The calligraphy set was the worst present Pricewatch ever got. Or maybe it was the Chieftains cassette handed over with a fake smile in the era of MP3s and streaming services.
There is nothing wrong with calligraphy sets in the right hands, but Pricewatch’s are not those hands. And the Chieftains are a fine band. But a cassette in a world where no one has a cassette player?
As soon as both gifts were divested of their festive wrapping, we knew we had fallen victim to a regifting scam. “Scam” might be too harsh a word for it, but it was pretty clear these presents had been around the block, and more than once. And at least one of them is probably still circling the block, as Pricewatch made sure to pass the parcel. The disappointed look in the eyes of the recipient who came after us made it clear they weren’t into calligraphy either.
In the run-up to this Christmas, beautifully wrapped gifts will snuggle up to each other under all our trees, promising so much. The promise will make the disappointment – when the time for unwrapping comes and they turn out to be Pound Shop bath salts, novelty ties, dubiously scented candles and cartoon socks – all the more intense.
But you can’t let rubbish gifts get you down, clutter your home or taunt you with their uselessness. All you need to do is sell them or regift them.
Before the internet came along and changed the world, selling useless tat was the preserve of door-to-door salesmen and street hawkers, but now you can sell almost anything from your own living room.
Donedeal.ie is easy to use and it has become a wonderful locally based marketplace in recent years. Alongside that, you have the resale giant Ebay. Setting yourself up as a seller on that site is very easy and, because of its size, there is a good chance you'll find a buyer for whatever it is you don't want.
You won’t be alone. Research has repeatedly shown that hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and Britain will flood the site with unwanted items on Christmas Day alone; some 75 per cent of those items will appear on the site before lunchtime.
Limits of the web
You don’t have to sell that quickly, but it is an option to help you through the dark, skint days of January. To help you get the best price, you have to write a detailed description, put up good, clear photos and start with a low price, not forgetting to set a minimum value below which you will not sell. You don’t want to flog a calligraphy set to someone in China for five cent and then have to go through the palaver of posting it there for virtually no return.
Selling can be profitable, but it can also be bothersome. By far the easiest way to recycle unwanted presents is to pass them on. According to a survey published by Aviva last month, 45 per cent of Irish people have regifted a present they received at Christmas, with 27 per cent saying they had done so more than once. Women are significantly more likely to regift than men, and Dubliners are the most likely regifters.
Regifting is a newish word, but the concept is as old as Santa Claus. It is not universally loved. Last week, the British comic John Oliver put it best when he said the “ideal place for regifting is an office Secret Santa, because regifting there is like peeing in the ocean. Sure, it’s not right, but it’s ultimately a harmless solution to an urgent problem.”
The wisdom of Seinfeld
Seinfeld depicted the regifting back in the day in an episode called The Label Maker. Jerry gave a friend some Super Bowl tickets. In return, Whatley dropped round a label maker as a present. However, the label maker had been gifted to him by Jerry's friend Elaine.
Whatley had made a schoolboy error by regifting a present to a person in the same circle of friends as the original giver. That is a big no-no. If you are going to regift, you have to move outside that circle. Similarly, you can never regift something from one member of your family to another. Your cuteness will be exposed; maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but eventually it will be exposed.
The key to good regifting is memory. Nothing says “I don’t care about you” louder than giving someone a present they gave you last year. So you have to play the long game and be organised.
First find somewhere to store unwanted presents. And make sure to attach a note to each one saying who it came from and when. Do not use Post-its: they will quickly fall off.
Bear in mind that presents have a use-by date, so either recycle them quickly or give them to charity. We heard recently of a person who gave a child a dress as a birthday present. The dress didn’t fit and, when the child’s parents brought it back to the shop to exchange it for a bigger size, they discovered it had not been stocked for at least eight years.
Candles and cookery books are great for regifting. If you haven't read a cookery book for six months after getting it, the chances are you never will, so just pass it on down the line; it's better for your wallet and the environment, and it will save you from having to trudge through the shops too often in the run-up to Christmas. Presents don't have to be awful for you to regift them. Box sets are perfect for it. So if you have already watched the Breaking Bad box set – and it's not dog-eared – then wrap it up and pass it on.
The best way to recycle unwanted presents is to donate them to charity.
Donating gifts to a charity shop will allow them to raise cash. And every year the Pro Cathedral in Dublin opens its doors to unwanted presents, which it then uses to raise funds for charities that work with the homeless.
