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Home / Business

Fitbits, Michelle Obama's book and bum bags tipped to be among 2018's most unwanted Xmas gifts

NZ Herald
23 Dec, 2018 07:12 PM2 mins to read

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Former first lady Michelle Obama's book Becoming is tipped to be one of the most unwanted gifts this year. Photo / AP

Former first lady Michelle Obama's book Becoming is tipped to be one of the most unwanted gifts this year. Photo / AP

Fitbits, poor-quality portable speakers, the perennially unfashionable accessory that is the bum bag and Michelle Obama's book Becoming are tipped to be among the most unwanted gifts put up on Trade Me tomorrow.

The online auction website is traditionally inundated with users on Christmas Day and Boxing Day who want to resell unwanted presents.

"Boxing Day has become one of the best days to hit the shops both online and on foot, and over the years we've seen some epic fails listed as unwanted gifts onsite too," Trade Me spokeswoman Millie Silvester said.

Silvester's advice to those wanting to offload bad Christmas presents was to give the auction a good backstory and not too easily identifiable to avoid any awkwardness.

She ranks a pack of half-eaten Sampler biscuits, put to auction with the title "The Worst Christmas Present Ever?" in 2014, as one of the most unwanted gifts of all time on the online marketplace.

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Trade Me ranks a half-eaten packet of sampler biscuits as its most unwanted Christmas gift of all time. Photo / supplied.
Trade Me ranks a half-eaten packet of sampler biscuits as its most unwanted Christmas gift of all time. Photo / supplied.

That auction garnered 180,000 views before selling for $554.

Another high-ranking unwanted gift was a $100 note, which was the most viewed list of 2015.

"Spare a thought for a woman in Darfield who received a lump of coal from her husband in 2017," Silvester said. "According to the listing, the money she raised from the auction went towards paying a divorce lawyer."

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A woman from Darfield was given a lump of coal from her husband in 2017. Photo / supplied
A woman from Darfield was given a lump of coal from her husband in 2017. Photo / supplied

Other unwanted gifts include a 4.5kg Christmas ham, a used Christmas card and a raw beetroot.

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