Kiwis have been quick to put their unwanted Christmas presents up for sale with thousands of gifts already making their way to Trade Me.
Trade Me found by 10am Tuesday almost 5000 gifts that missed the mark had been listed on the online marketplace with that number only expected to climb.
Demand for unwanted gifts had taken off too, with thousands of Kiwis searching for a bargain and trying to complete their Christmas wish list.
"Kiwi love to jump onsite on Boxing Day and check out which presents didn't make the cut. Last year, we saw 131,000 searches for 'unwanted gifts' on Boxing Day alone. This year is shaping up much the same with over 30,000 thousand searches flooding the site since Christmas day," Trade Me spokesperson Tiana Barns said.
One of the many presents that were quite right was a bike gifted to someone who doesn't how to ride one.
One person in Palmerston North unwrapped a present to find the peck-uliar gift of a vintage cast iron rooster. Safe to say they weren't egg-static with the gift, listing it on Trade Me for $500.
In Dunedin, a woman was excited to open her gift from her partner, only to find they had accidentally bought her men's cologne instead of perfume.
Almost half (44 percent) of Kiwis receive at least one dud gift every Christmas, a recent survey of 5000 New Zealanders found.
"In 2022, 10 percent of Kiwi told us they sell their unwanted Christmas gifts but in 2023 that figure nearly doubled with 19 per cent planning to list any duds they received this year," Barns said.
"We expect to see thousands of these unwanted gifts listed onsite over the coming days."
Thankfully, most gift-givers said they wouldn't mind if they discovered their present was being resold online.
Trade Me found 63 percent of Kiwis said they'd feel fine if they found out an item they had gifted someone had been onsold, while just four percent said they'd feel upset.
"This will no doubt be reassuring for those who are considering listing their unwanted gifts for sale," Barns said. "We reckon this comes down to our loved ones wanting us to get the most use out of the gifts they give us, even if that means trading it in for something that might be a better fit."
However, when it comes to telling gift-givers how they really feel, most New Zealanders are too polite to tell them they haven't got it right.
"When we asked Kiwis how they react when unwrapping a bad present, 69 per cent admitted to lying through their teeth and pretending to like it," Barns said.
Barns said the survey showed Kiwi had a number of ways to deal with the unfortunate gifts they receive including regift, resell or donating it to charity.
How to get the best bang for buck
For people thinking about listing an unwanted Christmas gift on Trade Me, Barns' advice is to tick the 'unwanted gift' box when listing the item onsite.
"A good backstory always goes down well, but if you're trying to keep your reselling on the quiet, it's a good idea to avoid making your listing identifiable in case the giver is hunting for a bargain on Trade Me too," Barns said.
