What do consumers do with lousy holiday gifts?

By Rita R. Robison

A post I wrote recently was on “The Worst Holiday Gifts for 2011.” What do consumers do with holiday gifts they don’t like?

One in five adults admitted to having been the recipient of at least one lousy holiday gift last year, according to a Consumer Reports poll. Here’s what they did with the gifts that didn’t please:

• 48 percent made the best of it.
• 39 percent stored it somewhere out of view.
• 18 percent donated it.
• 15 percent re-gifted it.
• 11 percent returned it to the retailer.
• 11 percent threw it out.
• 6 percent tried to sell it.
• 2 percent posted a picture of it online.
• 2 percent gave it back to the gift-giver.
• 5 percent did none of the above.

Be sure to follow that time-tested consumer advice. Get gift receipts and always include them with your gift.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Comments

[blossom bucket]

A large part of today’s consumer privacy model is predicated on notice and consent. When a consumer considers agreeing to a use a product or service the company provides them “notice” of the service terms and privacy policies, and the consumer agrees to (“consents”) to these terms. The general idea is that with full disclosure, the consumer is smart enough to decide whether this bargain is a good one or not. If the consumer agrees then both parties are off to the races.