Pre-Loved Books Every Recipient on your Holiday Gift List Will Appreciate 

This blog contributed by BookGive volunteer and advisory council member, Colleen Maleski.

If you’ve ever provided your email address to a retail outlet, your inbox will be filled for the next six weeks with “Black Friday deals” and “the best prices of the season.” But one of the best prices this holiday season might be free. 

On December 10, BookGive will host its Holiday Book Give-Away from noon to 2pm where you can find free books for every recipient on your list. (See our recommendations below!) Or visit the Free Book Room when you’re in the neighborhood. 

But you’re wondering… can I give a used book (especially one that was free) as a gift?

We say yes. And here’s why. 

The Times, They Are A-Changin’ 

Cultural norms related to giving used gifts are shifting due to economical, environmental, and generational factors. 

Recent surveys of consumers indicated an openness to both buying and giving secondhand gifts. In a 2018 Bankrate survey, only 16 percent of respondents would consider buying used gifts. In 2021, nearly 40 percent of those surveyed by Mercari indicated that that they planned to gift secondhand items. Data also suggests that consumers are acting on this intent to buy used; TheRealReal, a luxury resale site, reported a 60% increase in orders with gift boxes from 2019 to 2020.

The numbers also indicate that recipients are open to receiving a used gift. In 2021, a survey by GlobalData showed that 66% of consumers are open to receiving a secondhand gift, similar to half of consumers in a Zogby Analytics survey the same year. 

The language we use about secondhand gifting has also evolved. In 2012, a US News article on giving used gifts asked “Can you make [the used gift] look new?” suggesting that its secondhand status needed to be hidden. In 2015, Money.com published an article entitled “How to give pre-owned gifts without looking like a thoughtless cheapskate.”

Compare that to 2021’s headlines: Time’s “I tried buying only used holiday gifts. It changed how I think about shopping” or Fast Company’s “It’s time to kill the taboo of giving secondhand gifts.” Last month, The Wall Street Journal published a personal finance article with advice for holiday gift shoppers to “not hesitate to consider vintage, consignment and even thrift stores to stay within your budget.” 

This shift has likely been accelerated by three compounding and interrelated factors: 

• Generational: Younger generations have led the way with their openness for secondhand gifts. In 2019, Deloitte reported that 61% of Gen Z and 43% of millennial consumers planned to give used gifts compared to 25% of Gen X and 13% of baby boomers; Mercari reported similar trends in 2021. A ThredUp report attributes these trends to younger generations’ desires to shop more sustainably and to save money.  However, a 2021 report by First Insight and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School showed that “preference for shopping secondary markets has surged across all generations in a matter of two years… with Baby Boomers increasing their utilization by 56 percent.” Baby Boomers may also be the generation least ashamed of used gifting. Zogby Analytics respondents ages 60 to 75 were the most likely of any generation to share openly if they purchased a gift secondhand. 

• Economical: The availability of products and how much money consumers have to purchase them have been impacted in the last two years by rising inflation, supply chain disruptions, un- or underemployment, and the looming threat of a recession. A 2022 Jungle Scout Consumer Trends Report indicates that one in four consumers expect to reduce holiday spending by purchasing used gifts. The recipient also has your wallet and wellbeing in mind. A survey commissioned by Gazelle showed that 61% of respondents supported the idea of receiving pre-owned gifts because “of the significant savings it would represent to the giver.”
  
• Environmental: More than half of consumers are open to secondhand gifting because they want to shop more sustainably, according to the 2021 ThredUp Thrift for the Holidays report. Earlier this year, Deloitte reported a rise in consumer demand for sustainability – nearly half of consumers reported changing their purchase behaviors to address climate change. In addition, more than 6.5 million people are putting sustainability into practice by participating in 7,500 Buy Nothing communities across the globe, which bill themselves as “circular gift economies” where neighbors give and request items for free. 

The practice of giving pre-loved gifts is becoming more and more accepted across generations as cultural expectations evolve and as consumers place high values on being economically-savvy and environmentally-friendly. And publishing books has a significant impact on the environment. The most recent comprehensive, industry-wide study estimated that the U.S. book industry alone emitted approximately 12.4 million metric tons of carbon per year (approximately 8.85 pounds per book.) While publishing houses have made great efforts to reduce the environmental impact of producing books in recent years, extending the life of a book by picking up used copies (and donating books we won’t read again) are simple steps every reader can take to minimize the impact of our beloved hobby on the planet. 

It’s the Effort That Counts 

In a recent CNBC article, Tom Meyvis, a professor of marketing at New York University, indicated that secondhand gift-giving may demonstrate even more care for the recipient than purchasing new because of the effort the giver put into finding the gift. He described that process with the phrase, “I found this little gem.”

This perspective made me think of the time I found a used copy of “The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America” for a friend who both likes bird watching and sarcasm at the Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts, which prides itself on “books you don’t need in a place you can’t find.” Or how every time I pass a Little Free Library or stop into BookGive’s Free Book Room, I scour the shelves for books by my sister’s favorite author, David Baldacci. 

True, you absolutely could order the same books on Amazon or pick them up from your local bookstore, but there is something significant and intentional about a gift that communicates that “I discovered this and thought of you.” And in this case, it is both the thought – and the effort – that counts.

Holiday Wish List

Peruse and find a book – or two, or three – that makes you think of every recipient on your holiday gift list. Check out these books that were recently spotted on the BookGive shelves. 

For the political junkie 

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams is a fictional and suspenseful tale set in the halls of the nation’s highest court when a Justice’s coma reveals unexpected clues, danger, and controversy for his most trusted clerk. 

Chris Whipple provides an insider look into an influential governmental job that has shaped the country’s political maneuverings for the last several decades in The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency. 

For the suspense sleuth 

Katie Gutierrez piques the true crime lover’s interest in her debut novel More Than You’ll Ever Know, which explores a woman’s double life that leads to the murder of one of her husbands. 

A book seller’s son uncovers dark secrets and unleashes danger when he finds the last copy in existence of a mysterious book in Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s page-turning tale, La Sombra del Viento (Shadow of the Wind). 

For the romantic 

Casey McQuiston pens an escapist romance with intentional LGBTQ2S+ commentary in Rojo, blanco y sangre azul (Red, White & Royal Blue), when the president’s son falls into an enemies-to-lovers relationship with the prince of England. 

An aspiring book editor finds herself entrapped in a standoffish author’s house, trying to prove herself by delivering his long overdue manuscript, in By the Book by Jasmine Guillory – a modern retelling of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast.

For the historical fiction devotee 

Based on the history of a real school in Florida that operated for more than a century, Colson Whitehead provides an emotional, fictional account of the lives of two boys sent to a reform school in the 1960s in The Nickel Boys. 

En el tiempo de las mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies) by Julia Alvarez reconstructs the journey and experiences of the three Mirabal sisters who were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in 1960. 

For the memoir enthusiast 

Disability advocate and @sitting_pretty creator Rebekah Taussig shares her perspective on what it’s like to be on the outside looking in in a series of essays in Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body.

The nation’s first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature, Danica Roem sets an example for how to unabashedly and authentically tell your own story in Burn the Page: A True Story of Torching Doubts, Blazing Trails, and Igniting Change. 

Happy book hunting this giving season. You’ll find some of these titles and thousands of others FREE at the Holiday Book Give-Away on December 10th. We look forward to helping you find the perfect gifts for all the readers in your life.