According to a survey, most people politely keep the presents they disliked (23.20%), but we think there are better options than cluttering up your space. Regifting is a popular choice at 22.5%, while donating is a close third place with 21.87%. If you were feeling a little guilty at the thought of making money on your gifts, don’t worry – over 11% of people opted for that, while almost 10% exchanged it with the Gift receipt.

Is it to stop gifting altogether? Sometimes even if we ask for no gifts at all, people like to give them regardless and so we’re left after Christmas with new ‘stuff’ that we don’t really know what to do with. But fear not – one person’s ‘stuff’ is another person’s treasure, and there are plenty of ways to make sure someone’s well-meaning but Unwanted gifts don’t just end up in landfill by selling them on Gumtree.

Whether it’s a slightly sub-par Secret Santa or just a not-quite-right present, here are some ways you can make sure it doesn’t add to those statistics:

Regifting Christmas presents – those unopened cosmetics, candles you won’t get round to burning or maybe brand-new stationery – is a great alternative to simply leaving them to gather dust. Why not set up a regifting box in a cupboard or the attic and pop in things that could be better appreciated elsewhere? When a birthday, Christmas or housewarming comes around, you can peek in there before you splash the cash. The only key piece of regifting etiquette is to keep tabs on who gifted you what so you don’t end up returning your present to the person you got it from.

All kinds of unused gifts can be resold – usually for slightly under their original value. Then, you can use the money to buy yourself something you’ll really use and enjoy. Remember that even if you don’t think you’d buy your item second-hand, it’s always worth trying to sell it. It could be just the thing someone else is looking for. The stuff wanted section of Gumtree is always packed with adverts letting you know what’s popular and desirable right now. Gumtree is an ideal place to sell unwanted gifts such as clothes, beauty products and even garden wares. It feels satisfying to know your unwanted presents are getting fully appreciated by someone who’ll treasure them.

If you get some money from selling an unused gift, why not try to focus re-spending it on something with the same intention? It could even be something second-hand from Gumtree to complete the Christmas sustainability cycle.

If you’ve tried to sell your item and it’s not shifting, donating is a fabulous way to give an unloved present new life. You help the charity, you possibly help someone who can’t afford the item to get it for a lower price and you keep it out of landfill. There are so many ways to donate. You can simply pick your most-local shop or donation centre, or you can list items as Freebies or Swaps on Gumtree and see them snapped up and put to great use.

At Gumtree, we dislike waste, so we’re huge fans of reusing and love how our creative community upcycles and DIYs new dream pieces out of unwanted or under-loved items. If you’ve received something that’s almost right, but not quite perfect, then upcycling could be an option for you. Maybe you’ve been given another mug or kitchen item you don’t have any space for – could it become a planter, vase or storage piece? Could you use a little DIY equipment to make the item really fit in your life? If you think you could probably upcycle it but don’t know where to start, why not have a browse of other people’s upcycling furniture projects and shabby chic interior projects on Gumtree to get inspired? There are some incredibly creative sellers out there who might capture your imagination.

Exchanging is a tried-and-tested method. Of course, you don’t always get the receipt and it can be awkward to ask for it. This is something worth bearing in mind while you’re buying for other people too – adding the receipt can be as thoughtful as the gift itself.

The final resort, of course, is to recycle your item and its packaging as best you can. Remember, you can almost always donate things (apart from items such as food or cosmetics that’ve been opened), so you shouldn’t have to go down this route too often. When you do, if the packaging is quirky – a cool-coloured bottle, a tray or a wooden crate, for example – don’t forget that people collect those via Gumtree too, so it could be a good place to sell. After all, what looks like simple recycling to one person is another creative soul’s DIY-dream, so why not list your items for a while to check?

The festive season often has a sense of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ and sometimes it’s older things we end up discarding in favour of shiny new presents. All of these tips can, of course, be applied to older items too. Just because something isn’t still in its packaging doesn’t mean someone wouldn’t love to read, wear or use it. So, why not try and slash some of those waste statistics in your home by giving your unwanted gifts or old items new life on Gumtree?