Trade Me says the number of Kiwis choosing to buy pre-loved gifts this Christmas has almost tripled since 2019.
The company says the choice to buy second-hand is mostly for financial reasons, but the mountains of waste created by the festive season are also becoming hard to ignore for many.
"There's a multi-trillion-dollar marketing industry convincing us to buy and consume more, and that certainly ramps up during the festive season," said Nicola Turner, founder of Mainstream Green.
Christmas brings with it the pressure to spend money but, this year, many people's pockets aren't as deep.
Three-quarters of Kiwis are choosing to buy second-hand and said they wouldn't mind receiving a pre-loved gift.
"Buying second-hand is a great way to make your budget go a little bit further," said Millie Silvester, spokesperson for Trade Me.
And even if people do have cash to spare, there are plenty of other reasons to slow down.
UK statistics show consumers there use 365,000km of wrapping paper each year.
All that wrapping paper requires sticky tape - up to 40 million rolls.
About 500 tonnes of Christmas lights are thrown out annually.
Plus, about £42m worth (NZ$86m) of unwanted presents are thrown out each year.
In total, 30 percent more rubbish is produced and discarded in the festive period compared to the rest of the year.
"When it comes to our consumption, it's the waste that's the tangible visible thing that we see but it's also all of the embedded impact that goes into it - all the resources and energy that goes into making all the things we're buying," said Turner.
It's much easier to buy an "experience" for an adult or just enjoy time spent together.
But that doesn't cut it for the kids - Father Christmas can't be stingy.
So, is it possible to keep the magic of Christmas alive for the little ones without loading them up with plastic junk, to be broken within a week?
Fairplay owner Mandy Abel certainly thinks so.
"If you go to a big box toy store and you buy something made of plastic with flashing lights and siren, it's a fire engine," she told Newshub. "If you buy a natural wooden ute, or a truck, it could be anything - it can be an ice cream van, it can be an ambulance, it could be a fire truck."
Abel started her business in 2019 out of a passion to provide an alternative to mass-produced plastic toys.
"A fair price to us is not necessarily the cheapest price but it means everyone in our supply chain is treated fairly and paid fairly," she added.
