You can use the bars of scented soap on your lingerie and stockings. You can use the cheap towels as dishcloths. You can never have enough designer ballpoint pens. You can use the wine for cooking. You can add the jewellery to the tree decorations.

But there are some things that you simply cannot utilize. There is a fashionable third alternative to donating such things for to the nearest charity shop, or dumping them into the closest skip. However, re-gifting is a potential mine-field.

• All re-gifted items must be in perfect condition and unused. Seals of scents and toiletries must not be broken, since this would mean you are giving what you did not like.

• Always check boxes, inside and out, for old cards, scrawled-on dedications, and receipts.

• Anything re-gifted must be in the original packaging. Forget about spraying a chocolate box with metallic paint and filling it with fewer toffees than were contained in the original, bigger one!

• Hand-made items are usually one-of-a-kid and re-gifting them will probably lead to questions about their provenance. Would you bluff it out and say you ordered them?

• If someone discovers you have re-gifted his present, his feelings may be hurt - unless he would have re-gifted it himself, in which case he'd understand.

• If you are re-gifting a heirloom, make sure you indicate this; otherwise a person might think it is simply "old stuff".

• If you know where your unwanted gift was bought, you may be able to exchange it for another in the same price range, and the re-gifting is then virtual.

• In some cases, such as when you know someone collects certain objects(white soft toys, books by a certain author, angel statuettes), it is perfectly permissible to re-gift items that are bought second-hand, as long as you disclose this before the gift is opened.

• Ironed-out, old wrapping paper shrieks "re-gifting", especially so when the gift-tag is an out-of-season card cut down to size.

• Never feel obliged to use something, or to keep it in a conspicuous place, because of who the giver is. This attitude trains you how to re-gift with panache.

• Partially-used gift cards are never to be re-gifted. Ask the shop whether they will make out a new one, even if you have to add something to make it a round sum.

• Re-gifting works with some things but not with others - if you are re-gifting personalised stationery or monogrammed handkerchiefs make sure they are suitable for that person.

• Remember that if you are re-gifting because you do not like something, the chances are that the recipient will not, either.

• Some gifts, especially the white elephant type, are easily recognisable; it is better to be safe than sorry when someone gives you a Venus de Milo with a clock in her stomach.

• Sometimes, people re-gift things because they could not be bothered to choose a present. Try and include a re-gifted item, such as a tiny figurine, with your gift-card.

• Think about whether you could sell your unwanted gifts on eBay or to a local shop that takes unwanted gifts, and use the money to purchase new gifts instead.

• Unless it is s known and accepted practice (and something of a joke), always re-gift outside your family and social circle.

• When it comes to books, always go through each page, to remove bookmarks; never re-gift a book with even one dog-eared page.