Unwanted Christmas gifts find new recipients via eBay

The Christmas spirit of giving and recieving thoughtful presents from loved ones was evidently not present in every UK household this holiday season; according to online marketplace eBay, roughly 2.7 million Brits will log on in the weeks after Christmas to sell their unwanted gifts.

Research from eBay has revealed that close to half of the UK's public has received at least one unwanted Christmas gift this holiday season, with the majority of them turning to the online marketplace to offload the offending present.

Last year, eBay found the average unwanted Christmas gift price to be worth 28.27 pounds, which means the UK public is currently holding an estimated 819 million pounds worth of unwanted presents.

On Christmas Day itself, eBay reported the number of UK sellers listing perfume has increased by an astonishing 330 percent. Listings for tablets and iPads grew 43 percent on December 25 as well, with a number of sellers trying to sell their older version.

A peak time for UK sellers listing unwanted Christmas gifts was during the Queen's Christmas Speech, which saw 18 engagement rings being listed for sale, proving that the holiday season is not always the ideal time to proclaim love. According to eBay, the items most viewed during the Queen's Speech included beanbags, selfie sticks, sport hoodies and batteries.

Steve Heywood, eBay spokesman, commented on the study's findings to the Telegraph: “Let’s be honest, we’ve all received a gift and thought, ‘That’s destined for eBay’. Selling your unwanted gifts can be a good way of avoiding the embarrassment of asking for a receipt.”

According to the study, 38 percent of the UK public claim that their unwanted gifts have not been used, with 17 percent attributing their eBay listing to already owning the item. 26 percent say their unwanted Christmas present reflected how little the gift giver knew them, with 5 percent claiming the ill gift gave them the yule blues.

There are currently over 1,500 listings on eBay.co.uk for unwanted Christmas gifts and presents.