NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Call it tacky. Call it rude. But, the truth is, most of us have received gifts we didn't want, didn't need or just didn't like, and then given that present to someone else.

Thirty-one percent of shoppers say they have re-gifted at least one time, according to a holiday-shopping survey by American Express.

CNNfn's Gerri Willis shares five tips on how to re-gift with style. Play video (Real or Windows Media)

Women are more likely to re-gift than men (34 percent vs 27 percent) and 39 percent of those with household incomes of $75,000 or more say they re-gift compared to 23 percent of those with household incomes of $25,000 or less.

Are you considering re-gifting this holiday season? Here are today's 5 Tips:

The etiquette and ethics experts we tracked down say the focus shouldn't really be on the gift itself, but rather what it represents.

QUICK VOTE   Have you ever received a gift you didn't like and then passed it on to someone else (ie. "re-gifted")?   Yes   No    View results

"There is no reason to feel guilty for re-gifting because the main purpose that someone gives you a gift is to give you pleasure," said Bruce Weinstein, president of Ethics at Work. "Let's say you already own a copy of the "Godfather" collection and you know that someone else would like to have it. What's the point in keeping it? I mean, it would be wasteful."

Weinstein offers more advice at www.theethicsguy.com.

Etiquette expert Rosanne Thomas of Protocol Advisors says people are not required to keep things they don't need or like. Etiquette doesn't require you to keep anything, just that you are grateful when you receive it.

Not only is it okay to re-gift, but experts say there are times you are morally obligated to do so.

For example, say someone gives you an article of clothing or some food that you don't want or don't need. Not only is it a good thing to donate it -- you ought to donate it.

If you plan on re-gifting, do it with a gift you recently received -- the sooner the better. Otherwise you may forget who gave it to you in the first place and could end up giving the gift back to the original giver.

Make sure you give the gift to someone who won't possibly run into the original giver.

The gift should be in its original condition and do your best to destroy the evidence by removing all original gift tags.

Naturally, you don't want to give the person the impression you bought the item and spent a lot of time looking for it, picking it out, ordering it.

But, if the guilt really gets to you, it is okay to admit the re-gifting. You can say, "I received this sweater, but I'm allergic to the fabric and I thought you might like it."

When you are giving the gift for no occasion, it is always a good idea to tell the recipient that it's a re-gift -- otherwise, you may unfairly obligate that person to give you a gift in return.

If you receive something you're not thrilled with, consider putting it on eBay. A few years ago, eBay had a promotion called "Re-gifting on eBay," which was geared toward people trying to get rid of gifts they didn't want.

Now, starting Jan. 1, 2004, eBay is having another promotion called "Get what you really wanted," which is geared towards the buyer.

Gerri Willis is the personal finance editor for CNN Business News. Willis also is co-host of CNNfn's The FlipSide, weekdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (ET). E-mail comments to 5tips@cnnfn.com.