No gift receipt? No problem. Sell your unwanted presents on eBay, as thousands of other gift recipients are.
Research from online marketplace eBay has found that almost half of the British public received at least one unwanted Christmas present. On Christmas Day itself, eBay saw listings for tablets and iPads shoot up 43% and listings for perfume increased by a huge 330%. Disappointed Brits were notably uploading their unwanted presents on the website during the Queen‘s Christmas speech.
The first smartphone was listed at 3am on Christmas morning, although there are those who received less upgraded devices, such as a handheld vacuum cleaner. In a similar fashion to previous years, drills were also being listed throughout the day as “unwanted Christmas gifts”.
Items most viewed during the Queen‘s Speech were sports hoodies, beanbags, batteries, the selfie stick and Kylie merchandise. A nation of “second screeners”, the most expensive items sold during the Queen‘s Speech included a Macbook Pro, a Canon EOS 6D, an Aqua Master Watch and a Samsung 48” TV.
An estimated 2.7m savvy sellers will list their unwanted gifts on eBay in the days and weeks following Christmas Day. The average unwanted gift price last year was reported as £28.27, which means Britons are sitting on an estimated £819m worth of unwanted presents.
According to the study, 38% of the UK say their unwanted presents are un-useable, while 17% said they already owned the item. The more sensitive souls felt that unwanted gifts show how little the gift giver really know them (26%) while 5% went as far as to say it gave them the yule blues.
To help sellers make the most from their items eBay has crafted its top tips for selling:
Be snappy
Make sure you have clear, high-resolution images showing different angles of your item, and more than a couple as the first 12 uploaded photos are free. For the best results, images should feature the item on a blank, white background with no text
The price is right
To gage a good understanding of starting prices, take a look at other similar listings on eBay. Starting an auction at 99p can be a good way of encouraging people to look at your listing
Keep it packed
Items that are still in their original packaging tend to sell for higher prices than items that have been unwrapped or opened
List it
Consumer sellers now get 20 free listings a month. When it comes to the product title for the listing – the more information, the better. In fact, eBay‘s research shows that having a longer product title increases the likelihood of a sale
Timekeeping
The busiest times on eBay are Thursday and Sunday evenings so try and time your listing to capture the attention of these shoppers
Customer service
Once your listing is live, keep track of it in my eBay. See how many people are watching it and answer any questions you get from potential buyers (excellent customer service is key for your Feedback score)
