 episode of the sitcom “Seinfeld” called ‘The Label Maker,’ where a label maker is re-gifted from one character to another. The actual practice, of course, pre-dates the show by many years. The British term for a gift that is passed around a group is ‘matham.’ National Re-Gifting Day originally started off as an office holiday during the holiday season where co-workers would often re-gift gifts that they received and didn’t really want. A fascinating part of the culture of workplace re-gifting is the practice of White Elephant gift exchanges, in which gifts are exchanged between co-workers by ‘stealing’ gifts you want for yourself from other people. On October 24, 2008, the state of Colorado announced December 18 to be National Re-Gifting Day.

Think about the coffee mug you don’t have any use for or the label maker you don’t want anything to do with. Save for a few occasions, re-gifting can be a sustainable way of making use of an item that you initially thought you would discard or leave to collect dust on a shelf. However, it is important to keep in mind a few rules when deciding on whether to re-gift an item or not. Make sure that the gift you’re passing along has never been used, is devoid of any sentimental value, is not personalized, and is actually a good fit for the recipient.