A study by a Swedish bank operating in Latvia has shown that re-gifting unwanted Christmas presents is gaining increasing popularity.
In 2023, 28% of Estonians found new owners for unwanted Christmas gifts, compared to 34% last year, and this year it has already reached 42%.
In comparison to their southern neighbors, in Lithuania, 40% of residents re-gift presents, and nearly half of respondents consider it an eco-friendly and rational choice.
In Latvia, most people keep unwanted items for themselves; however, more than half of the population still re-gifts them or donates them to charity.
"During major holidays, people often make spontaneous purchases: they want to give a gift but either do not know what the recipient expects or postpone going to the store until the last moment. As a result, there may be an item under the tree that is difficult to find a use for. Moreover, giving books at Christmas is a wonderful and common tradition, but sometimes bestsellers end up with the recipient in multiple copies. In all these cases, a clean and neat item can be re-gifted or donated," said banker Laura Kostiak.
If half of the men keep an uninteresting gift for themselves, 44% of women give it away. Most often, people aged 30 to 39 give a second life to gifts.
