Unwanted Christmas presents on eBay

THEY were chosen with care, painstakingly wrapped and handed over with pride - but thousands of unwanted Christmas presents are now for sale to the highest bidder on internet auction site eBay.

The company says it has seen a surge in new auctions since Christmas, as people try to rid themselves of everything from unwanted pairs of socks to top-of-the-range gifts such as iPods and designer handbags.

Even the must-have Christmas toy, the Robosapien robot, which was selling for almost £70, is available for just 99p online - one being sold with the message: 'Unwanted Christmas present, used for five minutes on Christmas Day.'

Another seller, who admits to being 'ungrateful', is selling a charity membership he received.

A spokesman for the website said: 'People are getting rid of an awful lot of presents and everything from kettles to jumpers has appeared.

{1}'I don't think people feel at all guilty about it - it's better to have a bit of money rather than a pile of old jumpers you'll never wear.

'Certainly from the huge increase in numbers we have seen since Christmas Day, there isn't any guilt.'

Alongside the Christmas cast-offs - which also include a male thong (unworn) and a Tiffany necklace - is a truly unique item.

One seller is trying to offload a secondhand motor - in this case a BMW said to have been owned by England captain David Beckham, complete with his personalised number plate.

The eBay site, which attracts about 8.7m visitors a month in Britain, was the scene of hundreds of pre-Christmas bidding battles, as parents desperately tried to secure sold-out presents such as the Sony PlayStation 2 console and Apple's iPod music player.