What do you do with unwanted gifts?

[Annpan]

'a friend' of mine was given several pieces of crap as 'gifts at Christmas.... 'she' kind of wants to ebay them and use the money to buy myself... eh I mean... herself... something nice or practical.... but 'my friend' doesn't want to offend anyone by them finding their gift on ebay.

Any thoughts?

[red]

wait a while? prepare you... I mean your friend's excuses

I dunno. not much i dont want. I got some nasty pink (pink? me? ugh) and grey fluffy yarn... but even that can be socks......

I guess that means i usually find a way of liking it....

why... what did 'your friend' get?

[Annpan]

OH got a plastic cocktail shaker, full of 'fun' stuff (we have a fancy metal one and OH doesn't drink) I got a scarf that was obviously a 'that'll do for her' gift (it is not my style at all and I wouldn't wear it) some bath toys for E..... we don't have hot water, E has her baths in a baby bath and she has to be in and out in 5 mins because we have no heating in the bathroom.

I just think it is sad that people spend their money on this stuff just for the sake of it

[red]

that is a shame... and a waste

the cocktail shaker reminded me... i got a bottle of apricot liqueur. i hate apricots. i pretty much like most foods.. but i hate apricots. OH doesn't drink....

E might enjoy the bath toys in summer.. in paddling pool thing?
could the scarf be made into something more useful? (peg bag.. rag bag... etc...)

erhm....struggling.... use plastic shaker as cup for E and visiting children.. unbreakable drinking cups are always useful..... ok thats the best i could do

but now you have mentioned these items on here.. you might as well ebay them if you think you will gett something for them...

[LBR]

Maybe we could have a swap thread here. I'm sure we all have something someone else wants!

I try to give things away as soon as possible, when I don't want them. They're like uninvited guests.

[Masco&Bongo]

After Christmas, I gave to the charity shop:

1 handbag shaped imitation leather jewellery box/case I don't wear enough jewellery to fill it, and I already have a nice wooden box
1 shoe-shaped jewellery hanging device thing see above
1 unopened pack of Avon's 'Black Suede Touch' men's smellies OH refused to use it, as he favours more 'natural' products
1 gift pack with scented candles and little glass beads in it was very not me, and i will never use it
1 purple mock-suede clutch bag just hideous... came with a giant metal buckle on the front
1 stainless steel manual juicer we gave away an electric juicer that we never used, so this didn't even get put away in the cupboard

That was just from this year!!

Saying that, I also got a lovely book on Moon Gardening, a River Cottage book, a pasta machine, a beautiful hand carved cheeseboard and some other kitchen-y bits, so it wasn't all bad

[snapdragon]

lol M&B - that sounds like partridge in a pear tree but backwards

I generally charity shop un-needed 'tat' but ebay sounds a good option - do the 'givees' do ebay? are they likely to look? open a new secret account?

I got a tin from my sister !!
full of jars of her home made jams and chutneys Superb!! (no way I'm swapping that)

Red - I bought a grey/pink fluffy yarm from ebay recently to make 'stuff' for grandbaby but was disappointed cos it was eyelash not fluff

[SarahJane]

I wait until you get one of those envelopes through the door for one of the charitys then fill it up!

I have to say that I didnt get any unwanted gifts this xmas, so I was lucky, but I am getting ready for a clear out!

[red]

Red - I bought a grey/pink fluffy yarm from ebay recently to make 'stuff' for grandbaby but was disappointed cos it was eyelash not fluff

you still want grey pink fluffy wool or was that a pre winterfestivalthingy thing? maybe i should take a pic and see if its any good to you

[Rosendula]

It was lovely this Christmas because everything we all got was good, useful or just nice. No tat! That's because it was my first Christmas without my parents. When I dumped them last year, all the crap they had bought me over the years either went on eBay or to charity shop - mostly charity shop as most of it wouldn't have earned enough money to pay the eBay fees. While I was still in touch with them, I was obliged to have it all on display - and really, some of the ornaments were hideous. I remember when I left my first husband. There I was, single parent of my 9-month old. Ex- kept everything other than the baby stuff, so I had to buy a second-hand cooker for £50 (money borrowed), my carpets were second hand (free) and didn't reach the edges of the rooms (son learned to crawl on hands and feet so that the concrete didn't hurt his knees), I used an old single tub washer with a mangle (free) for the baby clothes and slept on a second hand mattress (free) on the floor. My parents were upset because I didn't take with me the clock they had bought me one Christmas, and it apparently cost them a lot of money.
to them!

I think you should get rid of it asap.
Bear in mind fees when deciding whether to sell or give away.

[trinder]

mhum . from one of my, if not my closest female friend i got a 8 inch plastic coloured pinto pony ina box designed to look like a stable with very large letters saying suitable for 4 year old. I am 55 years old and a painful bore when it comes to equine behaviour. i live and breath how badly we humans treat our horses. plaiting and shaving and rugging and stabling and isolating.... i could go on but you get the picture.
Naturally i visit this site because i like simple not consumerist stuff. I opened this package and just looked in amazement. does she hate me. am i reading this wrong. i cant bring myself to open the box because it is in a b***y stable so it would ruin it as a new gift. does she expect me to open it and put it on the mantlepiece like an ornament or does she think i will make neighing noises and pretent to canter it around the table.
by the way i have my own horse and i look after hers because she forgets.

seeeth seethe can anyone make me see this picture differently. your mirth is recognised in advance

[invisiblepiper]

We had a Christmas Day Oxfam bag - for new but undesired items. Sounds callous - but the local Oxfam were thrilled and raised good money for their causes.

Also got the River Cottage Cookbook!

[LBR]

It is hard when gifts show that the person who gave them, either doesn't see who we are, or wasn't interested in giving something that would be appropriate.

It hurts when we give ourselves, and honor others, take responsibility for much, help lots, and then be given something that is so inappropriate that it shows that the other person understands a great deal less than we had wanted to think.

I've discovered that my disappointments are often because I wanted to see something in someone that they didn't see in their own life. At some point, their actions show that they don't know, don't want to know, etc. I think of the German word for disappointment. It means end of illusion.

Perhaps that's why I get rid of presents that don't fit, so very quickly. The shock of the disparity, and everything associated with it, are things I want to wash off.

[Masco&Bongo]

It is hard when gifts show that the person who gave them, either doesn't see who we are, or wasn't interested in giving something that would be appropriate.

We had spent months telling relatives (not dropping hints, but actually telling them) that we wanted B&Q vouchers, as we hope to do some work to the house this year, and their vouchers would buy the necessary supplies. We stressed that we didn't expect huge amounts of money, but that we wanted to be able to put it towards the house.

However, we ended up with some rubbish presents - mostly from people we asked for vouchers from. I know that the stuff they bought was, in some cases, £20+, and I would rather have had £10 in vouchers than useless things that I have given away.

[Mylovelyhorse]

I don't generally get any unwanted gifts anymore! A few years ago I told my family and friends that I really didn't need/want anything, so please could we have an amnesty on Christmas presents. Since then we've all saved quite a lot of money by not buying for each other. I usually give little parcels of homemade jams/chutneys etc, but nothing that's been bought.
OH did get a few things from people he works with. And all of them were put into the big box which will be heading to the charity shop next time we're driving past.
We have so much 'stuff' and clutter in our lives, it's quite nice to clear it out and let someone else make use of it!