Shower Gift Question

aloisk57

Hey all, just had a quick question for you.  FI's family threw us 2 showers this past weekend and a lot of the people came up with a lot of creative gifts that weren't on our registry.  One of his mom's friends ended up getting us a knife set.  We did not register for a knife set specifically because we already have a really nice one that I inherited.  This wouldn't be a problem except the set given by the friend had no tag on it and no gift receipt.  I'm not sure exactly what etiquette would say.  Do we just keep the set and donate it?  We will not use it.  Would it be against etiquette to ask where the gift came from and explain the circumstances?  I feel bad but it's like...would she rather we not use the gift or would she feel embarassed if we said we already had one?
Thanks in advance!  I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

caitles14

Hmm that's a tough one. If you know her well, you can probably judge whether or not she'd be offended. But if you want to be on the safe side (and since there is no gift receipt), I would say bite the bullet and keep it for now. I think I'd rather make sure there are no hurt feelings than bring up a potentially touchy subject just so I could exchange the gift for something else. Good luck with your decision!

artbyallie

If it's still in the packaging, you could try and determine where it came from. We got some knives that had no gift receipt, but once I figured out that they came from Target, I was able to return them for store credit.

JoanE2012

I would either figure out where it came from and return it (you'll probably end up with the lowest selling price w/ no receipt) or give it away. I would never have the heart to tell someone that I didn't need their gift. 

hoffse

I answered you on the other board.  Very good chance that they are from BBB, Target, Kohl's, or Williams Sonoma.  Between those 4 stores you pretty much cover the vast majority of available brands.  BBB and Kohl's will let you return for store credit without a receipt or anything.  Target generally will not.  Not sure about WS.

Loopyseven

Does it have a barcode?  You could try scanning it with one of the comparison shopper apps on a smart phone, or just type the UPC into Google and see what stores it comes up at.  If not, I think you could definitely tell her you already have an heirloom set - professional grade blah blah and does she have a gift receipt.

hoffse

I would not tell her you are returning it.  That could just make her feel bad.  Either quietly exchange it or donate/regift it to somebody who needs a knife set.  There's no need to make her feel bad.  Just wait until after the wedding, since you would need to return the gift to her if something happened.

And write a thank you note ASAP.

aloisk57

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_shower-gift-question-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:834ff02e-825e-41e5-9f79-50a30fca8dc9Post:0bf667d4-2cd0-4817-ba5b-c01d487a2b80">Re: Shower Gift Question</a>:
[QUOTE]I would not tell her you are returning it.  That could just make her feel bad.  Either quietly exchange it or donate/regift it to somebody who needs a knife set.  There's no need to make her feel bad.  Just wait until after the wedding, since you would need to return the gift to her if something happened.<strong> And write a thank you note ASAP.</strong>
Posted by hoffse[/QUOTE]


Already done :)

Avion22

We got a few TOTALLY random gifts from people with no tags or gift receipts (a record turntable?  yeah....), and I figured most of them are probably re-gifted, so any attempt to return them would be in vain.  I'm planning on donating them.

Meegles4

I agree with the posters who said to try to find the store it's from, and to not say anything to the giver. We had a couple people do this as well, and I was able to return some items. Other items are just sitting in our closet until I decide what to do with them -- likely regift or donate.

aloisk57

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_shower-gift-question-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:834ff02e-825e-41e5-9f79-50a30fca8dc9Post:96916a0a-af3f-4979-b077-260670a78df1">Re: Shower Gift Question</a>:
[QUOTE]I agree with the posters who said to try to find the store it's from, and to not say anything to the giver. We had a couple people do this as well, and I was able to return some items. Other items are just sitting in our closet until I decide what to do with them -- likely regift or donate.
Posted by Meegles4[/QUOTE]

Thanks Meegles - we found out it was from Wal-Mart by doing some digging, so we're just going to return them for store credit.