For those who didn't get all they wanted for Christmas, there was no delay in hitting the Boxing Day sales, while others couldn't wait to put their unwanted gifts on TradeMe.
Tens of thousands were expected to turn out to malls to grab a Boxing Day bargain, filling their sacks at St Luke's Westfield on Thursday.
"We did get everything we wanted for Christmas but these guys wanted to keep their gift cards to shop on Boxing Day," one shopper told Newshub.
"I got around 30 to 50 percent off which was really good," said another.
"I saved like over $60, my best bargain, I got a game for about half price," one more shopper told Newshub.
Greg Harford from Retail NZ said Kiwis have been spending up a little bit on last December but it's on the back of a long slow year.
"Customers have been quite reluctant to get out and spend, really that changed a little bit with Black Friday at the end of November and things have been looking up since then," he said.
It may traditionally be the biggest sale day of the year, but with Black Friday becoming increasingly popular and pre-Christmas sales, is Boxing Day the best day to buy?
PriceSpy found 60 percent of the top 10 products consumers clicked on on Boxing Day last year cost less on a different day of the year, while half cost less in the weeks ahead of Boxing Day.
"My advice to anyone who's looking to shop today or any other day is to look around and make sure you're getting the best deal possible," Harford said.
And then there are those unwanted gifts, 20,000 were listed on TradeMe last year and a similar number expected this year.
"Lots of electronics, some clothing and a bit of lingerie too, I guess some partners aren't quite hitting the mark with their purchases on Christmas," Logan Mudge from TradeMe said.
One of the early listings; a retro pizza box, which did not fit a pizza but could potentially be used as a pet bed?
"A recent survey we did of nearly 2000 Kiwis, 61 percent of them said they weren't worried about their gift being onsold, we think that's better than sitting on a shelf or, even worse, going in the bin," Mudge said.
So if Santa didn't bring the gift you wanted, you can always onsell, or pick your own in the sales.
