If recent research from consumer watchdog Talk Talk is anything to go by over £2 billion worth of Christmas gifts will be returned this year. That works out as each of us getting at least one present we’ll want to return to the shop.
The research also puts the average price of unwanted gifts at around £65.
And the reward for the most returned gift? Unsurprisingly it’s clothes. Of those asked, 19% said they would never wear the clothes they were given. The second most exchanged gift was cosmetics with a return rate of 9%. Home accessories came in next with 8%, perfume had 7% and food stuffs had a bounce back rate of 5%.
It’s not as bad as the survey makes out, though. Out of the £2 billion worth of unwanted gifts only a meagre £330 million will actually make it back to the shop - down in most part to us being too embarrassed to ask for a receipt.
It’s a strange thing when you think about all the sales in full swing on the high street at the moment. Bargains are thrust before us every day tempting us into spend our money and things are discounted so much that it would be a crime not to get spending while the goings good.
Nothing sums up the shopping mood at the moment more than the success Selfridges have had with their Sale. On Boxing Day, between 12pm and 1pm, they turned over almost £1 million — the most successful hour in the store’s 100-year history. Most of the high street retailers started their January sales on Christmas Eve for the first time this year.
By spending so much we’re supporting the economy but only in the short term. Retail groups predict that the Christmas sales will go on until February at least in an attempt to keep us spending in store.
After that time - who knows? Prices will return to normal - the shops can’t keep it up. Come February we’ll be spoilt by all the bargains and unwilling to part with our cash unless we get the big discounts.
We splurge for the thrill and in the cold light of the day we realise our mistake and try to undo the damage.
It’s like shopping bulimia.
