Life

This Is Apparently The Best Day To Resell Your Unwanted Christmas Gifts Online

by Kaitlyn Wylde

According to a study done by eBay, the days after Christmas are the most popular days to resell gifts on the international resale site. So much so, it's been low-key deemed that Dec. 29 is "Boxing Up" Day in the UK. The analysts at eBay gathered sale data from the year 2016 to 2017, and came up with a prediction that 79 million gifts could be re-sold before New Year's Eve. Why? Well, while Christmas is definitely a time that people are happy to get new things, it also happens to be a time that people are happy to get rid of old things, and things that they no longer need. As a part of "new year, new you" efforts, people are selling gifts that they're not completely satisfied in order to get items that will help them achieve their resolutions. Essentially, the fancy new handbag won't make the cut, but a set of weights or new sneakers will suffice. The data shows that people want to surround themselves with things that help them feel like they're on the right path to being the best versions of themselves.

According to the data, eight out of ten of us look at the holidays as a great time to de-clutter and scale back, and one in three say that the act of giving things away is cathartic and helps them feel more optimistic about going forward into the new year. Also reported, the biggest incentive for these self-improvement purchases in the UK is 30 percent fitness, 12 percent stress relief, and ten percent social purposes. Though, I imagine if this same study was done with data from eBay U.S., it would be more like 30 percent stress relief, TBH.

Another reason for the mass increase of listed items? According to Will Weightman, the Senior Director of Consumer Selling at eBay UK, the time between Christmas and New Year's is the most popular listing time of the year because people are looking to make some extra cash after outdoing themselves over the holidays. And with that extra cash, many people plan to put it towards resolution goals, which honestly is a pretty fair reason to sell your gifts, if you're going to.

According to this data, observed sales between Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 only, the following items are most likely to sell if you list them on Dec. 29, at 9 p.m., aka, the new Boxing Up Day:

DVDs & Blu-Rays

In 2016, 30,404 DVDs and Blu-Rays sold, so if most of your movies are on your computer or streaming from Netflix, get rid of that movie library that takes up too much space anyway.

Home Décor

18,062 home decor items sold in 2016's Boxing Up Day, including lamps, vases and soft furnishings. So if you'v been meaning to re-do your living room, now is the time!

DIY Materials

15,831 power tools, crafting tools, and fixer-upper items sold in 2016, so if you're done with your crafting for the year, it's time to let some of that clutter go!

Smart Phones

Apparently a lot of people got new phones on Christmas, because 15,312 smart phones were listed on 2016's Boxing Up Day.

Furniture

Time to get rid of the ugly furniture you've had since college! 11,250 different pieces of furniture sold last Boxing Up Day, including sofas, coffee tables and chairs.

Women's Handbags

Handbags seem like great things to ask for, but then when you actually get them and they don't change your life, it's easy to see why they're one of the first things to go. 9,594, to be exact.

Appliances

Blenders, sandwich makers, electric steamers and other fancy things for the kitchen that sound fun but then seem useless are quickly re-listed. Last Boxing-Up Day alone was 9,496.

Women's Shoes

Bye, bye 9,417 pairs of shoes that looked cuter online than they do in person.

Men's Shoes

Bye, bye 6,760 pairs of men's shoes that were bought as gifts and totally missed the mark.

Women's Fragrances

See ya later, all 3,144 bottles of perfume that people realized were worth a lot of money and thus totally worth selling!

If you have items you want to sell, don't forget to list them on Dec. 29 — and if there's something else you're looking for before the new year hits, looking online for it in the post-holiday sales is probably a good bet, too.