Unwanted Xmas gifts look for new home on Trade Me

Unwanted Christmas gifts look for new home on Trade Me

Thousands of unwanted Christmas gifts are looking for a new home via online marketplace Trade Me. Over 10,000 listings had been added to the website since Christmas Day, with half estimated to be from sellers cashing in their gifts.

Trade Me spokesman Paul Ford said the results of a recent poll on the website also indicated New Zealanders continued to embrace the concept of regifting. “In the week leading into Christmas, we asked people if the idea of reselling or passing on a gift on to someone else was acceptable and 65 per cent agreed it was okay.”

He said the number of items labelled “unwanted gift” on the site was probably only the tip of the regifting iceberg. “Many people feel guilty selling a gift so might not admit these are the things that caused inward groans when they were unwrapped on Friday.”

Traditionally, the items most likely to be regifted included mobile phone accessories, women’s clothing, fishing gear, cosmetics, jewellery, CDs and DVDs, ties, chocolates and kitchen appliances.

Ford said an American study (commissioned by eBay) found that most people received a Yuletide gift they did not want. “The finding was that 83% of Americans get an unwanted present at Christmas – I think that probably indicates that the other 17% didn’t answer the survey truthfully.”

Trade Me has its busiest time in the lead-in to Christmas, and then its quietest day on Christmas Day itself. Traffic starts to pick up today (Boxing Day) with the regifting bounceback, and returns to normal levels as people come back from holiday in early January.

For any etymologists out there, the word “regift” was introduced to the English language via the neurotic character of George Costanza in a 1995 episode of Seinfeld.

The golden rules of regifting

1. Remove the card and don’t recycle the crinkled Xmas wrapping paper
2. Don’t on-sell handmade items
3. Move heaven and earth to ensure you do not end up selling it to the person who gave it to you

ENDS

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