Christmas Gift Returns: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Your dear Aunt Marge had only the best intentions when she thought handheld electronics meant a set of nose hair clippers instead of a Nintendo 3DS. Or you’ve received enough “scented candle” hostess gifts to maintain a year-long, lavender- infused, bonfire in your bathroom. Best yet, the “light reading” hint you dropped to your coworkers bagged you every edition of Low Calorie Cooking instead of that Lucky magazine subscription you were hoping for….

Enter the post-holiday sales! It’s the day after Christmas and slews of stores are offering deep discounts as a consolation prize for the humiliation you’ve endured for having to try on those Pepto pink bunny jammies in front of your entire egg-nogg filled family. Score big with your exchange booty with these standout day after Christmas sales:

Bunny Pajamas= Bad Christmas Gift

• Vera Bradley takes 40% off  select colors. Keep that practical luggage set you found under the tree, but upgrade to the Weekender Bag  for your short (and stylish) getaways.
• If you didn’t snag a tablet from Santa, check out the BlackBerry 16GB Playbook Tablet for $199.99 as part of the After-Christmas Sales at BestBuy.com.
• That Christmas-themed dinnerware is adorable, but can only be used once a year…so bag this White Elements 42pc Dinnerware at the Macys.com 2-Day Sale. It drops from $84.99 to $39.99!
• For other home goods, hit up the Pottery Barn Winter Sale, which takes up to 60% off over 500 items. A best bet are these Blue Bird Pillow Covers, which drops from $29.99 to $16.99 with free shipping.
• Your didn’t get the running shoes you wanted, but you can still head to Nike.com to take an extra 25% off  all sale items (which are already up to 70% off!) with code WAFFLEIRON. Check out these Nike Free Trainers for $54 shipped, or the Free Run+2 for $68.

So if those fabulous Ukala by Emu boots from your hubby will keep you toasty the rest of the winter, but a Snuggie isn’t really your style, remember that those bad and ugly gifts can get you more for your money through hot deals long after the flames from that yule long have flickered out.

About the Author: Marisa Lang

Marisa is an editor and blogger at BradsDeals. She loves cheap home decor, hunting down hard-to-find sales, and figuring out how to travel anywhere on a budget.