This year, regifting isn’t just for the tacky or the unthoughtful. It’s for everyone.

With an economy in a constant downward spiral, more people than ever will regift this year.

According to a recent survey by Harris Interactive and eBay, 64 percent of U.S. adults feel that regifting or reselling gifts is more socially acceptable now than it was several years ago.

“What somebody doesn’t want at all might be just exactly what someone else wants,” said Rozalyn Schmitt, assistant program coordinator at the South Hall Community Center. “You’re not out anything, you’re not out any money. It’s an inexpensive and fun thing to do.”

At the South Hall Community Center, Schmitt along with employees and 18 Active Generation members celebrated National Regifting Day with a regifting party on Tuesday.

Each member of the seniors group brought a gift, then picked a number out of a glass bowl and picked a present from the gift table.

Gifts like candle holders, playing cards, pot holders, dish towels, candy and slippers were common and many of the regifts had a Christmas motif.

“I think some people brought leftover things they had and some people went out and bought a little something to bring,” Schmitt said. “I think it’s fun; I like the gift exchanges.”

Francis Turner received probably the funniest gift of the day when he opened a tapestry wallet purse. He had fun with the gift and modeled it for the group.

Turner said the first thing he thought was “giving the purse to his daughter,” but then he was able to trade the gift later for a candle.

Kelly Norman, another assistant program coordinator, said she loved the party and told stories about when she was the target of regifted items.

“We got a broken toaster as a wedding gift and it had crumbs in it,” Norman said. “I think my husband gets the award for regifting — he regifted a gift that he had gotten me. He gave me the “Sound of Music” DVD one year and it got misplaced and he found it and gave it to me again the next year.”

But for Janice Clark, an Active Generation member, this was her first experience with regifting.

“I enjoyed it; it was fun,” said Clark, who received an oven mitt and a seasonal wall tapestry. “I’ve never given something I’ve had before — maybe I’ve thought about it but then you get to thinking if someone found out and their feelings would be hurt.”

But to make sure no one’s feelings get hurt in the regifting process there are certain rules to follow, according to Marsha Collier, an author, eBay dealer and gift-giving etiquette expert who claims to be an expert on regifting.

“When you get a gift, open it, go through the entire gift,” she said. “Make sure that they didn’t enclose a card, if they gave you a purse that they didn’t put money in the purse or something. You want to be sure you get the entire gift. Also don’t just regift to somebody just because you have to give them a gift. Once again, giving is about happiness. Think about the gift.

“Also don’t regift within the same social circle.”

Collier, who is based in California, said she has studied the regifting patterns in the United States and she has found regifting is more popular than ever.

“To find out the regifting patterns of the country (I) ... spoke to several etiquette experts at the time,” she said. “Then I wrote ‘Santa Shops on eBay’ so that I could understand the etiquette of gifting. And of course, let’s face it, if you’re on this planet long enough, regifting does become a habit.”

Collier, author of 15 books, regifts and resells gifts herself and said her family even jokes at Christmas that there is a pile of presents they keep and a pile that is to sell on eBay.  

“Isn’t it really the ultimate in recycling?” Collier said. “The whole thing about a gift is that somebody thought enough to actually go out and get you something. Even if it’s a regift from them, they’ve thought enough to give it to you and to wrap it  ... so if gift giving is really about the thought, then receiving is about the thought.”

According to the Harris Interactive survey, nearly three in four adults view regifting or reselling as a form of recycling, up from 69 percent last year.

“What you do with it after in my case ... makes me happy,” Collier said. “It’s a very uncomfortable feeling to get a gift that you don’t want, you don’t need and you don’t even want to look at. Now you can be so gracious and say, ‘Thank you so much.’”

Collier added that if you are planning to regift later, sticky notes can come in handy.

“Once you have gone through the whole thing, put it back in the box and put a Post-it note on the outside of the box that lets you know who gave it to you,” she said. “So you don’t make the mistake of giving the gift back to that same person.”

Now if you don’t want to regift your unwanted presents, there always is the option of reselling the  items on Web sites like eBay.

Collier has been selling items on eBay since 1996 and was one of the first eBay power sellers. She said there are good items and bad items to sell on eBay.

Profitable items would be CDs, books, personal electronics, collectables or sporting equipment — anything with a brand name.

“When people search on eBay for items, they either search either by brand name or a specific noun,” she said. “Although, I did one year get a cashmere sweater set from Costco which I was able to sell on eBay very nicely because it was 100 percent cashmere. Cashmere is a key word people will look for ... they aren’t buying bubble bath on eBay.”