Can I swap un-needed gifts?

[Cupofteaplease]

Hi all- hope everyone had a lovely Christmas,

My dc received many lovely presents, and some were so good they already had them in their toy box! I guess I could Ebay or Freecycle them, but I wonder if I could take them to a shop and swap them for something they would enjoy.

I don't know where they were bought from, but I know one is available in John Lewis and another is avialbale in many places such as Argos, Toys R us etc. Will any of these shops offer an exchange without proof of purchase? I could not get POP easily as the presents are from dh's 'distant' relatives.

Any ideas?

Could you post on mn and see if anyone wants to do a swap with you for wanted items?

I have taken stuff back to ELC before and exchanged it without a receipt.
John Lewis were not quite so helpful,wnated a receipt.

john lewis will

I think it depends on the item, e.g. if something is in an ELC box, then ELC will possibly/probably swap it. If you take a generic item (e.g. Chad Valley or Lego or whatever) into a store like John Lewis, it is likely/possible that the item wasn't bought there in the first place unless you have can prove it.

fwiw legally you have no right to exchange duplicate/wrong sizes etc. Only if they are faulty and you have reasonable pop (e.g credit card statement if no receipt)

good luck.

I swapped a duplicate gift in John Lewis 2 years ago. Thankfully we have had no duplicates since.

Any chance you could keep them and give to DC's friends for gifts? I have got enough stashed away for birthdays up until August!

argos won't, unless their sales code (the one in the catalogue) is on the item.

toys r u won't on things that are sold elsewhere (eg lego).

Can you explain situation and ask if you could have the receipt to exchange?

I think it depends on who you speak to. i've swapped books in Borders before without having a clue where they came from. Once I returned an item to Argos and got a voucher and then another time I was turned down. Like AnotherFineMess I've got a stash of lovely presents that my kids aren't interested in so they'll be circulated for b'day pressies during the year.

Toys R us will only let you swap for the same sort of item. So fisher price has to be swapped for fisher price etc.

Argos check to see if their sticker is on the box.

Woolworths will only do it if the item is definitely from there ie Chad Valley.

I'm going to try this in the entertainer next week. Anyone know about them?