Like every year, so as not to spoil the magic of Christmas, you will shyly smile when unwrapping that cardigan of a dubious color or that book that you already have in duplicate. To better hasten to put them on sale on the web, once the guests have returned home. Nothing to be ashamed of, you are far from alone. The French have never even been so numerous this year to say they are ready to resell their Christmas gifts, we learn in a survey by the Kantar institute for eBay, published this week.
It reveals that for Christmas 2023, almost a quarter of French people (23%) plan to resort to this even more or less taboo practice. Or 9.5 million people, figures the study. A proportion never seen since the launch of this annual barometer in 2011. This is 6 points more than last year (2.5 million people), and even 10 points more in ten years.
“This phenomenon is particularly marked among 25-44 year olds with children in regions where purchasing power is lowest,” notes the study. Another survey, carried out in November by Toluna Harris Interactive for the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling (Fevad), even estimated that it was not a quarter, but a third (34%) of French people. who planned to resell the gifts received on the internet.
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Inflation, which has continued to erode household budgets for two years, is obviously not unrelated to this growing phenomenon. Another result reinforces this theory: for the first time since the creation of the annual survey initiated by eBay, “the French prioritize reselling to meet financial needs, more than to choose a new gift that they would prefer”.
If the people surveyed (1,340 adults aged 16 to 64, representative of the French population) hope to earn on average 49 euros thanks to the resale of gifts, this sum will be saved by 42% of respondents. For 30% of French people, it will be used to pay part of the Christmas bills, while only 29% say they want to use it to replace the gift in question with another they prefer. Reselling your gifts is not necessarily a selfish gesture, since 18% plan to use the money earned from resale to buy a gift for a loved one.
In the pantheon of the most resold gifts, we find video games, toys and games, as well as books. And if they are resold immediately, it is often because they were offered twice or did not please those interested. “The best Christmas resales always reflect the best Christmas sales,” points out the eBay study. And the French don’t wait long before putting their gifts on sale. Last year, the Rakuten platform counted 650,000 new ads posted at 3 p.m. on Sunday December 25, an increase of 8% compared to 2021.
