Secret Santa gift exchange! discussion
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2016 Gift Exchange
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Technical Questions
Figure I add this technical information here. If you have joined the SS gift exchange the previous years, you can update/rename your wish list on the setting (click setting gear), and choose which of us can see your list. No need to create a new wish list. 
Mod
When you log into Elfster there is a direct link to it in the top of the page in the dark pink/purple navigation bar.I just checked mine and it was actually my old one. I had clicked the link in the new gift exchange page and thought that that would create a new one attached to the new gift exchange, but no such luck. Happily it's all in order now. =)
Are we supposed to post the email that is attached to your Amazon or Nook account?
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I don't. I have them gift books to my email address, not send directly. It's better for me that way. I'm not sure how to gift from Amazon directly to a Kindle anyway.
☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ wrote: "Are we supposed to post the email that is attached to your Amazon or Nook account?"I usually tell my Santa to email the book to my email address. But I also put my Amazon email account, just in case the Santa feels more comfortable doing so. I guess it is up to you? Just remember that not everyone can give/receive books from Amazon or Nook ^^
If you want to get your gifts through Amazon or B&N then you need to give the email attached to those accounts. Otherwise you can use some other email address. Just remember that you need to either have an account with that email address in the store or create one after the gifting to get to your books.
You can put your email address in your Elfster profile or as a notification to your wishlist. You can also ask to get gifts from specific store in you wishlist comment. To add a comment go the wishlist settings as shown above and write a comment in the bottom to the "Notes" box.
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Just remember that you need to eith..."
You actually can give any email with Amazon. I get book gifts to multiple email accounts but I only have one Amazon account. Not sure how that works. I know with ARe it's different.
I thought you had to pre-authorize email addresses your Amazon account will accept from.Amazon says:
Add an Email Address to Receive Documents
You can only receive documents from email addresses that you have added to your approved personal document email list in Manage Your Content and Devices.
Maybe that only applies to emailing "Docs" like when I email a book from Calibre that I purchased from another publisher. I would be curious to hear from others. I've never had anyone send me a book they purchased for me through Amazon.
Heather, Interesting. I've always thought it has to be the one in your account so that Amazon knows to put them on the right account. Have you added the extra emails to your account somehow, like the approved Kindle sending emails?
And yes, with ARe you have to have a account with that email, otherwise you have to create a new one to get access to your books.
I have mine use my Kindle email, but I can see it being a separate one. The gift email gives you a claim code...you can then log into the Amazon account and use that Claim Code, so it can be a different account completely (I always just click on the link since it's the same, but you can use type in the claim code and all is good).
Mod
The gift email gives you a claim code...you can then log into the Amazon account and use that Claim Code, so it can be a di..."
Yes, this!
Thanks. I completed the form except the wish list which I'll have to gather up some goodies and plug them in. :)
For those of you that might get paired up with someone in the UK ... UK kindles are linked to Amazon UK, we can't purchase things from them from Amazon US... it's all to to with tax... Also, some UK based people can't purchase books from certain publishers through ARe or direct from some publishers... another reason to have a nice long wish list with plenty to choose from.
K wrote: "For those of you that might get paired up with someone in the UK ... UK kindles are linked to Amazon UK, we can't purchase things from them from Amazon US... it's all to to with tax..."Same goes for us who live in Germany and have an amazon.de account.
But we can buy from ARe. At least I haven't had any trouble with buying there. I have linked the books in my wish list to ARe for those books that are available there.
I am new to this so I just joined elfster. What else do i need to do?
Mod
If you joined elfster (and our gift exchange there!), then I would make a wishlist!
I'm not sure if this is a "technical" question but i've viewed some people's wishlists and I see that they've added things that aren't books. Are we just gifting our SS with whatever they want as long as it's in the $15 limit?
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Some people have items for other exchanges. I'd like us all to keep to books here!
Does anyone know if it's possible to hide your identity when gifting through ARe and how to do it? I wasn't able to find anything about it on their site.
Josy wrote: "Does anyone know if it's possible to hide your identity when gifting through ARe and how to do it? I wasn't able to find anything about it on their site."It is. I think it asks what name you would like to display, just like Amazon. As long as you don't do like I did, on my VERY FIRST GIFT, and out yourself by not changing the name there, which will display your registered name if you don't change it. LOL. :)
OMG! Thank you, Lisa!! It's right there but I didn't see the line where I can put in my name, lol! If you hadn't pointed it out, I would have outed myself for sure :)
Josy wrote: "OMG! Thank you, Lisa!! It's right there but I didn't see the line where I can put in my name, lol! If you hadn't pointed it out, I would have outed myself for sure :)"I did that very thing. First damn time, so my person knew who I was the whole time. Some secret I was! :) *blows kisses at Diane*
LOL! Believe me, I would have done the same thing :) So I thank you very much for telling me how to prevent that!!
Josy wrote: "LOL! Believe me, I would have done the same thing :) So I thank you very much for telling me how to prevent that!!"You're welcome sweets! Enjoy!!
I had my Santa outed herself last year by NOT changing her name *lol*.Oh, and I sometimes put gift card on my wishlist rather than books, simply because I often not patient enough to wait for the book I want and end up getting it myself *LOL*
Hello! Thanks for organizing this! Such a fun event! For the last few years I joined the BOTN Secret Santa, so this one is new to me... Could someone tell me...*Spending limit?
*Are we just doing eBooks for gifts and not physical books?
Thanks!
Suzanne (Chick with Books) wrote: "Hello! Thanks for organizing this! Such a fun event! For the last few years I joined the BOTN Secret Santa, so this one is new to me... Could someone tell me...*Spending limit?
*Are we just doing..."
There is a $15 spending limit, though I think some members strictly stick to that and some don't. As far as I know everyone is planning to do ebooks.
Mod
*Spending limit?
*Are we just doing..."
Unless otherwise requested, we give ebooks and not physical books. The $15 spending limit is a strong suggestions, but our little elves are known to be generous! ;)
Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Unless otherwise requested, we give ebooks and not physical books. The $15 spending limit is a strong suggestions, but our little elves are known to be generous! ;)"Members of the group are so spread out that it's just easier to give 'eBooks' as the format, otherwise some of us could be spending $15 or more on postage. I strictly follow the rules of $15 for the person I'm matched with and then a few extra dollars for others who are being extra generous and I believe deserve a little extra surprise for themselves.
Who do you pick who to send gifts to? Just go to elfster and pick someone?
Mod
Sarah wrote: "Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Unless otherwise requested, we give ebooks and not physical books. The $15 spending limit is a strong suggestions, but our little elves are known to be ..."eBooks sound great for just that reason. Do I still need to submit my address on the Elfster site though?
I wouldn't think the address is strictly necessary unless you were. getting physical books.
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You'll get more information on the date the exchange starts :)
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Yup, you need at least an email for gifting.
Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "No! You get assigned to someone. I'll be drawing names on the 19th!"This way we can take advantage of the Thanksgiving deals the weekend of the 24th!!!!
Note to self to get wishlist set!!!
Sarah wrote: "Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Unless otherwise requested, we give ebooks and not physical books. The $15 spending limit is a strong suggestions, but our little elves are known to be ..."I don't really read ebooks ... Bookdepository is shipping worldwide for free, so that's a great option :)
It's my first time participating and I'm really excited!
Mod
As long as you specify that, it should be fine :)
Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Aline wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Unless otherwise requested, we give ebooks and not physical books. The $15 spending limit is a strong suggestions, but our l..."I did that :)
Ok... I set up elfster (I think) the way you instructed. When we are coupled w someone for gifting do we just look them up by name? I guess I am just verifying it's not linked to GR in some way other than the wish list title.. I am new to this and very technically deficient LOL!
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A couple of questions that may have obvious answers that I'm oblivious too but:1) Does it really matter if our display name is essentially our real name? Just wondering because although it would be nice if it's a secret, if we're sending the books by email then a lot of email addresses will have the persons name in it anyway (I know mine does).
2) If we do need to have a different display name, how do I do that on the site? I keep clicking where I think it should be but it's not letting me do it.
3) How do I edit what is shown on my profile so that instead of showing 'website:' (which I don't have), it shows 'email:' so that I can share my email for the gifts? Also, is there a way of doing the mailing address so that it doesn't require a postcode/zip code? Mine keeps saying it's needed but I don't really want it on there.
4) As the spending limit (or guideline) is $15, should people in other countries use the equivalent of that in their currencies (i.e. in the UK it would be about £12) or should it just be (for example) £15? I know it probably doesn't matter really as people will probably go over or slightly under anyway, wherever they see fit, but I was just curious.
Sorry for all of these questions! This is my first time participating and I'm very excited but I always need to know details XD .
Mod
1) Does it really matter if our display name is essentially our real name? Just wondering because although it would ..."
1) When you gift books, you hide your real name. I can gift anonymously from ARe and Amazon with no issues. It shows no name and email if I don't want it to.
2) If you are talking about using a different name on elfster, I'm not sure how you go about changing your name there. Is that what you mean?
3) I don't have my mailing address on there, so you don't have to if you don't want to. To update your email, go to your elfster profile in the upper right corner (the picture), and click "settings." You can add your email there and that is what your match will see.
4) The spending limit is whatever $15 would be with the exchange rate (ie, 12 pounds). It isn't a big deal going under or over. Some people can't afford the whoel amount.
Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Francesca wrote: "A couple of questions that may have obvious answers that I'm oblivious too but:1) Does it really matter if our display name is essentially our real name? Just wondering because ..."
Ah, thank you! That helped to clarify it all for me. It was about how to change your name on elfster but I'm not too fussed about changing it on there so that wasn't a very pressing question.
Francesca wrote: "A couple of questions that may have obvious answers that I'm oblivious too but:1) Does it really matter if our display name is essentially our real name? Just wondering because although it would be nice if it's a secret, if we're sending the books by email then a lot of email addresses will have the persons name in it anyway (I know mine does)."
You should use the retailer's gifting option. Most of them have it and maybe some of the publishers too. Usually there is either small gift icon somewhere that you can click or a button saying "gift this item" or something of the sort. =)
You could break the law if you buy an ebook and then just email it to the recipient yourself as that leaves a copy of the book to you and if you give it as a gift you don't have a right to a copy yourself.
Oh, thank you for letting me know! I wouldn't have had a clue and probably would've ended up getting myself in a lot of trouble there. I've never gifted an ebook before so was unsure of the process.
On ARe, it's a little green present box with a blue bow. You buy the book and it appears in "My Library", you then click on the present link and put in the person's email and remember to take yours out or say 'Secret Santa' or whatever - and as long as they have an ARe account with that email, they'll receive an email saying they have a gift book. The gift emails I receive always seem to end up in my Junk email so I always have to double-check.
Your giftee will log in to their account and Voila, there's their new shiny book.
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Secret Santa gift exchange!
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