Is it just me, or without fail do you often end up with a gift that that you already have or that you did not register for?  You don’t want to seem ungrateful for the present, so you kindly say ‘Thank you’.  The most challenging situations like this are when the gift does not come with a gift receipt.  Instead of feeling disappointed that you are stuck with a gift you don’t want, consider these options for gifts without gift receipts.

Store the gift away for another event.

Some families choose to store unwanted gifts on a shelf while others have an entire closet – often called a gift closet – devoted to the stash.  If you hang on to things you did not want, odds are you will have the opportunity to wrap that item back up for someone else’s wedding, shower, or birthday.  A word of caution here, yes you can re-gift just about anything.  But, please do the next person a favor and do not put them in the same situation.  When my husband and I got married, a friend of mine phoned and explained that she had seen wine racks on our registry.  She mentioned along the way she had been given a second wine rack and she was wondering if we’d like to have it.  After hearing the description it sounded like it would fit our decor and it did!  Registry item fulfilled – check!

Return the gift for a store gift card.

Many store return policies state that without a physical receipt they cannot issue cash for a return.  However, many stores can issue a store gift card for the item.  Okay… so sometimes that means you’ll end up with a gift card in an odd amount to a store you don’t shop.  This recently happened when I was given an ice pop making kit (think popsicles).  I know, it sounds delicious, but in thinking through the use of this new gadget in my head I realized it would likely live the same life as our juicer and ice cream maker.  Both were enjoyable for a few months, then they took up counter space and were moved into basement storage.  On occasion we retrieve these gadgets, but that’s if we remember.  Thankfully the ice pop kit was given to me with a tag that identified which store it was from, so we were able to return it to Williams-Sonoma for a gift card.  As much as I love the Williams-Sonoma brand, there just isn’t anything I could think to buy with the gift card (I was trying hard to be proactive, so I played this out in my head ahead of time instead of taking an hour to linger around the store).  So, my husband and I agreed to sell the gift card to Plastic Jungle.  The beauty of this solution is that (1) we choose the ‘electronic redemption’ option so we never had to mail in the gift card and (2) we were able to exchange our gift card for an Amazon.com gift card (which we will use).  Plastic Jungle processed our Amazon.com gift card within 2 business days.

Give the gift away.

Sure, returning a gift and getting cash is a great feeling.  But, sometimes the cards don’t play out in your favor.  If you don’t see yourself re-gifting the item to someone else or you can’t return the item for a store gift gift, consider others in your life.  We recently got a pizza making kit (which we already had) and after attempting to return it to Macy’s without a receipt, I texted a friend and asked if she would like to have it for her family – no charge.  (Macy’s return policy is that if the item is over 6 months old and you do not have a receipt the item may no longer be sold in stores.  For our delima the store sticker read $39.99 and since the item (which we just received) was over 6 months old, Macy’s offered me $3.99.  That’s not a typo.)  Our backup plan was if none of our friends wanted it, we would donate the kit to a program for homeless women that helps put women into their own independent housing.

I have yet to figure out how to receive a gift receipt for every present I am given (if you have a way, please let me know).  The good news is several worthwhile options exist for gifts that you might otherwise just be stuck with.