Holiday re-gifting etiquette from the re-gifting experts at eBay Canada

[mandy]

Holiday re-gifting etiquette from the re-gifting experts at eBay

    - Mastering the delicate art of re-gifting unwanted gifts this holiday
    season -

    TORONTO, Dec. 25  - Holiday surveys have shown that two out of every
three Canadians (67 per cent)(1) receive at least one unwanted gift during the
holidays, begging the question - what are Canadians doing with gifts they
don't like? The answer? Re-gifting! While in the past it has been one of those
'hush-hush' holiday traditions that most Canadians practice but never talk
about, the art of re-gifting is gaining in popularity and becoming less taboo
every year.
    Despite best intentions, gift-givers don't always get it right. Canadians
continue to receive unwanted gifts, whether it's the wrong size, the wrong
style, or just plain wrong. While the idea of recycling gifts makes some
people squeamish, done with finesse and tact, re-gifting can turn a wrong
holiday gift into a happy holiday experience.

    Consider following these simple rules for re-gifting:

    Keep track of the gift-givers - Avoid re-gifting a present to the
original giver by keeping a list of who gave what. Also, re-gift sooner rather
than later to avoid forgetting where the present originally came from.

    Update the wrapping - Ensure all signs of re-gifting have been removed
from the present (i.e. wrapping paper and gift cards). No one wants to know
they are the recipient of recycled gift.

    Far and away - Give a re-gift to someone far removed from the person who
originally gave the gift. For example, if the present came from a family
member, re-gift it to a co-worker.

    Sell it online - Selling unwanted gifts online, on sites like eBay
(www.ebay.ca) is a great alternative for people who fear being discovered.
Online reselling allows Canadians to turn tepid gifts into cold cash, helping
people get what they really want or pay down holiday credit card bills.

    For those Canadians who lack the time or the inclination to sell their
own holiday loot, eBay provides a list of qualified eBay sellers called
"Trading Assistants". For a small service fee, Trading Assistants will manage
the entire selling process for people's unwanted wares and holiday gifts -
from listing the item for sale on eBay to shipping it after the item sells.
Some Trading Assistants will even make house calls to pick up the items
personally.

    About eBay Canada
    -----------------
    eBay is the World's Online Marketplace™. Founded in 1995, eBay created
a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate
community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions
of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade
on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets
around the world. Through an array of services, such as its payment solution
provider PayPal, eBay is enabling global e-commerce for an ever-growing online
community. In Canada, eBay was visited by more than 9.1 million Canadians in
November 2005. (ComScore Media Metrix, November 2005)

    --------------------
    (1)  Based on a December 2003 Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of
        eBay Canada.

[mandy]

eBay sends out a press release, the media writes an article or two:

Regifting presents is new trend for Ebay

Millions of people around the globe are set to engage in a new kind of commerce this week – selling unwanted Christmas presents online and buying things they really want instead.

Ebay, the world’s largest auction site with 68m registered users, is bracing itself for a busy post-Christmas online auction season. In an Ebay survey, more than half of Americans say they “re-gift” presents they do not like, will not use or that do not fit. A surprisingly large number – 11 per cent – say they have sold an unwanted gift online. In the 25-34 age group, that figure doubles to 22 per cent...

full article: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/60207e14-7636-1...e2340.html

Online gift auctions temper post-Christmas blues

From an economic point of view, gift giving ranks as one of the most inefficient of human activities. The reason is simple: most gifts are not quite what we would choose ourselves – so we value them at less than their purchase price.

But now the internet has a solution for the wanton destruction of human wealth that takes place every Christmas: online auctions...

Over the next few weeks, thousands – and possibly millions – of people will be selling off their unwanted Christmas presents online – and buying things they really want instead...

full article: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ad5eacc4-7635-1...e2340.html

[bargainbloodhound]

The marketing agency that pitched the "regifting" campaign to eBay has obviously been making the rounds.  Yahoo Auctions released a similar survey on regifting, and even these guys are getting into the regifting act:

Bidville's latest email:

[img width=600 height=368]http://www.bidville.com/images/email_campaign/afterholidayEmail2006.gif[/img]