Christmas gifts looked great online and now they’re flooding thrift shops for an awkward reason

Barely a week after Christmas, thrift stores across the U.S. are already filling up with unwanted gifts that promised far more online than they delivered in real life. Shoppers browsing donation bins and resale shelves are spotting mugs, shirts, and novelty items that appear almost immediately discarded after the holidays.

Details later emerged from the Daily Dot that many of these items share a common thread: they were advertised using polished, AI-generated images that bore little resemblance to the actual product. Once the gifts were opened, they were quickly donated.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to create marketing images that exaggerate or fabricate product quality. Similar trust issues have appeared elsewhere online, including a report about a country banning social media for kids, which could affect gaming.

This fallout seemed to catch people by surprise

In the days immediately following Christmas, TikTok filled with videos documenting these failed gifts. Users shared mugs with warped shapes, blurry designs, or materials that didn’t match what was shown in ads. One viral post showed a so-called “AI cat mug” that looked nothing like its promotional image. Another user described an awkward gift exchange where expectations and reality couldn’t have been further apart.

The trend quickly moved from social media feeds to physical stores. Thrift shoppers began spotting the same items turning up for resale only days after Christmas. In one widely shared clip, a TikToker noted that “AI slop mugs” were already on shelves five days after the holiday, priced at just a few dollars. She added that what viewers saw wasn’t even the worst example she had encountered.

One specific mug, designed to resemble a realistic stack of books in its advertisement, was selling for $2.99. The real item looked crude and unfinished. Thrift store workers appear to be dealing with the sheer volume of these donations rather than curating them closely.

Similar items have been turning up throughout the past year, with shoppers documenting AI-generated products appearing in thrift stores and major retailers alike. The same concerns have surfaced in other coverage of how companies use AI without clear guardrails, including New York passing a law that places new disclosure and responsibility requirements on social media companies.