To think this is a widely understood unwritten rule?

[GiftTag]

At a birthday party and as I was dropping off the present with the others another mum noticed we hadn't written on the gift tag. She asked if I wanted a pen so I could write on it and I politely explained I never write on the gift tag so the bag can easily be reused (this one was actually already being reused probably from my own child's party).

She thought this was completely bizarre and genuinely didn't seem to be able to comprehend that this was quite normal behaviour.

She continued to repeat of course you write on the tag that's why its there and how would they know who the gifts was from (I did say the card was in the bag). She seemed stuck on a loop even asking others nearby if they had heard of people doing this before. It not me is it? This is not weird, most people don't write on the tags so the bags can be reused?

Agreed and adding

Expecting everyone else to do the same as you: weird

Do you not wrap the gift as well? I wrap and bag (eg if there are a couple of little things I want to keep together). Otherwise just wrap.

By any chance are you ND @GiftTag

What the fuck?

I don’t bother writing on tags. But if I get one that’s written on, I just cut it off so I can reuse the bag.

What if they opened all the cards at once and the presents separately?
I say write on the tag. Bag is reused and a new tag attached for the next recipient. I've never heard of anyone not writing on the tag and I've received and have given lots of reused bags.
If you don't want to buy tags just cut up old cards and punch a hole in them.

It IS weird and stingy. Why even bother with a bag at all then!!

Exactly this

If I get a gift in a bag, with a written tag, I tend to think the person giving it is a bit spendy. New gift bags are ridiculously expensive. But I would never say anything about this out loud - we all have different spending priorities.

The whole point of the tag is to write on it. The recipient could remove the tag IF they want to reuse the bag. Not everyone wants to reuse the bag

I reuse some bags and not others.

You're the weird one.

You’re doing your bit for the environment. We do this with family too but at a friend’s birthday party I would be too worried about confusion. What if your card falls out?

I have often taken the original gift tag off some beautiful gift bags I’ve received and tied a new tag on to it (and gifted it to someone else).

p.s. you’re not weird at all.

Why is reusing a gift bag weird and stingy? It's sole purpose is to keep the presents together. Do you buy a brand new bag for each party?

Depends is there a card in the bag? Or a gif tag on the present. Or somehow to identify who the present is from? If there is yanbu if there isn’t yabu (and don’t come on here in a few days moaning the birthday girl hasn’t said thank you for the gift- when she didn’t know who it was from)

How do you know such a weird fact about everyone you know? 😂

I have absolutely no idea about the gift tag habits of anyone but I don't think it's odd not to write on them, the other person was the strange one imo to press the point

Agree. It’s nothing to do with the other guest, she just wanted to make OP feel bad.

I don’t write on the tags due to laziness , but if I wanted to reuse a bag with writing on the tag , I just take the tag off .

Your posts to me are very odd?

I reuse gift bags but don’t care about the tag- if it was written on, I remove it; if not, I write on it and the next person chooses what to do with it/the bag.

How so?

Fucking hell.
MN is full of "are you ND?" comments, but this is not a thread that warrants one.

Re-using a gift bag does not indicate ND.

Why don't you just tie another tag on? I don't get this at all. Most gift bags I'm given are written on but you just cut that tag off if you want to re-use. Seems like you were as much "stuck in a loop" as she was.

Correct

but starting a thread about it and the posts that follow do

I understand the logic behind it but I wouldn't say it's an unwritten rule. I reuse gift bags and if the tag has been written on, I remove it - it's not difficult to add your own tag if it's a situation where it might be needed, multiple gifts not opened at once.

Hard agree. @GiftTag very normal to reuse gift bags. Everyone I know does it. Maybe the mum didn't know that there was a card with the gift though and that's why she thought it was weird that you didn't want to use the tag🤷‍♀️

This.
YABU to not write on the tag. It’s for someone’s birthday, they want to know who it’s from. They can easily remove the tag if they wish to reuse the bag.