A stormtrooper cookie jar is just one of many interesting auctions that have appeared on Trade Me after Christmas. Photo / Trade Me
From the boring to the unusual and downright bizarre, unwanted Christmas gifts are flooding auction website Trade Me.
Boxing Day is one of the site's busiest and today is proving to be no exception.
Among the slew of socks, bevy of books and crates of cricket gear are one-of-a-kind auctions.
The more unusual include a generic KiwiRail Christmas card, touted as "unique" and "personal".
The card's starting bid is 50 cents.
A stormtrooper cookie jar and a batter dispenser, two kitchen must-haves, are also under the online hammer, as are Star Wars lightsaber thumb wrestling book and a Minecraft cardboard head.
Trade Me spokesman Logan Mudge said busy Boxing Days on the site was down to the sales mentality of this time of year.
"We're expecting to see thousands of unwanted gifts change hands in the next few days, and bargain hunters and opportunistic sellers will be out in force," he said.
"Trade Me has an important part to play in extending the lives of those items, getting them out of Kiwis' wardrobes and rubbish bins, and into the hands of people who will use them and appreciate them more."
More than 166,000 searches were made on the site on Boxing Day last year for unwanted gifts. The most popular categories included outdoor furniture, baby gear, DVDs and camping equipment.
"If you unwrapped a sun lounger, bassinet, copy of Star Wars Episode IV or a tent that you don't want, we think you've got a good chance of it being snapped up by a Boxing Day buyer onsite," Mr Mudge said.
In the past, women's clothing items have been popular re-sale items on the site. Mr Mudge expected that trend to continue.
"Our women's clothing category had thousands of listings that started on Christmas Day and Boxing Day last year. Buying clothes for others is a high-risk business and our 2014 data shows some of the most spectacular present fails were in the dress, shoe and lingerie sections."
Trade Me's picks for popular unwanted gifts this year:
1): Adele CDs
2): Selfie sticks
3): Socks
4): Lingerie
Pie Funds CIO Mike Taylor makes his annual picks for the year ahead.