Children are the easiest to buy gifts for 
(18/12/2009)
According to a new pre-Christmas consumer survey from NoMoreSox.com, most of us receive gifts we don’t like at Christmas. This is probably not a great surprise, but more worrying is the amount of unwanted gifts that are being completely wasted or simply unused.
The festive poll also revealed that Dads are the most difficult member of the family to buy gifts for (30 per cent), closely followed by partner/spouse (19 per cent) and brother (12 per cent). Mums, Grandparents and children were cited as among the easiest to buy gifts for.
32 per cent of Brits also admit to making a last-minute dash to the shops on Christmas Eve to buy gifts rather than planning gift purchases ahead of time.
Despite the credit crunch and the apparent need to spend wisely, 36 per cent of us have every intention of taking unwanted gifts back for a refund but are more likely to let it gather dust or worse still, throw it away.
17 per cent of us would take the recycling route and give an unwanted gift to someone else as a gift, 26 per cent claim they would donate these items to charity and 21 per cent say they would take it back to the store for a refund.
Despite the number of Brits claiming they get unwanted gifts at this time of year, a high majority (71 per cent) of them would still rather receive a surprise present than 20 per cent who would prefer money or to choose their own gift to ensure they get something they want.
Paul Morris founder of NoMoreSox.com explains "I’m less shocked at the number of people receiving unwanted gifts, but what is alarming is that potentially, millions of pounds worth of unwanted gifts are sat gathering dust on shelves, in garages and attics and in some cases, they end their days in a dustbin."
"NoMoreSox.com was created to solve this problem by reducing the number of wasted and unwanted gifts purchased every year and replacing them with gifts that are wanted, whilst still retaining that all-important element of surprise. No one really wants to choose their own gift and our survey reflects this, but equally people would rather receive something they want so end up asking for money or vouchers instead, which surely dilutes the whole purpose of giving gifts?"
Visitors can register at NoMoreSox.com for free and instantly create a list of gifts that they would like to receive (with the option to include those they wouldn’t) for Christmas, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries or any other celebratory occasion. Lists can be amended at any time and with a unique sensitivity function, gift list owners will be unaware of what gift has been purchased and by whom, hence also retaining that all-important element of surprise.
The site also ensures you never forget a birthday or important date again as nominated friends and family are sent electronic reminders of the members’ birthday along with access details to their gift list; purchased gifts are also earmarked to avoid duplication.
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