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Returning Your Gifts? You’re Not Alone
People are hard to shop for
“Oh, you shouldn’t have. Really…”
A lot of people will be saying that this year. Seventy-seven percent of people are planning to return some of their holiday gifts.
Returning a gift to the store, once considered tacky, is now the norm. People are much more selective about what they keep. One year I returned an item in early January, and the returns line went halfway around the department store.
But there’s still an air of secrecy about it. You can’t say you’re going to return a gift without seeming rude. Ask people to include a gift receipt with your holiday present, and they’ll usually look shocked.
If there’s no gift receipt, many people will resort to donating or consigning items. Online clothing reseller thredUP gets so many brand-new items each January, it has compiled a list of the “most purged holiday gifts.” (Last year, ruffle dresses were not well-received.) ThredUP also has a list of the least purged clothing, shoes, and accessories, if you want to get a head start on your shopping. Apparently, Everlane is a safe bet.
Joel Waldfogel wrote in Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays, that people know what they want for themselves, but aren’t nearly as efficient at predicting…
