What to Do With Unwanted Gifts
Christmas day is nearly upon us. A time for relaxing with family, eating our body weight in festive food and of course, opening presents. But for every gift we love, we'll inevitably receive some we know we’ll never use. It could be a book you’ve already read, a jumper that’s just not your style, or more smellies than you’ll ever be able to use. And for those of us with sensitive skin, the risk of being given something we can’t use or wear is even higher. So what do you do with these unwanted gifts? Sure, you could stuff them in a cupboard and let them gather dust but we’d suggest one of these solutions instead.
1. Donate It to Charity
Charity shops will be more than happy to take high quality gifts. They’ll be especially pleased if they’re brand new as it means they’ll be able to sell them for a higher price. Not only will you know that your item is going to someone who really wants it, you can feel good knowing you’ve supported a good cause too.
2. Return It
There are some situations where you can get away with outright asking for a receipt to return a gift – especially if it’s from a close family member. But more often than not, the awkwardness and the guilt gets in the way. But fear not! Most shops will let you exchange undamaged items even if you don’t have a receipt. So all you need to do is find out where the gift is from and swap it for something else instead!
3. Sell It
Okay, so we admit that you might struggle to resell 6 boxes of supermarket biscuits, but there are plenty of other gifts that could earn you a few quid if you sell them on. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure after all! Online auction sites and apps are the perfect place to sell your items. Or you could avoid all the faffy admin and fees by trying your hand at a car boot sale in summer instead.
4. Re-gift It
Gone are the days when giving an unwanted present to someone else was considered a social faux pas. So much so, that it now has its own term. ‘Re-gifting’ isn’t about passing on your tat to someone else, it’s about really considering your items and giving them to someone who will genuinely appreciate them. It doesn’t need to be immediately after either – you could store away your unwanted gifts until there’s a better opportunity to use them. Although try not to forget who gave them to you in the first place or you might end up accidentally gifting it back to them!
5. Avoid Unwanted Gifts in The First Place.
When it comes to unwanted gifts, prevention is always better than the cure. So be brave and have a conversation with serial unwanted-gift-givers. You might want to provide them with a gift list for them to choose from or point them in the direction of your favourite hypoallergenic shops and websites.
You can set up your own Solace Wishlist to save and share all your favourite stainless steel jewellery by registering here: https://solacejewellery.co.uk/account/register#wishy-nav