When I was a kid and beginning to buy presents on my own, it was easy to get gifts for my dad. He loved collecting old bottle openers, so I’d find them at local flea markets or antique shops. He eventually amassed a sizable collection of these kind-of-rusty antiques. I was proud that most of them were from me… until I realized that they were all from me.
That’s right; he didn’t collect them. He had maybe one, I got him another, he expressed gratitude (either real or merely paternal), and a pattern was set. I thought he wanted them, and he didn’t want to tell me otherwise.
I’ve gotten better at giving gifts, but it’s still an exercise in patience, exploration, and empathy. It’s wonderful because it lets you truly think about another person, but it still can be challenging.
Luckily, there are ways to make it easier, especially when you’re doing a Secret Santa gift exchange. With these tips, you can find Secret Santa gifts everyone wants in no time.
Organizing a Secret Santa Game
There are a lot of ways to host a Secret Santa. The classic is to gather everyone around, have them draw names out of a hat, and hope they don’t lose the little scrap of paper over the next month. But you don’t actually have to do that anymore.
Instead, you can use a free Secret Santa generator. That’s a system where you can set up an entire Secret Santa game for as many people as you want anywhere in the world. This is a great way to ensure that everyone can play.
For one thing, it lets you draw names online. The benefits of drawing names online for your gift exchange are that no one is left out or skipped over, your exclusion lists are honored (no partners, siblings, etc), and that you have a record of who you picked.
But perhaps the MOST important, when it comes to getting the right gift, is that every participant can make a wish list that their Secret Santa can access. Let’s dive into that.
A Wish List Helps You Find the Secret Santa Gift Everyone Wants
The system will automatically pair people up. Your main responsibility is figuring out what to buy for the gift exchange.
When you use an online Secret Santa generator for this, you get two main benefits.
- You can start a wish list.
- You can access gift guides.
These are both really exciting, and when your giftee accesses either one, it helps you find the perfect gift.
Let’s look at the wish list. When you create a wish list online, you can choose from nearly every store, which means the list you create has what you want. You don’t have to make compromises other than the monetary parameters of the game. The sky (or rather, the boundless sky of the internet) is the limit.
When your partner makes a list, you have access to it. You can search through it online, and buy directly from it. All it takes is a click.
But how do you find the right gifts if you’re not sure what you want on your wish list? Well, that’s the great benefit of gift guides. With a gift guide, you can search by nearly any category, filtering down as much as you want or keeping it at a high level. Want Star Wars merch? There’s a gift guide for that. Want the latest trending gifts? There’s a gift guide for that. Want to find…well, anything? There’s a gift guide for that.
The guides are the best way to start a wish list. They’ll help anyone find the right gift…and then your Secret Santa can select the perfect choice from your wish list.
More Options Mean More Fun
Using an online Secret Santa generator, a wish list, and gift guides means that everyone can get something they truly want. It means that everyone will be happy when they unwrap their present and genuinely excited to guess.
Even more so, it means there’s no stress on you, the Secret Santa. You can feel confident that you got them a great present because they were able to pick a great one for themselves. They were able to search for it and put it on their list.
No stress. More fun. More happiness. I would raise a glass to that…and I know just where to get a bottle opener.
If you want to find Secret Santa gifts everyone will love, try using a Secret Santa generator that has universal access. Elfster makes it easy to pair people up, shop for gifts, and start a Wish List. Plus, you can access it all from an iPhone app or Android app.
