Goodreads Secret Santa discussion
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2023 Secret Santa
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2023 - Sign Up Information!
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If someone is uncomfortable with giving out their private information, can’t their Secret Santa send them a gift card to a bookstore?That should be a good workaround.
Mod
That should be a good workaround."
It's actually not a bad idea! We have also had people order books for pickup to their local bookstore, or even an ebook. So I will edit this becuawe it can be worked around :)
Hello - I have a couple questions. :) I'm trying to downsize my physical book collection and mostly listen to audio, so I'm curious about alternatives to receive other than a book. Could we request for a donation in our name to a charity or school or library or something like that?
Or an audible gifted book (as long as it's under the price limit)?
Becky wrote: "Hello - I have a couple questions. :) I'm trying to downsize my physical book collection and mostly listen to audio, so I'm curious about alternatives to receive other than a book. Could we reque..."
A donation sounds nice, but I think it could be a little complicated.
At the same time, I know that it's pretty simple to gift ebooks and audiobooks via Amazon/Audible. That's my preference this year for the same reason. Plus, I think receiving a little surprise is more than half the fun of secret Santa :)
Yeah, it could be. And I do love the gift-giving/receiving aspect, but I just know myself and likely wouldn't read the book I get, so it would feel like a waste. (Like all of the physical books I already own, which I either re-buy/borrow to read on my kindle or listen on audio. SIGH.) If donation is too difficult or a logistical nightmare, that's OK - I can either figure out an option that works for me, or opt out. But it never hurts to ask. :)
Mod
I will reiterate what Jordyn said :) The logistics of the donation is a bit more complicated than I have the ability to coordinate, but we can easily do Audio or Ebook! Just specify in your sign up.
No worries! I definitely don’t want to complicate things. Just thought I’d ask. :)
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This is the first year we are doing Secret Santa since book depository left the world, so please forgive me in advance if there are any hiccups.
Lastly, I am moving back to Email, as I did not enjoy the google forms from last year.
Before I get into anything else, I want to say that you do not need to celebrate Christmas to join in this exchange. This is simply a book exchange around the holidays.
So before rules comes explanation:
Basically, the goal of this group is to exchange books with someone around the world who shares a love of books, gives you the chance to get a book if you won't at home, and meet someone new!
*disclaimer before I start, all your information will be private with me and the person who receives you. I will not use your personal information for anything, and the person who gets you will not do anything other than send you a book. If you are uncomfortable with this, let me know and we can discuss workarounds!*
Way to enter:
You have from the moment of this post going live to Friday, December 1st, at 5:30pm EST to sign up for this year’s exchange. Please email me at thatgirlbookworm@gmail.com with ALL of the necessary information.
Necessary information:
- Full address (including any apartments, postal/zip code, etc)
- Your phone number (very unlikely to be necessary but Amazon and other platforms do require this for shipping on occasion)
- Your FULL name, first and last.
- Your Wishlist! Please make sure you include AT LEAST 4 books on your Wishlist, but please the more the merrier.
NEW: Your preference regarding books. NEW or USED must be listed. With more limitations to bookstores to shop from, if you are okay with used, you have a higher likelihood of your books being findable.
- If you know of any local-to-you independent bookstores that do ship to you, please add them to the email. I can recommend them to the person that has you.
If you sign up correctly with all this information, I will be replying to your email to confirm your entry. Be patient with me as I have a full time job, so I ask for 24 hours to confirm.
The price limit is $30 USD. I upped it this year because things be expensive. Please do not feel obligated to spend more than you can afford, the price is a price limit, not a spending requirement. If you find a book that is much less than the price limit but fits in your budget, that is more than okay.
NEW: If you go over $30 because of any shipping costs, this is fine.
- You can sign up a total of THREE times. For each entry please send me a separate email. For each entry, you must have a different list of books.
I must have ALL entries by Friday December 1st at 5:30pm EST. Messages will be sent on the Friday night! It is a long process and some of you may receive your messages on Saturday, but I do my best for the Friday. Books will need to be ordered by Sunday December 3rd at 12:00pm EST. Please please do not sign up if these dates do not work for you as no exceptions will be made. If you suddenly have a life change and need to drop out, please message me as soon as possible.
You must be available that weekend and reachable by email, as I may need last minute information, or to request cancellations.
*Last disclaimer, I am only hosting this Secret Santa, I am in no way responsible for everyone else’s actions. Joining is always a risk in the sense that you may not receive something back, and you are giving your address and full name to someone on the internet whom you have never met. However, I have yet to have a problem so I foresee no issues, but I add the disclaimer just in case.*
***** ALL DATES AND TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME*****
Extras + Other Rules:
This next thing is 100% not a requirement, I am stating this before I post what I am about to say just so no one feels obligated. It’s quite possible that even with all my precautions, there will still be some instances where someone gets cheated out from a book. I am hoping that this is not the case, but I am very aware that it could happen. If there is anyone who is willing to volunteer to send to one other person if a problem should arise, I would be so appreciative. I know this is really difficult with the world the way it is, so please do not feel obligated. You would be sending to two people, and only receiving from one, so I know this is a lot to ask and again don’t feel obligated, I am only asking incase someone has the means to send to two people and is willing to do so IF I need you.
A couple bonus points:
- Just because of the time constraints, I prefer if no one sends books in person.
- If you had a bad experience in any of the last few exchanges, please let me know.
Any language book is okay to request as long as the edition is within the budget.
I would LOVE people to recommend this group to their friends or even encourage friends to join. The group is alway growing but the number of entries is declining and I would love to get more people involved.
Lastly, I have compiled a list of websites that could work for people:
- BookOutlet: https://bookoutlet.ca/ (there is also an American website). Has a shipping cost under a certain amount spent and ridiculous worldwide shipping, but the shipping costs for Canadian/American people is relatively small.
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/ - I recommend shopping on the Amazon website local to your person. Will have shipping costs but I’m not too sure how prime works for overseas-to-you people.
- Better World Books: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/ - This store has free worldwide shipping (Im not sure how extensive their country list is but I recommend checking it out) and is primarily used books from what I can tell. If your person is open to used books, this is the best option in my opinion.
- Blackwells - https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/home - This is similar to Book Depository in that it’s free worldwide shipping UK based and new books, but I find much more expensive, so getting books in budget is a bit harder.
- Wordery - https://wordery.com/ - Similar concept to Blackwells and Bookdepository! Their selection is very small as everything seems to be out of stock at all times, but they do have some things. Again, a bit pricey but an option for new books.
- Local independent bookstores!: I asked people for links to online bookstores that are local and ship to them. I will always recommend this option the most as we need to support businesses that are not Amazon.
- Local Chain bookstores: Every country has them! Canada is Indigo, USA is Barnes and Nobles, UK is Waterstones, etc. This also works.
I am sure there are much more but this is all I could find with a quick search.
So just to quickly recap: Send your sign up to my email (thatgirlbookworm@gmail.com) with all the requested info.
If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Thank you in advance for signing up this year and sharing this post out! Your support is why this continues to exist year after year!