According to a study by Galaxy Research commissioned by Gumtree, the average Australian spends more than $600 on Christmas gifts each year, or more than $9 billion nationwide.
Parents are (unsurprisingly) the highest spenders, dishing out $776 on average. Millenials were the lowest spenders, with an average cost of $473. Most believe they could save a third of the total bill if they bought secondhand.
Kathryn Cameron, from Castle Hill, in western Sydney, is one of the 700,000 Australians who has embraced secondhand gift giving.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Cameron said, 'I've found through the years bringing up my family that I would buy brand new things and they were often not used that long.
'Why spend the money on new items when you're going to get the same results buying secondhand? I'm saving hundreds overall.'
The 51-year-old office manager is shopping for her husband, five children or stepchildren, and three grandchildren.
Ms Cameron started purchasing secondhand gifts several years ago. She now buys the majority of her gifts secondhand. She says it requires organisation and regularly starts shopping in September!
'You've got more time to do it because you can be sitting there at home watching TV and looking online at the same time,' Ms Cameron says. 'It's a lot more effective than spending time going to the shops and fighting for a car spot.'
Based on a nationally representative sample of 1264 respondents aged 18 to 64, the Galaxy research found 77 per cent of Australians would consider buying someone a secondhand or vintage item as a Christmas present but only 39 per cent have actually done this and then typically only once or twice.
The research also found that 45 per cent of Australians say they would not be happy to accept a secondhand gift. Almost three out of four said they wouldn't be happy to receive it, even if the gift giver had gone out of their way to find something they wanted that would be out of their price range if bought new.
Australians are most likely to give a secondhand gift to family – 55 per cent of survey respondents would give one to their spouse and 53 per cent would give one to their child.
