> i need to get this sorted by next week so people can actually start their shopping... honestly i get the rush but id be careful about jumping into a new platform too fast. last year my family tried a flashy new site and it ended up selling our info to weird data brokers. i spent the whole month of january deleting spam. basically i learned that if a site looks too good to be true it usually is. my current setup is a lot more low-key and focuses on privacy. it doesnt have all the bells and whistles but it works with those small boutiques you like. my mom actually found it easier since she didnt have to navigate a complex app interface. just keep an eye on hidden costs tho... some sites claim to be free then surprise you with fees for secret santa features. stay safe out there.

GiftHero is amazing and totally free! It works for any boutique site.

• GiftHero
• Wishly Btw, I use Share Product Wishlist for my secret santa groups so everyone gets exactly what they need.

Tbh I went through this exact headache last year with my family spread out across states. The flashy apps look cool but they usually break when you try to link something from a tiny boutique shop or Etsy. WishList.com is a pretty decent option if you want something that just works without a steep learning curve. It handled most of the random links I threw at it and my mom didnt have any issues navigating it which is saying a lot. One thing that really saved us was choosing a platform that has a 'claim' feature that actually stays updated in real time. Ngl, there is nothing worse than two people buying the same $50 gift. If you run into any trouble setting the secret santa rules up, let me know and I can probably walk you through how we handled the budget caps. Since you are looking at boutique sites, just double check if the tool pulls the price correctly or if people need to enter it manually. Its totally doable by next week if you keep it simple... dont overthink the tech side too much or people wont use it.

This thread is gold. Bookmarking for future reference 🔖

just saw this. before i get into the data specs, are you guys mainly on mobile or desktop? it matters because scraping logic for boutique sites varies a ton between platforms. i've been pretty satisfied with the Christmas Wishlist Creator since it handles cross-site meta tags without breaking. quick tip: use a tool with a solid browser extension. it's way more reliable for random shops than manual link pasting.

🙌

Works great for me