Is it rude to sell unwanted Christmas gifts from grandparents?

[Anonymous]

If you have to ask the answer is yes.

[Anonymous]

What she doesn't know won't hurt her.

If she's at your house often, then I wouldn't.

[Anonymous]

Can't you just keep it around? One day your son might get bored with his other toys and take it for a spin, and find he really likes it. It would also be nice to have it around for when he has friends over.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't sell a gift to buy more gifts. If ds wants to give it away, I'd encourage that though.

Very gross to sell gifts. But I also don't sell my stuff. I guess kinda think selling things is distasteful.

[Anonymous]

Ebay or her house. Those preschool toys take up a lot of space when your space is limited.

[Anonymous]

I am generally opposed to selling things we get for free (gifts or hand-me-downs). DH and I totally differ on that, BTW, and he's a good and honest person, so I don't think it's a moral absolute, it just makes me feel weird.

I think your question is actually two

[Anonymous]

We do a lot of playdates. Those unwanted toys often become favorites later on when their friend(s) come over and play with it.

I love our plasma car. My 2yo now loves his big brother's old plasma car. It isn't very expensive though like you suggest in your post.

I personally think it is too much trouble to sell. I do try to return if we have the same or very similar bulky item.

[Anonymous]

^^cut off by my kids, sorry.

I think your question is actually 2 questions, OP. The first is about selling gifts. The second is about what to do when a family member gives a gift that your kid doesn't really want. I would think that by this point your MIL might understand that kids can be fickle with their interests, and even toys that they play with enthusiastically for a few days can be set aside within a month or two. In that spirit, I probably wouldn't say anything or make an issue, but I would not force your DS to play with it or whatever. I think once you get a gift it's your call what to do with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't sell a gift to buy more gifts. If ds wants to give it away, I'd encourage that though.

Very gross to sell gifts. But I also don't sell my stuff. I guess kinda think selling things is distasteful.

Why is it distasteful? You sell stocks. You work, presumably, so your sell your services. You sell a house every so often. You sell a car. What's the difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a guess, but I'd be willing to wager it's not your son that doesn't want it, it's you. Also, if it was from your parents instead of your MIL, you might be more inclined to keep it. I'm pretty sure whatever MIL bought, you'd find fault with unless she bought what you specifically asked.

I've been there. It's a terrible way to live. Let MIL buy what she wants.

I'm guessing you've been there in the MIL's role?

[Anonymous]

We got a plasma car on sale for $35-40. Just thought I'd mention it since you said it was "very expensive"

[Anonymous]

sell it.

"it broke."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is your son? 3, 4, 5? Kids that age can change their minds pretty fast. I think I'd tell him that I wanted to get some pictures of him playing in the car before we told Grandma that he wanted something else. Sometimes playing with a toy in a totally different environment can be a big difference. You (and he) might be surprised to see that he actually enjoys his car at home.

Bingo! This post is right. Tell him it's a gift and was given in kindness and thoughtfulness (grandma could never have known he was "tired" of the coolest new thing already!). Have him play with it at least some and do send her pictures. He might indeed get into it again.

Invite some of his friends over for playdates and they might be into it and thus he might get renewed interest.

If he plays with it even a bit, then I can see selling it later on after he's had a while to try it out with encouragement -- but selling it almost immediately after he gets it seems, as someone else posted, mercenary; it smacks of converting things to cash while they're still trendy and it seems like telling a kid "Sure, you can always get exactly what you want, when you want it."

Also, others say to ask her for the receipt but that's a risk-- if she doesn't have it she's going to feel so flustered when you ask, and then possibly be upset with herself for not hanging onto the receipt if she didn't have it. Why put a gift-giver in that awkward position? Not polite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a guess, but I'd be willing to wager it's not your son that doesn't want it, it's you. Also, if it was from your parents instead of your MIL, you might be more inclined to keep it. I'm pretty sure whatever MIL bought, you'd find fault with unless she bought what you specifically asked.

I've been there. It's a terrible way to live. Let MIL buy what she wants.

I'm not the OP, but you are making a LOT of assumptions. More precisely, you are projecting. Heavily. As you admit ("I've been there").

I don't think OP's post suggests this at all. It is entirely possible for a kid to dislike a gift. And why would she lie to us about what her son said?

NP - I don't agree. I have the MIL from hell. She recycles Catholic crap and gives it to my kids. We're not Catholic. I've even tried gently to hint that the kids are "into" Pikachu or whatever they are into. Nope, in come the dusty crucifixes, stories of saints, old rosaries, old purses, petite sweaters (daughter is not petite, MIL is), six year old scarves for me (I know - I tried to return it - code at Macy's said it was six years old). etc. I've given up. Children hate MIL and think she's cheap. There's nothing I can do about it because she's dug her own grave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:sell it.

"it broke."

So OP should lie to grandma? Seriously? What does OP then say to her kid when grandma happens to say in front of the kid, "Oh, I'm so sorry your toy broke" and the child knows perfectly well it didn't? And if the kid then replies, "Oh, no, grandma, we just sold it" then grandma is clued in and OP looks just peachy.

The kid learns: Hey, it's fine to lie to grandma if you don't like her gift, and fine to lie about what happened to something, so that you can get what YOU want, regardless of the giver's feelings or pesky issues of, say, being honest.

Lovely lesson to teach a young child.