Secret Santa gift exchange! discussion

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@Debbie:
You can have other genre on your wishlist, not just romance. I did and that's fine. Just make sure that it is EBOOK though, not paperback. Please add your email address on your Elfster profile so it is easy for your Secret Santa to send it. You can add your currency on your profile as well. Or in my case, I put it on the title of my wishlist.

I have a wishlist on Smashwords but no way to share it? How do people link Elfster to their smashword account?

Julie wrote: "I have a wishlist on Smashwords but no way to share it? How do people link Elfster to their smashword account?"

There's a Chrome widget you can get for Elfster. It allows you to open the book page on Smashwords, then click the widget and it adds the book to your wishlist.

@Julie

Hmmm - it is better if you add each Smashwords link to your Elfster Wishlist. But if it's a bother, you can try to add your Smashwords account list in your profile? Just so your Secret Santa (and others) can see it quickly.

@Debbie

Yes, the idea of putting your email address public is so ANYONE who wants to buy ebook for you can see it immediately and send the books to your email. Vice versa. If YOU want to send email to others, you can also see their email address, and you can send the ebooks to them

Ami wrote: "@Julie

Hmmm - it is better if you add each Smashwords link to your Elfster Wishlist. But if it's a bother, you can try to add your Smashwords account list in your profile? Just so your Secret Sant..."

Yes, this!

Is there an easier way to gift on smashwords? I don't even recall how to do it since it seemed like such a backwards way of I think having to buy it and then gift it but not really able to change your name of the gifter, I think?

If that makes any sense. >>

@Kaylee

Smashwords is a bit tricky. I have a different account in Smashwords specifically for this event, in which I used my elf/Santa name in the profile. For gifting, you can just go to the ebook page in Smashwords and click give as gift

Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote: "Ami wrote: "@Julie

Hmmm - it is better if you add each Smashwords link to your Elfster Wishlist. But if it's a bother, you can try to add your Smashwords account list in your profile? Just so your..."

Thanks for the help!! As you suggested I just added some via the "insert custom wish," to make the exchange easier for anyone wishing to avoid Amazon or doesn't have an account.

Just a little FYI- to add your currency and email to your elfster wishlist, follow these steps:

When you go to your elfster wishlist, there is a little gear icon next to your wishlist name. Press that and then you can edit the wishlist name and put your email and currency.

Another thing that happens frequently - your email provider will oftentimes put gift notifications into your spam folder.

Check your spam folder. :)

Is Elfster down for anyone else?

mwana wrote: "Is Elfster down for anyone else?"

Looks okay to me right now!

Hi, I hope you're having a good day. I wanted to let my match know that I'm having trouble with the book that he o she sent me.

When I try to claim it, I get this message: "This book cannot be redeemed on your Amazon website. Sorry, this book cannot be redeemed due to country restrictions. Please contact the seller for a refund."

I checked my account, and it's set up for Amazon USA, and I downloaded books without any problems in previous years. It's only day one, so it can still be fixed, but I can't find their username in the participant list to leave them a message.

Alejandra wrote: "Hi, I hope you're having a good day. I wanted to let my match know that I'm having trouble with the book that he o she sent me.

When I try to claim it, I get this message: "This book cannot be red..."

You should be able to contact your match from the exchange page in Elfster.

Alejandra wrote: "Hi, I hope you're having a good day. I wanted to let my match know that I'm having trouble with the book that he o she sent me.

When I try to claim it, I get this message: "This book cannot be red..."

you aren't the only person who has gotten that message- I wonder if the person gifting you that is outside of the US?

Alejandra wrote: "Hi, I hope you're having a good day. I wanted to let my match know that I'm having trouble with the book that he o she sent me.

When I try to claim it, I get this message: "This book cannot be red..."
Hello. Im not sure if you solved the issue yet. But i had the samw problem:
In your account you need to have USA as default shipping location. I have a virtual US address i use since i live in another country.
,

Sorry I didn't thank you before @Ami! Thought I had. I was hoping there was a way around that instead but I guess creating a different account makes a certain amount of sense. Wish they made it easier!

Buut! Question. And I'm sure it's been answered but there's a lot here so I apologize for asking again. My match is in a different country (Canada) than me. How do I gift them? I've gotten lucky every time previously and this is the first time I've had to deal with this.

It is through Amazon but I didn't want to purchase anything in case it didn't work even though it's an eBook...

Thank you!

I believe you can use a VPN to send ebooks or use a third party website / your bank to send gift cards but last year I messed it up for USA to Germany 😅 so I'm not great help.

@Kaylee

Try to ask your match whether they have Smashwords account (and Smashwords titles to request) since it works on different region. If not, well, probably sending giftcards through Amazon.ca is the best way? Sorry I'm not a great help since previously, my match who doesn't live in USA was able to put titles through Smashwords. So I had it easy.

Kaylee wrote: "Sorry I didn't thank you before @Ami! Thought I had. I was hoping there was a way around that instead but I guess creating a different account makes a certain amount of sense. Wish they made it eas..."

Smashwords is the only easy option for an international match. Check and see if the books are also available on smashwords

The irony is not lost on me. xD

Thanks for the help! I will definitely check/reach out if not. :)

@Kaylee:
One way to solve it is so log into the country/region Amazon of your giftee, buy a gift card and send that to them with the instruction to use it to redeem specific book(s) of your choosing.

Or you find someone with the correct region on here and send them a gift card and they then send your giftee the books! I'm sure you can find people on here to help :) (I would be happy to help with amazon de for example if anyone needs it!)

iam wrote: "@Kaylee:
One way to solve it is so log into the country/region Amazon of your giftee, buy a gift card and send that to them with the instruction to use it to redeem specific book(s) of your choosin..."

I am down to help people for US Amazon as needed :)

Kaylee wrote: "Sorry I didn't thank you before @Ami! Thought I had. I was hoping there was a way around that instead but I guess creating a different account makes a certain amount of sense. Wish they made it eas..."

If I have a giftee that's in the US, I use my Amazon.com account and just purchase a Gift Card and then explain that I can't purchase books because my account's a different country.

You (generic) can have Amazon accounts registered with the main .com one as well as your "home" nation one.

What's the budget this year again? I thought it was upped to $25, but I could have sworn I saw $15 float around somewhere too, so I just want to confirm.

iam wrote: "What's the budget this year again? I thought it was upped to $25, but I could have sworn I saw $15 float around somewhere too, so I just want to confirm."

$25!!

Heather K (dentist in my spare time) wrote:
$25!!"

Thanks!