Unwanted Christmas gifts needn’t languish in the attic. You can sell them online, donate them to a charity, or stash them away for careful ‘re-gifting’

IN THE days leading up to Christmas beautifully wrapped gifts cosying up to each other under the tree promise so much. This makes the disappointment when they are unwrapped and reveal nothing more interesting that novelty ties, “humorous” socks, pleather gloves and fragrant bath salts all the more intense.

While it is galling to get a rubbish present from someone, particularly if you have spent weeks thinking about and then finding the perfect gift for them, there is nothing you can do except accept it with good grace and a smile — and of course resolve to get them some wilting garage forecourt flowers next year.

There are alternatives to allowing those unwanted gifts to taunt you with their uselessness and to clutter up your house. If you can’t return them, “re-gift” them or sell them, you can always just give them away.

There was a time when selling useless tat was the preserve of Moore Street hawkers, but technological leaps over the past decade have taken us a long way from penny apples and now anyone can sell almost anything from the comfort of their own living room, once they have access to a computer.

While many people, even some very tech-savvy ones, just use the online marketplace e-Bay for buying things, it is worth remembering that setting yourself up as a seller is very easy and it can be an effective way to get rid of unwanted presents. Not only do you get rid of the junk, you can also make yourself a few euro into the bargain, which might help you get through the lean months of the early new year.

And you won’t be alone – recent research published in Britain has shown that more than 300,000 people are likely to flood the site with unwanted items on Christmas day alone – some 75 per cent of those items will appear on the site before lunchtime.

Given the somewhat eclectic nature of the site, almost anything can be put up for sale. Ill-fitting clothes, music you hate, box-sets you’ve already seen – there will be a buyer out there for them. To help you get the best price on the site, it is essential to write a detailed description, put up photos and start with a low price.

If you can’t profit from your presents and really don’t want them, you could always give them away to someone who may actually get some use from them. A growing number of online communities are dedicated to finding homes for unwanted stuff. Dubliners can use the website freetradeireland.ie, the local authorities’ initiative. The sites freecycle.org and jumbletown.ie offer similar services.

“Re-gifting” is thought to be an import from our American cousins. The word may be relatively new to the Irish lexicon, but the concept is as old as Santa Claus himself. Who among us has not passed on an incredibly complicated calligraphy set to a friend – even though we know that they will have absolutely no use for it – at least once.

The real key to successful re-gifting is to remember who gave you what and when. There is nothing that says “I have a sieve-like mind and really don’t care about you” more than giving someone a present that they have already given you. The trick is to store presents somewhere out of the way and attach a note to each one saying whence it came, and then pass it on this time next year.

The simplest thing to do with unwanted presents is to return them to the shops where they were bought and swap them for something you might actually like. This is why it is good karma to include gift receipts with the presents you give. This will allow the recipients to return them without having to suffer the embarrassment of asking you for the receipt.

It is also worth remembering that you don’t always need the receipt and if you know an item came from a particular shop it is worth bringing it back anyway to see if they will exchange it.

Shops are under no legal obligation to exchange unwanted gifts – they only have to do that if there is something wrong with the item – but sometimes retailers can show unexpected kindness.

And speaking of karma, one of the most rewarding things you can do with unwanted gifts is donate them to charity. Donating gifts to a charity shop will allow them to raise cash.

Every year the Pro-Cathedral on Dublin’s Marlborough Street opens its doors to unwanted presents, which it then uses to raise funds for charities across the city that work with the homeless. The parish office accepts toys and other Christmas gifts between 9.30am and 1pm and 2.30pm and 5pm. People can leave their unwanted gifts at the crib between now and January 6th. All the gifts are redistributed through Crosscare – the Diocesan Social Care Agency – and if there is a surplus, they are sold to raise further funds for the charity.