Secret Santa gift exchange! discussion

Have a question about how this exchange works? Ask here! Don't forget to sign up on Elfster! https://www.elfster.com/gift-exchange...

This is more an Eflster question. I notice when I look at other people's lists it shows the Amazon price for the books on their list. I like that so that you can look through their list and know without having to click what the price would be But, I don't see a price displayed on the books on my list. Does anyone know if that's a setting that you turn on or how that works? tia

Lizzie wrote: "This is more an Elster question. I notice when I look at other people's lists it shows the Amazon price for the books on their list. I like that so that you can look through their list and know wit..."

Hey Lizzie
If I look at your wishlist the prices are showing for me.
It might be that you can't see them but others can

Relly wrote: "Lizzie wrote: "This is more an Elster question. I notice when I look at other people's lists it shows the Amazon price for the books on their list. I like that so that you can look through their li..."

Oh great. Thank you!

I have a question also about Elfster: do I use my "name name" or my Goodreads name?

BookHarpy wrote: "I have a question also about Elfster: do I use my "name name" or my Goodreads name?"

Well, you can use both ^^. Like my Elfster, I just put Ami Goodreads. So, maybe (I don't know your name) you can put "Your Name or BookHarpy GR" or something like that.

Thanks Ami, that answers my question. it's my first year participating, so I'm pretty excited.

Relly wrote: "Lizzie wrote: "This is more an Elster question. I notice when I look at other people's lists it shows the Amazon price for the books on their list. I like that so that you can look through their li..."

Okay, but I'm wondering if it was the other Lizzie's list you looked at and saw that. Ha ha. Mine's under Elizabeth Corn (though I now added my GR name as a nickname).

I don't see prices in Elizabeth Corn's profile.

Lizzie wrote: "Relly wrote: "Lizzie wrote: "This is more an Elster question. I notice when I look at other people's lists it shows the Amazon price for the books on their list. I like that so that you can look th..."

Oh it may have been
I've checked yours and no there is no prices there. Sorry

Lizzie wrote: "Relly wrote: "Lizzie wrote: "This is more an Elster question. I notice when I look at other people's lists it shows the Amazon price for the books on their list. I like that so that you can look th..."

I just looked at my wishlist from last year and most (but not all) of the prices have disappeared. Not sure what's up with that.

Alright! The mystery of the disappearing prices - I think I fixed mine but someone might want to check my list as I’m seeing it as the person wishing. I had the exact same issue. Prices disappeared from last year’s list and they weren’t on new items but I fixed it. Prices are NOT showing if you use an Amazon link to search and add to your wish list in Elfster. However, if you go the the Elfster’s “add to wishlist” link and type in the title of the book you want in the box that says “what are you looking for?” and add it from there, the prices should show up. I deleted my list and just re-wished each book. Sometimes I had to hit search a few times before the book I wanted displayed in the list or had to put in the author’s name or the word “book” and eventually they showed up. I Hope this helps!! Let me know if this worked for you!

Adding the same books again was exactly what I wanted to avoid. My Smashwords list doesn't show prices either.
I'll fix it when I'm in the mood for something repetitive.

Ashley, I see prices in your profile.

Ashley wrote: "Alright! The mystery of the disappearing prices - I think I fixed mine but someone might want to check my list as I’m seeing it as the person wishing. I had the exact same issue. Prices disappeared..."

Thanks! I had a feeling I was going to have to add them again.

When I checked on my wishlist (I keep the same one going from year to year and update and add as necessary) many of the prices were missing from my list as well.

I shot a quick question to Elfster about it and this is what she suggested:

To show the prices for items in your wishlist, we suggest that you edit the title of the wish to reflect the price or you can add it as an optional note in your wish. Here is how to edit wishes!

Need to edit a wish? That’s easy to do. You can even delete a wish, too. Simply follow the directions all the way through.
​
How to Edit or Delete a Wish✨
Go to your Wishlist
Select the pencil icon to modify a wish
Make the changes you need to like name, quantity, or update the description with size or color.
Save - very important!

Select “remove from wishlist” under the wish details to delete a wish.

So instead of deleting and re-adding...I just edited as she suggested above. It seemed to work okay, I think. It won't stay current (if prices change) but at least it gives others a general idea of where the price was when this exchange started. :)

This is probably a stupid question but I'm a total newbie 😳 How does purchasing gifts work when the time comes to start being an elf? 😊

Hi Luke!

First, you will get a notification from Elfster about who your partner is.

Second, check out their profile for their email, wish list and vendor preferences.

If you decide to go through Amazon, here is a useful link on how to gift ebooks:
https://www.wikihow.com/Gift-a-Kindle...

Make sure to put in your SECRET ELF name when prompted, not your own ;)

M'rella wrote: "Hi Luke!

First, you will get a notification from Elfster about who your partner is.

Second, check out their profile for their email, wish list and vendor preferences.

If you decide to go through..."

Thank you so much, that's super helpful 😊 I'll start having a think for my elf name now 😆

Can someone also remind us how to return gifted kindle books for a refund/credit? It can be very useful.

I have only ever done it once (maybe twice) in all these years, so don't really remember how to do it.

@Luke

Of course! Ask away if you have more questions :)

I am sure there will be more posts with advices on other vendors.

Thank you 😊 My other worry is on Amazon it says I can only gift Kindle books to people within my country (UK) - if I'm the elf of someone in say The US, is there a way around that weird restriction?

For gifting to other countries, I am happy to use Smashwords.Com.
Make sure to use an elf name when making an account.
The giftee can choose what format to download.

Hemmel wrote: "For gifting to other countries, I am happy to use Smashwords.Com.
Make sure to use an elf name when making an account.
The giftee can choose what format to download."

Ooh good shout. I will add that into my profile 😊

Luke wrote: "Thank you 😊 My other worry is on Amazon it says I can only gift Kindle books to people within my country (UK) - if I'm the elf of someone in say The US, is there a way around that weird restriction?"

I had the same problem last year. I've tried changing my address and location (used to work but not anymore) and eventually gave up and sent my elf Amazon gift cards

Lena wrote: "Luke wrote: "Thank you 😊 My other worry is on Amazon it says I can only gift Kindle books to people within my country (UK) - if I'm the elf of someone in say The US, is there a way around that weir..."

I hadn't thought of gift cards, great idea 😊

M'rella wrote: "Make sure to put in your SECRET ELF name when prompted, not your own ;)

Is there a way to find out what your secret elf name was last year? I can't, for the life of me, remember, but I remember liking it. xD

Hi all,
I compiled this list of publishers with gifting options, but it's not perfect.
Please, leave additions or corrections in the comments and I will edit this post accordingly.


Amazon - Send a Gift option; Gift Cards
www.amazon.com

Barnes&Noble - Gift Cards
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Blind Eye Books - no Gifting, no Gift Cards
https://www.blindeyebooks.com/

Changeling Press - no Gifting, no Gift Cards
https://www.changelingpress.com/

Dreamspinner - no Gifting, no Gift Cards
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

Extasy Books - Send a Gift option; Gift Cards
https://www.extasybooks.com/
https://www.extasybooks.com/customer-... for directions

Google Play Books - Send a Gift option
https://play.google.com/store/books

Kobo - Gift Cards
kobo.com/

Pride Publishing - Send a Gift option; Gift Cards
https://www.pride-publishing.com/
https://www.pride-publishing.com/freq... for directions

Riptide Publishing - Gift Cards
https://riptidepublishing.com/

Smashwords - Send a Gift option; Gift Cards
https://www.smashwords.com/
Options:
- send directly to your giftee
- send to yourself and forward to your giftee
Don't forget to change your name to your Elf Name in your profile.

Totally Bound - Send a Gift option; Gift Cards
https://www.totallybound.com/
https://www.totallybound.com/frequent... for directions

Kaylee wrote: "M'rella wrote: "Make sure to put in your SECRET ELF name when prompted, not your own ;)

Is there a way to find out what your secret elf name was last year? I can't, for the life of me, remember, b..."

You can go to the previous years and see if anything looks familiar:
2021 Gift Exchange
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Hi Kaylee,
I had the same problem. I checked my send mail for November and December. But found the answer by checking my purchase history in several stores.
Now, I have stored it in my password vault.

Luke wrote: "Thank you 😊 My other worry is on Amazon it says I can only gift Kindle books to people within my country (UK) - if I'm the elf of someone in say The US, is there a way around that weird restriction?"

Yup, smashwords or hopefully your match is in the UK. I've been trying a bit harder to match international matches together but it's a huge task and I don't do a great job of it!

Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Luke wrote: "Thank you 😊 My other worry is on Amazon it says I can only gift Kindle books to people within my country (UK) - if I'm the elf of someone in say The US, is there a way around that weir..."

Thanks so much, I've made an account on there now for it 😊 That must be a mammoth task trying to match people based on country, I don't envy you there bless you! I wonder if we could have a thread or theads on here for different countries that people could comment in or something? Not sure if that would make it any easier? 😊

Doesn't connecting by country result in two people buying gifts for the same person every three years, or so?

Hemmel wrote: "Doesn't connecting by country result in two people buying gifts for the same person every three years, or so?"

Yeah, it's sort of loose but I don't think i've had any repeat matches yet. I don't chose matches but try to put some draw restrictions. Elfster makes it difficult so it doesn't work well

Luke wrote: "Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Luke wrote: "Thank you 😊 My other worry is on Amazon it says I can only gift Kindle books to people within my country (UK) - if I'm the elf of someone i..."

I try to ask people to post their home country on Elfster in my group messages but I end up PMing a lot of people! It's a flawed system but I try to sort people a little to make it easier.

Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Luke wrote: "Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Luke wrote: "Thank you 😊 My other worry is on Amazon it says I can only gift Kindle books to people within my country (UK) - if I'm the elf..."

That seems like a good idea 😊 I've started adding some Smashwords books to my wishlist as well as Amazon ones 😊

Just a note for everyone using Smashwords
I use it because I'm international - I think it's a really good option
Under "account" there is another tab on the Right hand side "View Purchase record"
this will show you if the person gifted has accepted the book
If not accepted and they haven't thanked you - maybe resend as over the years Smash words can be a little finicky with the emails Some go through some don't.

Also when looking at your giftee - if their list has only kindle unlimited books then they won't be available anywhere else other and Amazon - so maybe a gift card in that case

Hemmel wrote: "Hi Kaylee,
I had the same problem. I checked my send mail for November and December. But found the answer by checking my purchase history in several stores.
Now, I have stored it in my password vault."

Thank you! I found it. :D

Not really a question, more of a not entirely serious comment/rant: Elfster seems to have change the layout a little and now editing the Wishlist description is a PAIN. (on desktop at least, I can only see one line at a time.)
They also removed linebreaks, making it wayyy less readable.

Why do websites always make things worse?!
xD

iam wrote: "Not really a question, more of a not entirely serious comment/rant: Elfster seems to have change the layout a little and now editing the Wishlist description is a PAIN. (on desktop at least, I can ..."

Because they have to justify their...whatever it is they're charging whoever's giving them money for. Looky looky, we've made "improvements" on our product, aren't you impressed and don't you want to give us more money?! Meanwhile, those of us who actually use the website get to put up with crap we don't want.

Jenn (not Lily) wrote: "Because they have to justify their...whatever it is they're charging whoever's giving them money for. Looky looky, we've made "improvements" on our product, aren't you impressed and don't you want to give us mor..."

Too true!!

Jenn (not Lily) wrote: "iam wrote: "Not really a question, more of a not entirely serious comment/rant: Elfster seems to have change the layout a little and now editing the Wishlist description is a PAIN. (on desktop at l..."

Case in point GR's ridiculous attempt at a "new layout" for the book pages. Please, oh please, shoot me now. It screws up pretty much every challenge I participate in. I dread the day they force me over to it.

Shelby, every day I see a new book I quickly grab my phone to check GR reviews, and every day I miss the reviews on the book page. And for some obscure reason I can't differentiate between audio and ebook when writing a review or shelving both.

Shelby wrote: "Jenn (not Lily) wrote: "iam wrote: "Not really a question, more of a not entirely serious comment/rant: Elfster seems to have change the layout a little and now editing the Wishlist description is ..."

I had just gotten used to the new design when GR changed it back to the old one lol.

iam wrote: "Not really a question, more of a not entirely serious comment/rant: Elfster seems to have change the layout a little and now editing the Wishlist description is a PAIN. (on desktop at least, I can ..."

I completely agree! It's hard to scroll through others' wishlists too IMO. I asked them how to change it back (since I made the HUGE mistake of hitting the 'try new design' and really hate it, and was told to change back this is all you have to do....
You will see a little link under your wishes that says "Switch Back to Original Design."
However, I don't seem to have that little link :(

iam wrote: "Not really a question, more of a not entirely serious comment/rant: Elfster seems to have change the layout a little and now editing the Wishlist description is a PAIN. (on desktop at least, I can ..."

UUURGH!!! I agree with you. I went back to Elfster the other day to edit my wishlist and was very much annoyed with the new layout. Has anybody really complaining about layout?!?

Sheri, unlike you I didn't click on "try new design", but they forced it on me anyway. Just like GR did.

I think with GR they had so many problems and negative feedback, they had to revert back to the old design, if temporary. The day GR forces their newly designed mess on us, I quit.

Quiting? Not for me. I need you all to post reviews. I would suffer in silence.

Hemmel wrote: "Quiting? Not for me. I need you all to post reviews. I would suffer in silence."

Same! I'll complain but I'm not leaving. I have over a decade of friendships and reviews to keep me

I don't think anything short of people leaving en masse can teach GR Team how to handle the site and how to listen to the users. Unfortunately ☹️

Anyway, we'll see how things go.... I don't want to quit, but I can't find damn thing in the new version. Trying to navigate that disaster is not good for one's health ☹️