Spurned gifts listed quickly

An unwanted Christmas ham, a pink One Direction bedspread and four Santa Claus plates were among rejected Christmas gifts Hawke's Bay people were trying to resell on Trade Me yesterday.

More than 20,000 spurned gifts had landed on the site since Christmas Day, and local residents were among those quick to offload. Yesterday afternoon there were nearly 50 listings from Hawke's Bay containing the term "unwanted gift".

Marewa user brapbraprx7 listed a 4.5kg ham with a starting price of $50. Bidders were encouraged to pick up the meat, which does not expire until February.

Another user, hjetam from Hastings, was selling a new One Direction pink duvet.

Bids started at $120 for the unwanted single bed set.

Other unwanted gifts from Hawke's Bay users included a set of four matching Santa plates, a "fabulous" Christmas gift basket, a Casio G Shock watch, PlayStation games, clothing and sports accessories.

User Biddyirb was selling a pair of Nike sandals.

"Unwanted gift from the UK," the listing said. "Gutted they don't fit as they are sooooo cool and would be perfect to walk to work and then slip into handbag."

Napier user Mike2011eagle was selling a model aeroplane.

"Unwanted gift," his listing said. "This would be a great gift for someone. Never taken it out of the box."

On-selling Christmas gifts was a common trend on the New Zealand auction site, with search terms "unwanted gift" proving one of the most popular last December, said Trade Me spokesman Paul Ford.