The traditional holiday has, in recent times, become more commercial. In 2010 USA4SALE Networks, Inc. sought trademark protection for the use of the name in promotion of online listings. The company’s clear attempt to commercialize the holiday has not been without controversy. Protest groups have used the slogan “Put the Gifts Back in ReGiftmas!” as a rallying cry. Despite the protests, a recent study found that 62 percent of Americans practice some form of regifting throughout the year.

Lizzie Post, spokeswoman for the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vt., and great-great-granddaughter of etiquette doyenne Emily Post, isn’t a fan of regifting. “I don’t think it supports the spirit of gift giving,” said Post. [Citation Needed]

Wealthy adherents to traditional gift-giving protocol continue to spend vast sums of money on lobbying efforts to ban ReGiftmas. To date their efforts have born little fruit, though Hon. Joseph H. Armstrong, (R-WY), nearly succeeded in adding his “National Do-Not-ReGift List” bill as an amendment to the 2009 Health Care legislation. His amendment would have allowed opponents to ReGiftmas to add their names to a national Do-Not-ReGift List. If a ReGifter would have inadvertently regifted to a person on the list, the ReGifter would have been subject to stiff fines for the first violation. For habitual violators, the ReGifters would have to write “I will not ReGift to People on the National Do-Not-ReGift List” one hundred times for each subsequent infraction.