Yahoo Finance Avoid awkward conversations: Sell unwanted Christmas gifts online
It’s the day after Christmas and you’re left with well-intentioned but ultimately, poorly executed gifts from family, friends and potentially colleagues.
You could ask for a receipt and swap that odd cookbook or pair of sunglasses out for something you’d prefer, but that would require a potentially uncomfortable chat.
And that chat could get really bad - new research from Gumtree has found one in five Australians have got into an argument over a bad gift.
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The same research found 18.7 million unwanted gifts, worth $574 million, were received during Christmas 2020.
To Sydney woman Sacha Alagich, the solution is simple: sell the unwanted gifts.
“Sometimes you get something and it’s a really lovely thought but you already have it, or it’s just not quite right. For me, it’s a good way to just sell things,” she told Yahoo Finance.
Over the years, Alagich has sold appliances, clothing, fragrances and even a Google Home Mini.
Alagich has been selling gifts for around a decade, and will usually jump online on Boxing Day to list anything she’s not particularly keen on.
And once she starts listing the gifts, she’ll often find other things lying around the house that she’d like to offload.
She usually lists the items for slightly lower than retail price, so there’s an incentive for buyers to buy from her rather than direct.
“Don’t go in too low - you want to actually get good value,” Alagich said.
Once she lists her items, the money quickly adds up.
“Every year, I probably make a couple of thousand dollars.
“Boxing Day is a good time because a lot of people are already online looking at Boxing Day sales.”
Save money and the environment
Around one in four Australians regret spending so much over the Christmas period.
Gumtree Australia spokesperson David Low urged people to get creative.
The average Australian picks up $88 by selling unwanted gifts, while one in four make more than $100, the Gumtree research found.
“With most of us receiving an unwanted gift, there has never been a better time to turn disappointment into some much-needed cash,” Low said.
And, he added, reselling unwanted gifts stopped items from either collecting dust in the cupboard or being added to landfill.
The research found one in 10 Australians simply threw out unwanted gifts.
“Every present that is thrown away is likely to end up in landfill and take a toll on the environment,” Low said.
“Instead, by trading in the circular economy, Aussies are not only being more sustainable but also financially savvy; a win-win for their wallet and the planet.”
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