Website sells gifts after break-ups
/ Courtesy: NBC News
After a break-up with an ex, what do you do with the gifts they gave you? Some people feel better after throwing them away or burning them. But now there's a website that can give you that same cathartic release of destroying them while making a few extra bucks.
When you receive a gift from someone you love, that item takes on special meaning. But what do you do with those gifts when that special someone becomes your ex? "I had a teddy bear my boyfriend gave me and as soon as we broke up, I let my dog have at it," said Suzy Donabedian. "I always thought maybe I'd put it on Ebay and I never got around to it," Maria Falah said.
When Annabel Acton and her ex broke up five days before Christmas, she was left holding plane tickets. "I started thinking about the other things I had that I didn't want anymore, so jewelry he'd bought me, artwork we bought together and then I just started thinking wouldn't it be funny if there was a place that let you sell all these things," said Annabel Acton, founder of neverlikeditanyway.com.
That's how she came to start this website where the broken hearted can sell items from their ex.
Each item listed as a real world price, a break up price and a story about the item or the ex. "It really is a bit of a cathartic experience, it's a community experience and a chance to share and remind yourself you're not the only one in that position," Acton said. "Instead of burning stuff and starting fires, you can sell it, make money out of it, write a story and let go," said Samuel Falah. "All I could find were there depressing blogs, really miserable sort of stories and I thought it was such an opportunity to bring humor, a bit of irreverence and a bit of attitude that just make something that would make people smile again," Acton said.
It's an attitude her sellers pick up on, which is why you'll find a listing for a wedding dress that says, "gorgeous lace dress/loser ex husband" and another that reads, "these boots were made for walking."
The website has only been up for a few months, but it's getting a lot of attention, including a tweet from Ivanka Trump. "It's really kind of gone big in a way I was hoping for but wasn't expecting, it's gone global as well, so big in UK, I even did an interview in China the other day," Acton said.
What started out as one woman's way to deal with an ex is turning into a successful business venture. It's proof, Acton says, that moving past a break up is a universal experience.
Have you experienced a bad break-up? What did you do with your ex's gifts? Would you try to sell them? Leave your thoughts below.
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Information courtesy of NBC News.
