Amidst the endless videos on social media of people emptying – literally – boxes of fast-fashion clothes, there are also quiet voices asking: Do I really need this? The practice of "de-influencing", which is the opposite of promoting products, has been dominating various platforms for about a year now, and it's probably worth following, especially when you learn how much money is spent on gifts during the holidays, which often end up being completely useless.
According to a recent poll, more than half of Americans (53%) will receive a gift they don't want this Christmas, which means roughly 140 million Americans. Unwanted gifts this year are expected to reach a record high, both in volume and cost, with an estimated $10.1 billion spent on gifts that could eventually be re-gifted, a practice known as "regifting."
Analyzing the data further, it is estimated that one in 20 people will receive at least five gifts that they do not want to keep. The average cost of these unwanted items is expected to rise to $72 this holiday season, up from $66 last year.
As for the gifts themselves, clothes and accessories top the list of most unnecessary gifts for 2024. Specifically, 43% hope to avoid these personal items. However, this number is down on the 49% who wanted no clothes for Christmas in 2022.
Household items come in behind clothes as the least desired holiday gifts (33%), while cosmetics and perfumes round out the top three at 26%. Even technological devices are not very welcome. Since 2022, dissatisfaction with these gifts has increased by 10%, from 15% in 2022 to 25% this holiday season.
So where do all these well thought out but unwanted gifts end up? The study found that nearly 4 in 10 Americans (39%) plan to give gifts they don't care about to someone else. This is the most popular choice this year, beating the awkward option of keeping a gift they don't like. However, an impressive 43% of Americans kept unwanted gifts in 2022, but that number is now down to 35%.
There are other solutions too: 32% will return the gift to the store, while more and more people tend to use it financially, with over one in four (27%) planning to sell their unwanted gifts after the holidays, an increase significantly by 17% in 2022.
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