Christmas is a time for giving, but sometimes you end up with things you don’t have any use for. But what do you do with unwanted Christmas presents? Here we find out…

Christmas is a time for generosity and giving – but it’s also a time of tremendous waste. We’ve all at one point or another received a gift that’s just a little bit wide of the mark. These items are doomed to gather dust over the years to come until they’re eventually disposed of during a ruthless round of spring-cleaning.

Why not be a little bit more pro-active in getting rid of your gifts this year? If you’ve been lumbered with Christmas presents that you don’t know what to do with, then you’ll have a range of options to consider. Large parcels can be delivered even under lockdown conditions, and so it’s easy to bundle your unwanted gifts into a single package and send it to the destination you have in mind.

Charity

Giving those unwanted items to a worthy cause is a great way to get rid of the thing you don’t want, while doing some needy person (or animal) a favour. Charity shops are always on the lookout for high-quality gifts, and sometimes your unwanted gift might find its way directly into the hands of some needy person or other.

Before sending off your gift package, make sure that you know what sort of items the charity are looking for; the wrong kind of donation could create more of a burden than a benefit. The Red Cross maintains a list of items they can’t accept – which contains a few surprising entries.

Selling

Nowadays, there are more means than ever of selling on an unwanted item for a profit. eBay, Gumtree, and Facebook Marketplace will put you in touch with would-be buyers across the country. The latter two tend to yield the best results if you’re intent on selling quickly to a local customer.

eBay, by contrast, works better if you’re selling something a little more specialised, and you want to open up your potential market to the maximum number of buyers. Bear in mind that you’ll need to have built a reputation as a good seller if you’re to attract bids, so sell cheap items first before moving on to high-value ones. Check out this list of helpful tips to get you started.

Re-gifting

What was a poor gift for one person might turn out to be a perfect gift for another. You might simply wrap the item back up again and present it to someone else on another special occasion. This strategy has the considerable advantage of being efficient; you don’t need to worry about shipping or spend any time on unfamiliar websites. You’ll just need to make sure that word of your re-gifting doesn’t get back to the person who gave you the gift in the first place.

Give it to your Family

If you don’t want to wait for a special occasion to roll around, then you might just give it straight to a member of your household who’ll get some use out of it. If you’ve been given a novel you don’t like the look of, or an electric toothbrush that you don’t need, then just give it to your nearest and dearest, instead.