January 4, 2008
Re-Gifting to Re-Homing
By Bernice Hurst, Managing Director, Fine Food Network
People have probably ditched gifts since time immemorial. There have always been long lines at return counters in the days following Christmas. Then came re-gifting; saving the unloved object to pass on to some other unsuspecting recipient – always provided you remembered not to send it back whence it had come.
Or you could consign it to some deserving poor soul through a charity collection. But apart from satisfaction, what would you get for giving away a gift?
This year, eBay has provided a welcome alternative. Close to a million items were listed between December 26 and 30. New listings rose by about a third after the company introduced a discounted rate in the UK of 10p, giving the original recipient not only a chance to make someone happy but also the wherewithal to purchase something they themselves wanted.
An estimated £1.2bn was spent on unwanted gifts in Britain this Christmas with hundreds appearing for sale on the internet within 24 hours. The average cost of the “turkeys under the tree”, as The Guardian said they have been dubbed, is £20 a person, according to a survey by YouGov for eBay, the auction site.
Richard Kanareck, spokesman for eBay.co.uk, was quoted as saying, “Whether it’s the wrong size, you have it already or it’s just not for you, re-homing a present means it will find a new owner who will really appreciate it.”
Some unopened gifts were hyped with assertions that the givers were likely to have spent generously, according to The Times. As one seller said, “This is a pot luck lucky dip. I do not have poor friends so the gifts should be good.” Another rejected something from his father, saying that knowing him, “it will not have been cheap.” Yet another seller said an easy-to-knit scarf kit was “a lovely idea [but] I cannot knit and really don’t have time to learn.” And a father was selling a mobile telephone given to his son that was just “too complicated.”
Re-homing means that unwanted, unloved gifts become wanted and appreciated. Friends and relatives can stop dreading re-gifts and both original and new recipients can enjoy the gift giver’s largesse. Happy ending or what?
Discussion questions: How do you think this growing opportunity to re-gift online changes the holiday season for consumers and retailers? Could it work, for example, to reduce the number of returns that retailers see after the holidays? What effect do you think eBay’s re-homing service has on the company’s relationship with consumers?
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To tag on to Max it also means we may have to start rethinking the whole “forced gifting” notion. Maybe it’s just temporary but it seems people are trying to separate peer pressure spending–and the attendant ties and ugly sweaters–from essential gifting.
Wouldn’t it be nice if it weren’t so much about ME, ME, ME! What ever happened to Goodwill and the Salvation Army? If you have something you don’t want or need then “Pay it Forward.” Giving eBay a cut isn’t helping anyone! Don’t get me wrong, I am as big an eBay fan as there is, but I don’t want eBay to remove product from the flow to human service agencies. We all have more than we need, to try and pick up an extra buck that we’ll probably waste on a double at Starbucks seems to put a little too much emphasis on ME. We could all do with giving a little more!
I think it’s a good tactic for eBay. Guess what would be even better? People posting what they would like to have in the near future on their Facebook.com or MySpace.com page. That way, people who want to buy them gifts can just pick one off the checklist, sort of like a Holiday registry!
This is a great example of the Internet facilitating consumers by making a market that fits consumers’ lifestyles. The increase in sales of gift cards and their ever-increasing acceptance as “proper” gifts demonstrate that consumers know what they want and will go out of their way to pass along gifts that don’t fit.
This trend plus the huge growth in gift cards ultimately will reduce holiday spending…as we figure out we basically would do just as well to get in a family circle and just each take out 50 bucks or whatever and hand it to the person next to us until it comes back around.
I am not sure at what point a gift stops being a gift, but we’re getting close…instead of a gift receipt, we’ll probably soon add a preconfigured eBay listing in the box that just needs to be activated….
Re-homing! What a great phrase.
As one who has “re-homed” any number of items from the closet and from below the Christmas tree over the years, I think eBay is on to something interesting. It could be a great way to revitalize the site.
I’m not sure, however, whether it will mean that much to brick and mortar retailers. I think the majority of people will still opt to do store returns–even for an exchange or credit–in stores that offer variety. eBay takes time–time to post items, time to ship and time to wait for payment, even with PayPal. Unless you’re really strapped for cash, I think most people prefer a little post-holiday shopping.
eBay’s USA growth is slowing down compared to the non-USA growth. Encouraging folks to sell off their unwanted Christmas presents is a great tactic. eBay wants to make PayPal universal by having folks accept it everywhere, not just for eBay transactions. But publicity for eBay gift certificates has not been very effective.
I do a smattering of each…regift and re-home, but not through eBay. Craigslist in my area had quite a few listings with new items and the best part is, no cash out to list it, and the other person comes to my house to pick it up! I don’t even have to ship it anywhere! You don’t get the bidding frenzy like you do on eBay, but you can set the price and get what you want for it or pretty close to it. My community members are always looking to alternatives to eBay, so Freecyle, Craigslist, and several other sites are a better way to go with homeless gifts.
As a constant recipient of regifted presents, I know how much it is disliked. The gifts that I receive from this particular regifter in my family is not thoughtful, and junk that they don’t want, so why would I want it? It’s not that they thought I would like it, it’s not that they don’t have the money, it’s the fact that they thought they could be cheap by giving it away and not having to buy anything.
There is a lot more to this but I won’t bore you with details. All I have to say is , even if I am given a gift that I don’t like, I am happily pleased that the person thought about me and spent the time and love into buying something. When I get a gift that I even do like and once I know it is “regifted” I am offended. Call me weird but that is the way I think and I can’t help it. I do believe in recycling, even recycling gifts, but only by donation, returning it to the store, or by handing it to someone who would like it, but not as a substitute for a gift.
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To tag on to Max it also means we may have to start rethinking the whole “forced gifting” notion. Maybe it’s just temporary but it seems people are trying to separate peer pressure spending–and the attendant ties and ugly sweaters–from essential gifting.
Wouldn’t it be nice if it weren’t so much about ME, ME, ME! What ever happened to Goodwill and the Salvation Army? If you have something you don’t want or need then “Pay it Forward.” Giving eBay a cut isn’t helping anyone! Don’t get me wrong, I am as big an eBay fan as there is, but I don’t want eBay to remove product from the flow to human service agencies. We all have more than we need, to try and pick up an extra buck that we’ll probably waste on a double at Starbucks seems to put a little too much emphasis on ME. We could all do with giving a little more!
I think it’s a good tactic for eBay. Guess what would be even better? People posting what they would like to have in the near future on their Facebook.com or MySpace.com page. That way, people who want to buy them gifts can just pick one off the checklist, sort of like a Holiday registry!
This is a great example of the Internet facilitating consumers by making a market that fits consumers’ lifestyles. The increase in sales of gift cards and their ever-increasing acceptance as “proper” gifts demonstrate that consumers know what they want and will go out of their way to pass along gifts that don’t fit.
This trend plus the huge growth in gift cards ultimately will reduce holiday spending…as we figure out we basically would do just as well to get in a family circle and just each take out 50 bucks or whatever and hand it to the person next to us until it comes back around.
I am not sure at what point a gift stops being a gift, but we’re getting close…instead of a gift receipt, we’ll probably soon add a preconfigured eBay listing in the box that just needs to be activated….
Re-homing! What a great phrase.
As one who has “re-homed” any number of items from the closet and from below the Christmas tree over the years, I think eBay is on to something interesting. It could be a great way to revitalize the site.
I’m not sure, however, whether it will mean that much to brick and mortar retailers. I think the majority of people will still opt to do store returns–even for an exchange or credit–in stores that offer variety. eBay takes time–time to post items, time to ship and time to wait for payment, even with PayPal. Unless you’re really strapped for cash, I think most people prefer a little post-holiday shopping.
eBay’s USA growth is slowing down compared to the non-USA growth. Encouraging folks to sell off their unwanted Christmas presents is a great tactic. eBay wants to make PayPal universal by having folks accept it everywhere, not just for eBay transactions. But publicity for eBay gift certificates has not been very effective.
I do a smattering of each…regift and re-home, but not through eBay. Craigslist in my area had quite a few listings with new items and the best part is, no cash out to list it, and the other person comes to my house to pick it up! I don’t even have to ship it anywhere! You don’t get the bidding frenzy like you do on eBay, but you can set the price and get what you want for it or pretty close to it. My community members are always looking to alternatives to eBay, so Freecyle, Craigslist, and several other sites are a better way to go with homeless gifts.
As a constant recipient of regifted presents, I know how much it is disliked. The gifts that I receive from this particular regifter in my family is not thoughtful, and junk that they don’t want, so why would I want it? It’s not that they thought I would like it, it’s not that they don’t have the money, it’s the fact that they thought they could be cheap by giving it away and not having to buy anything.
There is a lot more to this but I won’t bore you with details. All I have to say is , even if I am given a gift that I don’t like, I am happily pleased that the person thought about me and spent the time and love into buying something. When I get a gift that I even do like and once I know it is “regifted” I am offended. Call me weird but that is the way I think and I can’t help it. I do believe in recycling, even recycling gifts, but only by donation, returning it to the store, or by handing it to someone who would like it, but not as a substitute for a gift.