More than half of adults would welcome pre-owned gift this Christmas

By Alice Hughes, 72Point via SWNS

More than half of adults would welcome a pre-owned gift this Christmas - to save others money and help them act more sustainably by extending the life of products.

The study of 2,000 people, who celebrate Christmas, 19 percent expect to receive a second-hand gift this year, with 29 percent expecting it to be the norm due to the rise of living costs.

More than half (58 percent) would feel positive about unwrapping such an item come December 25th, and 46 percent would happily give one.

While 37 percent have bought a pre-owned gift for others in the past.

Top reasons for doing so were saving money (50 percent), affording an item which would otherwise be out of their price range (44 percent) and to help products have a longer lifespan (41 percent).

Amazon Warehouse , which sells refurbished and pre-owned products, commissioned the research, which also revealed 38 percent plan to take sustainability into consideration when shopping for presents this upcoming festive season.

But 55 percent have never given someone a present that isn’t brand new, as it has never crossed their mind (32 percent).

And 26 percent believe there is a stigma about giving such gifts, but don’t think there should be.

However, 31 percent believe giving and receiving pre-owned products should be normalized.

Following the findings, an online tool has been created to show how much money you could save this festive season by buying pre-loved items, from a smart watch to a coffee machine - creating a personalized wish list to reveal your savings.

John Boumphrey, UK country manager at Amazon, said: “As a nation, we’re becoming more conscious consumers and it’s exciting to see so many people are open to shopping for nearly-new products.

“Especially this year with the rise in living costs adding even more pressure to gift buying, there is even more reason to consider shopping from nearly-new products.

“Pre-owned doesn’t have to mean worn or outdated, often products have simply been unboxed but still work as good as new.

“We believe that every refurbished, pre-owned or open box purchase helps extend a product’s life, while being great value."

The top pre-owned items people are happy to receive were books (50 percent), jewelry (31 percent) and artwork (30 percent).

And the most popular tech gifts to get ‘nearly-new’ were mobile phones (21 percent), laptops (20 percent) and tablets (20 percent).

While eBay (55 percent), thrift stores (49 percent) and Amazon (26 percent) were the top places to buy pre-loved, unboxed or refurbished gifts.

Six in 10 adults have also these items for themselves, and along with buying second hand gifts, predict they have saved £128.50 ($156) on average over the past five years.

Nearly one in five (17 percent) estimated they have saved more than £200 ($244), while 12 percent think they have an extra £300 ($366) or more by buying nearly-new.

It also emerged 21 percent of those polled, via OnePoll, are happy to gift a refurbished, unboxed or pre-loved item as a Christmas gift if it comes with savings.

A fifth (21 percent) think it can be hard to tell the difference between these products and new goods, and 17 per cent have noticed more retailers offering nearly-new or pre-owned items.

Among the main reasons adults have refrained from gifting second-hand or nearly new items are concerns the quality may not be as good as new (27 percent) or that they can’t be returned (18 percent).

John Boumphrey added: “Dedicated teams check and refurbish returned items daily, so they’re ready for a new home, and customers can shop with peace of mind knowing that even nearly-new products from Amazon are covered by our return policy.”