my wife and I are having a disagreement.
my neighbor is throwing out a totally intact, and rather nice, tv stand. its made of glass and metal and visually looks an awful lot like the one my friend has.
the stand my friend has is permanently bent/crooked on the portion that holds the tv – it’s the kind with an elevated VESA mount. so, the tv is permanently, and obviously, crooked by about 10+ degrees or so. its noticable.
my wife and I were discussing what gift to give our friends, and I presented it as a joke at first (as though it would be the sole gift), but then clarified that it would be like a "bonus."
to reiterate – there would be a primary gift, and then this tv stand as a second *bonus*. the tv stand is in fine shape, and is visually very similar to what they have currently.
is it okay to recycle in this way? would it be better if I didn’t pull a "but wait, there’s more!" on Christmas, but instead gave it on literally any other day?
tldr: is recycling as a bonus gift bad?
Why don’t you just give your friend the stand? And NOT make it a Christmas present at all?
No, you would not be. Definitely NTA. It’s to be commended for thinking about your friend in this way.
YWNBTA – I will caveat, you don’t have to present it as a Christmas gift at all. You can give them their ‘real’ gift and then just tell them the truth. “Hey, our neighbor was getting rid of this super nice TV stand and I thought you might be able to use it if you want it”
And don’t use the word ‘trash’ at any point in your statement.
I think it would be fine to offer it to your friend, especially since you are giving them a real gift. I do this when I have something that’s still good that I no longer use or need. “Hey, would you like this TV stand?”
NAH but just ask him if he wants it. Gifting furniture is risky because you don’t know if he’ll actually like it.
NTA but I wouldn’t frame it as a gift. I would simply ask him “Hey my neighbour is getting rid of a TV stand that is incredibly similar to your damaged one. Do you want it?”
Pretend it’s not Christmas and just text your friend and ask if they want it. I wouldn’t give someone a large piece of furniture without checking, even if they have a similar one already. Then just give them a Christmas gift like normal. NAH
I wouldn’t give it as a gift. I would call your friend and ask him/her if they want it.
Just ask the friend if he wants the TV stand himself!
If you’re getting another gift for your friend anyway, I’d offer the TV stand to them without attaching it to any gift occasion. Just “hey, my neighbour threw out this TV stand and it reminded me of yours. Do you want it?”
NAH.
NTA. If the TV stand is genuinely in good condition and actually an upgrade from what they have, that’s not ‘trash,’ that’s practical reuse.
Why wouldn’t you just take a photo of it, send it to your friend, and say “hey this looks like yours that is damaged, do you want it?”
If they don’t want it, you presenting a large TV stand as a gift is going to be very awkward for them, plus you’d have to get it and store it until you exchange gifts with them.
Don’t give it as a Christmas gift, just ask if they want it. You can give people things outwith the parameters of Christmas! NTA
Offer it to your friend but I wouldn’t act all Christmas gifty we got you this! about it. It’s obviously going to be second hand. You’re just going to create a weird dynamic with the freecycle. NTA for giving it a good home but maybe not as a sole Christmas gift. Unless you have a very low gift amt…