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what about craigslist?

I would not be offend if someone sold a gift I gave them if they received a duplicate. Some people might get offended, but I don't think it would be a big especially if you are using the money for a savings account for your kids.

How lucky your kids are to have "extra" toys!

Why not donate them to a women's shelter, or find a local charity that serves underprivileged kids, and teach a lesson about sharing with others when you have an over-abundance?

Box stores that carry the toys in question (Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, etc) will usually take them back without a receipt, but you may get store credit instead of cash. Not a problem as long as you remember to use it.

If they're big, craiglist. If they're small, ebay. A lot of stores (esp Target, but also BRU so I guess TRU as well) have gotten very strict with their return policies. If you don't have a receipt, you're screwed. It sucks. I tried to exchange some pajamas for a different size and Target wouldn't even let me do that! Grrrr.

Oh yeah. I sell the duplicates along with clothes that we don't like/need that still have tags on but we don't know where they came from. Then I put the money into his 529.

We just got our 3rd playgym. Super nice of people to think of us, but what the heck are we going to do with it other than sell it?

Any possibility of getting a gift receipt? If you've gotten duplicates, it should be a straightforward reason to ask for the receipt.

Otherwise, I would not hesitate to offload them. I keep some duplicates in my "birthday closet' for friends' upcoming birthdays. But if it's not something you'd feel comfortable giving, back to the store (or some other way out of the house) it goes.

PLEASE donate them. There is so many kids who have nothing that your simple duplicate gifts could make a kids day.

Thanks for the ideas. It's so heartwarming to have family members who love the boys, it's just that around the holidays our large extended families get a little toy crazy. I know that some of these will be donated and we're teaching them about sharing with other kids who don't have as much. I've definitely learned as a gift giver to stay away from toys as much as I can. It's so tempting to give them, but books are just as much fun to give! And I will definitely NEVER give another noisy toy!

This is why I usually try to remember to stick a gift receipt (or even the regular receipt) in with my gifts.

Whenever I go to baby showers I'm terribly tempted to just get a gift card, because I know that's what I would want, but unfortunately a lot of people think gift cards are lazy, rude gifts. So if you give the receipt, it's basically like giving a slightly less convenient card...

Re-gift! Recycle! And mail a thank-you note saying how much your kid just loooves it. Because mama was wrong about honesty: it isn't always the best policy in matters of gift-giving. ;)