US Finance World

As 2010 begins and many Americans working on keeping their New Year’s resolutions to save money, they will also be trying to figure out what to do with the not-so-perfect holiday gifts they received during the holiday season. A recent survey indicated that 59% of consumers keep unwanted gifts they never plan to use, and 33% let them accumulate as clutter in their homes.

Besides taking up valuable space in your home, unwanted gifts are could also net you enough money to buy something you actually want. Of course, two main reasons consumers hold onto unwanted gifts is not wanting to upset the gift giver (60%) and for sentimental reasons (25%).

This year, resolve to make some extra money and get organized.

Maximize Your Finances

If your resolution is to make the most of your finances in 2010, why not begin by taking another look at the gifts you received that weren’t on your wish list? If you received a gift that you have little or no use for, consider listing it on a local classifieds site in order to make some extra cash. One person’s trash is often another person’s treasure, and you’d be surprised just how handy that extra cash is after the holidays.

Get Your Home in Shape

With January being National Organization Month, kick your clutter habit by clearing out the things that you don’t need. Take a look around your home and identify gifts from 2009 that haven’t been opened or are collecting dust. Nearly 71% of consumers expect to receive at least half of the gift’s original value in resale. That ping-pong table folded up in your basement could net you $80 and your old skis could be worth $29, according to eBay Marketplace data.

Gifting Guilt

Women tend to worry more than men about upsetting the giver, with 64% of them keeping the gifts to avoid hurt feelings, compared to 55% of men. Additionally, 51% of recipients genuinely believe that they may use the gifts eventually, while 31% think that it’s simply too much of an effort to return them to the store. To ease your guilt, try taking a photo of yourself using or wearing the item before you get rid of it. It’s unlikely that the gift-giver will come search your home to make sure you still have it.

Survey Methodology: Data was collected from 1,554 adults (aged 18 and over) via a nationally representative online survey questionnaire within the United States on behalf of Kijiji by Chadwick Martin Bailey between October 22, 2009 and October 25, 2009.  Quotas are set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total U.S. population over ages 18 and older. Complete survey results are available to members of the media and can be obtained by request.

More Resources:

Kijiji (www.kijiji.com), which means “village” in Swahili, is eBay’s free, safe, family friendly, local classifieds website that makes it easy to buy or sell everything from clothes to cars, find a job, adopt a pet, rent an apartment, and do so much more, right in your own neighborhood. Kijiji is currently available in more than 1,000 cities and countries around the world, and the site launched in 220 cities in the U.S. on June 29, 2007. In addition to the U.S., Kijiji has online communities in Canada, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Japan and Taiwan. Kijiji is part of a broader eBay Classifieds family including Gumtree, Marktplaats, Mobile.de and Loquo, which extends the reach of eBay Classifieds to more than 20 countries.

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