Ive been the designated tech person for my family for years and usually I just set up a shared Google Doc or a spreadsheet for Christmas but this year its just becoming a total nightmare. My parents are getting older and they keep accidentally deleting other peoples rows in the sheet or they cant figure out how to comment on stuff to claim a gift so we end up with double purchases which defeats the whole point. I tried using Elfster last year but the ads were everywhere and half my cousins couldnt figure out the login because they forgot their passwords within five minutes. Its honestly getting ridiculous how hard it is to just share a basic list.

Im really hitting a wall here because I need something that actually works for everyone from my 14 year old niece to my 75 year old aunt who still struggles with basic apps. I spent like three hours yesterday trying to fix a permissions issue on a Notion page I built and I just gave up because it shouldnt be this hard to just list some stuff I want. My family is spread out across three different states so I cant just do a physical list on the fridge like we did when I was a kid.

Here is what I actually need:

• Must be free because I am not paying a subscription just to share a list
• Needs to be dead simple for people who arent tech savvy (no complex logins)
• Ability to claim or mark items as bought without the list owner seeing it so the surprise isnt ruined
• Browser based or a very lightweight app because my uncle has zero storage left on his phone
• Must allow links from any site not just Amazon

I really need to get this set up before December 1st because my mom is already texting me every day asking what I want and I have nothing to send her yet. Does anyone have a go-to that isnt a bloated mess of ads or a complex project management tool? Im just so tired of being the family tech support for a simple wishlist...