eBay Survey Reveals 57 Percent of Americans Receive Unwanted Gifts for the Holidays

Attention gift givers: according to the third annual Holiday Re-Gifting Survey commissioned by eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY - News), the vast majority of Americans -- more than 57 percent -- say they normally receive holiday presents they don't like.

Sixty-nine percent of Americans now believe "re-gifting" is socially acceptable -- a significant increase over last year, when only 49 percent felt it was acceptable to secretly unload unwanted gifts. In fact, 34 percent said they are likely to do it themselves this year, versus the reported 21 percent from last year.

Of those respondents who said they plan to dispose of an unwanted present this year, 40 percent said they would sell it on eBay to help offset their holiday expenses.

One key reason disposing of unwanted gifts is popular: people are getting away with it. The survey found that 85 percent say they have never been caught in the act. However, about one-third of all respondents admitted they have knowingly received a re-gifted item.

The survey also revealed:

• Of the 55 percent of respondents who admitted to re-gifting, the recipients are most often friends (62 percent) and co-workers (42 percent).
• Only a tiny percentage (5 percent) of people say they've re-gifted to Grandma or Grandpa, but even Mom and Dad may not be spared, as 18 percent say they've re-gifted to their parents.
• Most popular re-gifted items include: knick-knacks (32 percent), bottles of wine or spirits (26 percent), DVDs, CDs or books (23 percent), bath products (22 percent) and fruitcake (17 percent).
• Some presents are resistant to re-gifting. Safe bets include technology and electronics items, as only 3 percent of respondents were likely to re-gift these; and jewelry and handmade gifts, as only 5 percent said they'd want to unload these items on someone else.

Survey Methodology:

This national survey was conducted by Survey.com in November 2006. Five hundred respondents over the age of 18 completed the survey. The margin of error was +/- 4.4% (95% confidence interval).

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