How I bought $2100 worth of Christmas presents for $700

For many, Christmas is the most wonderful time of year, but it’s also the most expensive.

This silly season, Sydney mother of two, Ellie, set herself a challenge to buy all of her Christmas presents second hand on Gumtree. And the best part is, she succeeded, saving herself a bucket load of money: $1400 to be precise.

“I went through and added it all up and I bought about $2100 worth of goodies and I spent $700,” said Ellie.

Ellie discovered Gumtree through a friend. “I used to throw lot of things out and friend told me to sell them and that’s when I discovered there are all sorts of wonderful things second-hand things to buy on there.”

While second-hand items might have a negative stigma attached to them, Ellie said the gifts she bought were brand new; some of them still in their original packaging. “My daughter’s godparents are both getting Oroton umbrellas,” she said. “They are $95 each new and I got them new for $25 each.”

As for the shopping process, Ellie described it as being like “slow cooking”: it took a little longer but the results were worth it. And what she wound up with were a bunch of really thoughtful gifts for her friends and family.

“I had a list of who I wanted to buy for and then I searched ‘brand new with tags’ because I don’t want my friends and family getting used and old stuff or things that don’t look new.

“I also set it the search results within 10km of my home and I went through and picked things that would suit the people on my list.”

Despite the fact that the people receiving Ellie’s gifts won’t know they are second hand, she says she’s probably going to tell them anyway. 

“I think I will have to,” she said. “One of them is getting a $400 quilt and I wouldn’t want them to feel bad because they only gave me a $100 present, so I’ll tell them the reason why.”

Now, Ellie says she’s definitely going to do it again next year. “The fact that you are saving things from landfill and that you are giving things a second life makes the Christmas present even better.”