12-18-2005, 11:13 AM
Quote:Even though the stigma surrounding secondhand gifts is shrinking, shoppers should be careful about flaunting gifts' status as retreads, said Leah Ingram, a self-proclaimed gift-giving and etiquette expert who wrote the book, Gifts Anytime: How to Find the Perfect Present for Any Occasion.
The rise of online shopping, along with an increasingly mainstream embrace of vintage goods, has opened an ever-expanding marketplace of used but high-quality items, dampening taboos about giving gifts that someone else has already worn, played, read or watched.
Not everyone, Ingram said, has caught on to secondhand chic.
"I see nothing wrong in this day and age with being creative about where you go to get a gift," she said. "But, if you're buying at thrift stores, eBay, or recycling from the gift closet, make sure you do whatever you can to conceal its origin."
full article: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/WjE2...hame.xhtml