The Most Returned Christmas Gifts: $46 Billion in Clothes, Electronics, and Jewelry Head Back to the Store

How much time did you spend picking out that perfect sweater for your sibling? Well, there is a good chance that it’s heading back to the store right now. An estimated $46 billion in merchandise will be returned the day after Christmas.

KRem.com reports that nearly 10% of all Christmas presents will be returned. This year, that means that nearly $46 billion is heading back to stores.

So what are the most returned Christmas gifts? According to a poll conducted by Kohls in 2008, clothes were returned most often. A poll conducted this year by MarketTools confirmed Kohls findings. Clothes and shoes will make up an expected 62% of all returns today.

Here is a breakdown of the most returned Christmas gifts. 

• Clothing and shoes, 62%.
• Toys, games and hobbies, 16%.
• Consumer electronics, 14%.
• Kitchen and bath, 13%.
• Beauty and cosmetics, 10%.
• Jewelry and watches, 10%.

But not everyone tries to return their bad gift. According to Consumer Reports, about 18% will try to donate their gift to charity, 15% will try to re-gift the item, 11% will just throw the gift out and 6% will try to resell the item.

Consumer Reports also says that some people choose a different way to deal with a bad gift. Two percent confront the present giver and tell them to return it. While another two percent post pictures of their detested gift on the internet.

Did you get a bad gift this year? What did you do with it?