More French people are putting unwanted Christmas gifts up for sale online, often barely before the wrapping paper has hit the floor, according to e-commerce sites.

"/> More French people are putting unwanted Christmas gifts up for sale online, often barely before the wrapping paper has hit the floor, according to e-commerce sites.

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CHRISTMAS

Rush to offload unwanted Christmas gifts

More French people are putting unwanted Christmas gifts up for sale online, often barely before the wrapping paper has hit the floor, according to e-commerce sites.

Daily newspaper 20 Minutes reported that PriceMinister, one of the best-known sites for buying and selling goods in France, saw a 50 percent leap in the amount of products on its website over the Christmas weekend versus the same period last year.

“It started yesterday evening [Christmas Eve] really strongly,” said the site’s cofounder Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet on Sunday.

The first wave of unwanted presents went online between 9pm and midnight, with a second wave starting at 8am on Christmas Day.

The site expects to have a total of 3 million gifts up for sale over the course of the week against around 2 million in 2010.  

Ebay also reported an increase in sales on Christmas Eve and expected an overall increase of 10 percent this week.

The most popular gifts included books such as the Steve Jobs biography or the latest novel by popular French author Marc Levy, “L’ étrange voyage de Monsieur Daldry” (The strange journey of Mr Daldry).

A spokesman for ebay explained that while people were happy to receive the latest books, they didn’t want “several copies.”

Other popular gifts to go online are DVDs. This year they include the final film in the Harry Potter series and popular French comedy “Rien à dèclarer” (“Nothing to declare”) by Dany Boon.  

A recent opinion poll found that 30 percent of people admitted to having sold an unwanted Christmas gift, up from 20 percent a year earlier. Around three-quarters said that reselling gifts was more acceptable than in the past.

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CHRISTMAS

Thousands more families in Denmark seek Christmas charity

A significant increase in families have sought Christmas help from the Danish Red Cross compared to last winter.

Thousands more families in Denmark seek Christmas charity

Higher process for food, electricity, gas and fuel are being felt by vulnerable families in Denmark, driving more to apply for Christmas packages offered by the Red Cross, broadcaster DR writes.

The NGO said in a statement that more people than ever before have applied for its Christmas help or julehjælp assistance for vulnerable families.

While 15,000 people applied for the charity last year, the number has already reached 20,000 in 2022.

“We are in an extraordinary situation this year where a lot more people have to account for every single krone to make their finances work,” Danish Red Cross general secretary Anders Ladekarl said in the press statement.

“For many more, their finances no longer work, and this is unfortunately reflected by these numbers,” he said.

The Red Cross Christmas assistance consists of a voucher worth 900 kroner redeemable at Coop stores or, in some stores, a hamper consisting of products.

READ ALSO: These are Denmark’s deadlines for sending international mail in time for Christmas

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