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February 08, 2012

Don't Know What to Do with an Ex's Old Valentine's Day Gift? Hit Up an Online Thrift Shop

By Carrie Schmelkin, TMCnet Web Editor

Remember that Tiffany silver heart pendant necklace you got from your ex boo two Valentine’s Days ago? Or what about that gift certificate you got last year from your ex-girlfriend for a couples’ massage but you never got the chance to use it because she dumped you a few days after that highly anticipated Feb. 14 date?



For all of you who might be feeling a bit more blue than rosy this Valentine’s Day (or for those of you who have happily moved on to new relationships), now there is a place to dump loot handed to your from exes – besides the trash can.

This Valentine’s Day, embrace the mentality of out with the old in with the new and finally part with that box of old presents you still have stashed away from your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband/friend –you know the items that are too good to chuck but too sentimental to use again.

Thanks to WebThriftStore.com, individuals can now flock to the online thrift shop to donate items that were previously handed to them by ex loves. Then other individuals, who are perhaps looking for a gift for their new sweetheart this Valentine’s Day, can browse the Valentine’s Day Gifts section of the thrift store to purchase donated items. The best part? All proceeds from the sale go to charity.

"This Valentine's Day, let someone else try their luck with the gifts you've received from past lovers,” said Douglas Krugman, founder and CEO of WebThriftStore, in a statement. “We all hold onto stuff we don't need or use. WebThriftStore is a great way to get new value from our belongings, and have it benefit charity. You also get a tax deduction for the value of what you donate."

According to NPD Research, the average U.S. household has $7,000 worth of stuff they don’t want including some stuff that’s never been used and stuff that will never be used again. I mean seriously what do you do with a gorgeous ring that was given to you by an old flame, especially when you have a new special person in your life?

Now WebThriftStore.com offers you a place to donate presents too precious to simply trash. For the first time this Valentine’s Day season, WebThriftStore.com is offering a variety of gifts specifically for your Valentine from clothing to jewelry to collectibles to electronics, all of which were donated by individuals to benefit charity. And unlike physical thrift shops which require you to find some spare time to visit, the online store allows you to donate and shop whether you are at work or at home, according to site creators.

So how successful will this online thrift store be? It’s hard to say.

In my opinion, and this is probably me just being ridiculously superstitious, the thought of receiving a gift from my boyfriend, that was previously given to another individual who then broke up with his/her sweetheart, is a bit creepy. After all, will that David Yurman bracelet that is so beautifully displayed on the site cast a bad spell on my boyfriend and me since it embodies a negative spirit of a breakup and tears? Will I look at my Tiffany Paloma Picasso bracelet each day wondering what went wrong in the previous owner’s relationship? 

And while Valentine’s Day for me is not about presents (in fact my boyfriend and I swore off presents this year), what about the people who look towards holidays as a day for their significant others to display how much they love them by showering them with creative, sentimental gifts? Will these people really be content with hand-me-down gifts even though the proceeds go towards a wonderful cause?

My thinking about the online thrift shop is simple: If you are someone who does not believe in inane superstitions and prides charity efforts over brand new presents (and yes that makes you a better person than most out there), then this site has all the makings for you and your loved one to have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

But for me, I am going to stick with our plan to forgo presents this year in favor of a lovely dinner with my boyfriend… (who hopefully realizes that no presents does not mean no flowers!).


Carrie Schmelkin is a Web Editor for TMCnet. Previously, she worked as Assistant Editor at the New Canaan Advertiser, a 102-year-old weekly newspaper, covering news and enhancing the publication's social media initiatives. Carrie holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in English from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein
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