Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Spring Summer 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    • Digital Issues
    • Women Who Win
    1. Life

    Ssssh… 9 Untraceable Ways To Recycle Your Christmas Presents

    There's always one, if not, three or four gifts that you cringe while you open. But this is the end of the road for unwanted gifts, we've found 9 sneaky ways to get rid of your Christmas presents without anyone knowing…

    By Becky Freeth
    Published 27 December 2013 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    Christmas Gifts
    Christmas Gifts
    (Image credit: Rex Features)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    There's always one, if not, three or four gifts that you cringe while you open. But this is the end of the road for unwanted gifts, we've found 9 sneaky ways to get rid of your Christmas presents without anyone knowing…

    1. Recycle Your Clothes If you're looking to shift some of your unwanted Christmas Day garms this year, H&M will exchange a bag of your clothes for a £5 voucher to spend in-store, just drop it off at one of their iCollect points. And no-one will ever know...

    2. Get Rid Of A DVD If you could barely disguise your disappointment at opening a third copy of Les Miserables this Christmas, rest assured, the extra copies could earn you back the cash to buy something you really want. Simply enter the DVD barcode at Zapper, drop it off at one of Zapper's easy Collect+ spots and get ready for your cheque to arrive. Simple.

    3. Sell A CD When you asked for Grammy Award nominee and Mercury Prize winner James Blake's new album, you really didn't expect to be playing X Factor winner James Arthur's EP over Christmas dinner. Luckily, Music Magpie will buy back your secondhand CDs in exchange for a cheque, charity donation and even M&S e-Vouchers.

    4. Shift Unwanted Books Why does everyone insist that you read Fifty Shades of Grey? You got the gist from the churlish giggles you caught from behind Kindles on the tube, and the woman who won't. stop. talking about it at work. Trade in your chick lit at We Buy Books and get ready to buy another of 2013's top rated reads (and one that you won't mind discussing with your mum). 

    You may like
    • Fathers Day Gifts The Ultimate Father’s Day Gift Ideas for the Tech Fiend, the Foodie & Every Dad in Between
    • Zara shopping hacks The Zara Shopping Hacks You Need to Know, Plus 15 New-In Pieces Guaranteed to Sell Out
    • HOLIDAY JEWELLERY I’m Guilty of Overpacking, But These Holiday Jewellery Pieces Help Me Pack Less and Accessorise More

    5. Recycle Homemade Gifts Forgive us for being insensitive to the recession, but no, we did not want an eco-friendly charm bracelet made out of 2013's collected bottle caps. But, you know what? Someone will buy your friend's homemade efforts at Etsy, a hot bed of artistic nick nacks and vintage trinkets bought and sold by creative so and sos.

    Christmas Gifts

    Christmas Gifts
    (Image credit: Rex Features)

    6. Trade In Your Tickets If Billy Elliot tickets were the last thing on your agenda for 2014, you can rid yourself of that weekend burden and sell your tickets secondhand at Seatwave. Your loss is someone else's gain.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    7. Exchange Jewellery When you dig inside that little blue box of dreams on Christmas Day, you'll think he's finally started taking your hints. That's when you realise the only reason he knows you'll like that glorious gold bracelet, is because you already own the exact same one. Lucky for you, Tesco Gold Exchange will buy your bracelet (bagging you some more post-xmas spending money), and just maybe you'll start wearing that old bracelet a little more often…

    8. Shift Designer Bits Not every designer handbag is beautiful. Just because it was curated by a fabulous fashion house - the name of which you can't pronounce - and it nearly caused your partner to take out a second mortgage, it doesn't mean it'll be love at first sight. Though all is not lost, style lovers the fashion world over use Fashion Blood Hound to source designer bits that maybe you just don't love as much as you thought you would...

    9. Get Rid Of Smellies Among the most unwanted gifts given at Christmas are smellies and candles. As long as you keep them in a resellable, unused state, these are exactly the kind of products that charity shops are crying out for at the start of a new year. At least with this option, you'll feel a little less guilty about giving away your gift.

    Becky Freeth
    Social Links Navigation
    Read more
    Fathers Day Gifts
    Shopping The Ultimate Father’s Day Gift Ideas for the Tech Fiend, the Foodie & Every Dad in Between
    Zara shopping hacks
    Fashion The Zara Shopping Hacks You Need to Know, Plus 15 New-In Pieces Guaranteed to Sell Out
     
     
    HOLIDAY JEWELLERY
    Shopping I’m Guilty of Overpacking, But These Holiday Jewellery Pieces Help Me Pack Less and Accessorise More
    harry styles running in new york
    Health and Fitness Harry Styles Is Leading the Secondhand Sportswear Trend—19 Picks We're Also Loving
     
     
    Latest in Life
    Mischa Anouk Smith on an astrology travel trip to Türkiye, where she got engaged less than 24 hours after a birth chart reading.
    Travel I Let Astrology Plan My Holiday—Less Than 24 Hours Later, I Was Engaged
    Wicker husband: Alexander Skarsgård and Olivia Coleman in the new film Wicker
    Relationships Move Over Regular Men and AI Boyfriends, The “Wicker Husband” Has Arrived
     
     
    Relic - Dramatic profile portrait with sculptural lighting and shadows - TVS
    Life I Went to A&E After Trying to Take My Own Life—Here’s Why Andy Burnham's New Mental Health Centres Are a Good Start But Not a Complete Solution
    Cape of Senses Hotel in Lake Garda
    Travel If Slow Luxury Had an Address, It Would Be Cape of Senses—Inside One of Lake Garda's Most Beautiful Hotels
     
     
    Latest in Features
    The Beauty Digest
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Head Spas, Coco Mademoiselle Reimagined, and What the TPO Ban Really Means
    The long hair trend and the post-bob era
    Hair I’ve Spent Two Years Growing My Bob—Turns Out, There's a Reason Long Hair Is Trending
     
     
    @nlmarilyn in transitional autumn outfits
    Fashion Goodbye Summer Dresses, I'm in Autumn Outfit Planning Mode—These 5 Are Fresh
    AW26 denim trends listing
    Fashion Autumn's Denim Trends Are Already Surfacing—Here Are the Cuts, Colours and Details to Know Now
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.