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Top Questions
Here are answers to some common questions.
Giftie Giftie is:
- An online gift registry. Friends and family can reserve gifts from each other's wish lists, so nobody winds up getting the same thing.
- Private. You choose who can see your gift list, and we never share your information with anybody.
- Independent. Since we're not affiliated with any particular store or website, you can add gifts you find anywhere -- heck, they don't even have to be on the web.
- Fun. We aim to make the site a pleasure to use, leaving lots of room for your personality to shine through.
- Personal. The site is run by a husband-and-wife team (Jack and Maureen), just because they enjoy it. We hope you will too.
No -- we want gifts to be a surprise. When people on Giftie Giftie look at their own list, they just see what they entered. They can't see what's been reserved, or by whom.
Sometimes, though, people might see their list accidentally, when they're not signed in as themselves. (e.g., If my husband signs into Giftie Giftie on our home computer and then I use it to look at my list, I'll see the reservation info.) So we can't guarantee that people won't see what's been reserved on their own list, but we do our best to keep a secret.
Once you've created your list, there are a few ways you can share it with people:
- Link to it
On the My Gift List tab, just click "Link to your List" and copy the link address into an email, website, Facebook page, etc. People who follow this link will be able to view your list, but they can't reserve gifts unless they're connected to you. (How do you connect?)
There are two ways to connect:
- Send an email invitation. On the My Gift List tab, click "Share your Wish List."
- Set a secret code on the Profile page. Anyone who navigates to your list and enters the code will be connected to you.
- Create a gift group
This is the perfect option if you've got a family or a group of friends who exchange gifts. With a group, everyone can see everyone else's gift list -- not just yours. Go to the Browse tab, and click "Create a New Group."
- Send an invitation
On the Browse tab, click "Invite people to connect" to send an email asking people to share lists with you on Giftie Giftie. (If you want friends to be connected to each other, be sure to invite them as a group.)
- Tell them about it
You can tell friends about it in person. Just tell them how to get to Giftie Giftie, and make sure they know your secret code. (Go to My Profile to make sure your list is searchable, and to set your secret code.)
Giftie Giftie works as a gift registry -- people you're connected to can reserve items from your gift list, so they don't wind up getting the same thing.
When you browse someone's gift list, you'll see a "tag" icon next to each gift name. The tag is green for available gifts and red for gifts that have been reserved. Click on the tag icon to reserve a gift, or to see more information about its reservation status.
Want to create a wedding registry? We're planning to add that soon -- send us ideas about what you'd like it to include.
Signing Up
Giftie Giftie is a gift registry -- we don't want random people wandering through and reserving gifts just to stir up trouble. Signing in let us know who you are and whose lists you have permission to see.
There are a couple ways to create an account for someone who doesn't have an email address:
- Create a kid account. If you want to create an account for a child, you can create special a special kid account. You'll need to have your own account first.
- Get an email address from a free online service (e.g., Yahoo, Google).
One of the links on your account page allows you to manage your invitations to GiftieGifite. You can re-send, edit or delete any of your invites.
Creating gift lists
Just go to the My Gift List tab, and enter items one at a time in the blue area. (Click on "Say more" to enter more detail, or add a link.) Then click the "Add this Gift" button.
To edit or delete an item, click the icons next to each item in the list.
Absolutely! People use Giftie Giftie to create wish lists for their kids in a few different ways. Here are our favorites:
- Create a separate account for each kid
This is the most flexible approach. With separate accounts, you can sign in as your kid to edit their wish list, but you can also sign in as yourself and see your kid's wish list as others would -- which means you can reserve gifts from their list.
If your child doesn't have an email address, you can create special a special kid account. You'll need to sign in first. Kid accounts are automatically connected to the same groups and friends as your main account.
- Put your kids names in gift list items
Some people just create a single list for their family, and append people's names to each item. (e.g., "Toaster (Mary)", "Coloring books (Cameron)")
Sharing gift lists
Giftie Giftie is a great holiday stress-reducer for families. All you have to do is create a group and invite family members to join. Once they do, they'll be able to see each other's lists and create their own.
There are two ways to do it:
- Send an invitation through Giftie Giftie
Once you've created the group, go to the group's page and click on "Invite People." Enter email addresses for anyone you want to invite, and hit send.
- Tell them about it
If you don't want to wrangle with invitations, just tell them about the group -- in person, in an email, etc. You'll need to tell them how to get to Giftie Giftie (www.giftiegiftie.com), and give them the group's name and secret code. (To set the name and secret code, go to Friends and Groups, find the name of the group, and click "Edit Group Settings.")
If someone's showing up as a friend but you want to add him to a group, go to Groups and Friends (in the Account section), find his name, and click "Add to group." Put a checkmark next to any groups the person should belong to. You'll see him as a "pending" member of the group right away, while we check with him to make sure he wants to join.
You can create as many gift group as you need: One for our family, one for your in-laws, one for your friends, one for your friendly in-laws(!). Lot's of GiftieGiftie users have two groups -- one for his family and one for hers -- but there's no limit to the number of groups that you create or that you belong to. Remember:
- Your kid accounts are automatically linked to each group that you create
- Other users will need to be invited to join each group you want them to participate in
You only need to enter a gift on your list once; all your groups see your gift list. Also, all your groups see which of your gifts are reserved -- even with multiple groups, you won't get duplicate gifts.
About the Site
Ha! Giftie Giftie is run by Jack and Maureen, a husband-and-wife team who live in Redwood City, California. We have a seven-year-old daughter and two full-time jobs, and work on Giftie Giftie for fun in what little time we can scrape together.
As of November 2009, Giftie Giftie has 5000 registered users, who have created more than 17,000 gift ideas. During the holidays, we have a hundred or so users sign in each day.
Sorry! Our QA department is... well, we don't have one. Giftie Giftie is run by a husband-and-wife team as a hobby. Much as we'd like to catch problems before you see them, it doesn't always work out that way.
If you see anything awry on the site, please let us know. It's quite possible that we haven't heard about it yet.
The site makes a tiny bit of money when users click on the Amazon suggestions and buy things from Amazon. Last year, I think we made a total of about $500, which is pretty pathetic if you know how much time we put into it.
Bottom line: We're not here for the money. We have fun building the site and get a kick out of seeing people use it. We hope you enjoy it too.
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Have another question? Ask us or send an email to support@giftiegiftie.com |
