- Spreading the cost of Christmas: Brits will spend a total of £26 billion* to cover the cost of Christmas this year
4 million* Brits started Xmas shopping 10 months ago, in the January sales -
With the average Brit planning to spend £410 on Christmas this year, a UK total of £26 billion* across the country, it’s no wonder we’re looking for ways to spread the cost. According to new research from eBay.co.uk, the UK’s most popular shopping destination, around 4 million* of us (6% of the UK) started our Christmas shopping way back in January, to make the most of the sales, while a further 40% of us admit to Christmas shopping all year round in order to spread the cost of gift-buying.
But not everyone has been so organised with their festive finances – eBay’s research showed that 22% of the nation wait until December to buy gifts for loved ones, with million Brits admitting to carrying out last minute shopping in the few days before Christmas.
For those that haven’t planned ahead this Christmas the study identified that there are other ways Brits are funding their festive gifting ahead of the Christmas season. 4% of the nation rely on their Christmas bonus to cover the festive cost with almost a quarter of us (22%) looking to reduce other expenses in the weeks running up to Christmas. 6.3 million savvy Brits (10% of the population) are selling unwanted items in order to fund their Christmas shopping. With the average UK house sitting on £1,045 of unwanted household items, millions of cost-conscious Brits could be getting their Christmas for free this year.
eBay spokesperson Laura Wilkinson comments: “Shoppers are looking for alternative ways to cover the Christmas cost this year, many of whom are getting savvier and have realised how easy it is to sell unwanted items to make some fast festive cash. It’s never been quicker to sell on eBay – using our selling app you can list an item in 60 seconds, so a quick household declutter in the run up to Christmas could help smart shoppers spoil the ones they love whilst keeping an eye on the purse strings this Christmas.”
ENDS
For further information, interviews with an eBay spokesperson or a case study, please contact Shine Communications on 0207 100 7100:
Dominique Rock: Dominique.Rock@shinecom.com or Jo Torn: Jo.Torn@shinecom.com
*Figure based on a UK population size of 62,641,000
Notes to editors:
- All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from a TNS Global survey. Total sample size was 1072 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 11th - 15th October 2012. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 16 - 64).
eBay in the UK
- Founded in 1999, eBay.co.uk is the UK’s largest online marketplace, providing a platform for over 17 million unique visitors per month[1] to buy and sell new, unique and used items.
- There are around 60 million live listings on the UK site, which has tripled from 20 million in 2009.[2]
- One in two online buyers in the UK visit our site every month.[3]
- eBay.co.uk receives around as many visitors per month as London’s Oxford Street.[4]
- Nearly twice as many people visit eBay.co.uk every month than visit the UK’s four leading shopping centres in the same period.[5]
- eBay is consistently one of the most visited UK retail sites, with around a 15% share of total UK online shopping visits.[6]
- 190,000 registered businesses are currently trading on the site – up from 120,000 in 2009.
[1] Nielsen Netview March 2012
[2] eBay internal data (Daily Live Listing Count)
[3] Six out ten adults shop online (OECD report, The Future of the Internet Economy, 2012)
[4] London Oxford Street has on average 18.49 million visitors a month (Westminster City Council).
[5] Bluewater, 2.3 million average visitors a month; Lakeside, 2 million average visitors a month; Westfield Stratford, 3.87 million average visitors a month; Westfield London, 2.25 million average visitors a month. (Data from their own websites).
[6] Experian Hitwise August 11, 2012