When it comes to unwanted Christmas gifts, consider your options

The stores are super-busy this week while everyone flocks to return those unwanted holiday gifts and redeem gift cards.

If you go, bring your receipt.

If you don't feel comfortable asking a friend or loved-one for the receipt, don't clutter up your closet waiting to re-gift it, you might do better if you eBay it! Harris Interactive conducts an annual survey for eBay. They found that 83% of us get unwanted gifts during the holiday season.

While many stores relax their return policies this time of year, unless you have a receipt, most will give you store credit rather than cash. That might not be too bad (depending on the store and if you can find something else there more suitable to your tastes), but most stores will give you store credit on the sale price of an item. That means if the item you wish to return has been marked down since it was first put on the sales floor, you will not receive credit for the full retail price -- you'll get credit on the lowest mark-down price. Ebaying it might not be a bad idea!

Gift cards aren't always a stress-free option either. We have a family member who is into hunting. He was given a $250 gift card for Christmas so he could choose a gun of his liking for use in his sport. The store, located in Massachusetts, is known to be the largest in the area for having a huge selection. He and his girlfriend (who gave him the card) took a trip to the store together. Unfortunately, they found out that because he does not have a firearms license in Massachusetts, he cannot purchase a gun there. Not being a Massachusetts resident, he cannot obtain one.

In light of this predicament, they asked for a refund on the card. The store employee told them that because the gift card is of a substantial amount, they were unable to issue a refund.

The couple called me to ask what I thought might be their chances in selling the gift card online. Uhm... While many gift cards are bought and sold on eBay every day, I wouldn't recommend it.

For more helpful information about precautions for using gift cards
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22379019/

Here's another thought to consider:

What do stores do with all the merchandise accumulated in return stock?

Well, a lot of the time, those items end up at auction! You can check out online buying opportunities for store returns at Liquidation.com.

Locally, check out Danny's Auction in Foster, Rhode Island where they have weekly Monday night wholesale auctions. You might think at a wholesale auction that you'd be required to purchase merchandise in large quantities. While that is sometimes the case, frequently there are store returns that come through the auction that you can bid on and buy individually. Many of the items I've seen there originate from Target and Kohl's stores.

In fact, I bought a great Christmas gift at auction for my 17 year-old daughter, Kayla. She's a talented artist, and many of her paintings are displayed throughout my home. I was able to purchase a beautiful wooden easel for her, complete with a variety of artists' pencils, brushes and paints, in the original box for about $20. Not bad!

The only drawback with that is that it is NOT RETURNABLE!
Oh well, there's always eBay.