How Can I Keep Track Of Gifts I’d Like?

In my family, we're all heavy tech users. Buying the wrong thing is bad, so we started using WishLists 5+ years ago.
It's great when you mother can safely purchase the new i7 motherboard for your birthday AND it is the right one.

I use Amazon and Newegg for wishlists.

I can't imagine using google for that - give an advertising company my shopping list just doesn't seem very smart. Obviously, I've never registered my newborn with all the grocery stores either.

TheFu

@40Tech: I logged in to put Evernote into play. This is a great option!

Here's another vote for Amazon's Universal Wishlist. I use it to keep track of things I want to eventually buy, and when I have some spare cash I may go there and order something. Come December, I point people to my list so they can pick out something for me that I haven't bought myself yet. It's genius.

groberts1980

I'm a big fan of Kaboodle. They were universal before Amazon was and tghey also have different list type. For example, not only do I have a wishlist for other people, a personal wishlist but also travel ideas and a "how to" list.

gryphyn

Now that Evernote has added sharing features, this is really easy. You could set up a shared notebook called "wish list" and then put all your wanted items into that notebook. You can even clip web pages depicting the items, and clip them into that notebook. You then could send the link to your shared notebook to your family, and they could check it whenever they wanted to. They don't even need to be Evernote users to view the notebook. The one shortcoming is that buyers won't be able to indicate when they've already bought you something on the list (I think that now or in the future, Premium users may be able to share and edit one another's lists).

There's also and FB app for the amazon wish list, so that you can have a box on your profile that shows some of your wishlist goodies.

Charles Matulac

@proudmonkey:

I do the exact same thing. Very easy if you use the delicious bookmarklet.

Aaron Slutsky

Point them towards my Amazon wishlist.

captainhampton

Don't forget http://www.elfster.com

Personally, I like Amazon's Universal Wishlist, with one caveat: if you have people who might not be so net-savvy potentially buying gifts, make sure they understand that not everything on your list is coming directly *from Amazon.*

I ran into this problem with an item I'd added from the universal wishlist button that a relative bought for me. It took ages to show up, and he assumed the order had gotten lost because Amazon didn't have any record of it, and he couldn't find a charge from Amazon on his credit card statement.

anthom

@proudmonkey: me too, it's really convenient this way :D

surfmadpig

@Voltron43: I do the same thing and just share it with those that i want to see it. I think this is a much more versatile option than others mentioned and it doesn't require you to remember yet another password.

I use del.icio.us and set a "wishlist" tag.

proudmonkey

[PLEASE get rid of the Facebook nonsense so I can read the comments at work. They don't load as it is (Facebook traffic is blocked). At the very least, allow it to be disabled for a user/session!]

Amazon's Universal Wish List is a great way to add donations to various causes to a place relatives are likely to actually find.

I put all sorts of donation ideas, from EFF to Decoder Ring Theatre to Jonathan Coulton to Rockbox to Escape Pod, Consumerist, &c., &c.

You can also add items unique to other websites like the Death & Taxes Poster, the GP2X Wiz MAME/C64/&c. emulator, Ubuntu T-Shirts, Transformers Ravage USB Memory Stick, &c.

brianary

I actually just bookmark stuff in delicious that I want with 'stuffiwant'. This wasn't intended as a wishlist, but to my surprise, my wife actually searched my delicious bookmarks for this tag a while back and got me something from the list. Such an awesome surprise - have been using that tag a lot more now. :)

May I join your family? I promise to be a gift giver too. I saw that first paragraph and I was moved. I guess I'll go and read the rest now.

paintbox

Another site to consider: www.thethingsiwant.com

Buzz Lightyear

@OnTheCastingCouch: Being a good gift giver is an art. But anyone can do it. A few years ago I wrote a seven-step plan on how to become one: http://outtacontext.com/life/archive/000278.shtml

@daddydave: Also supporting the bug theory, editing a comment breaks links to other comments as well, not just external links.

Editing a comment, in fact breaks a lot of things, like line breaks.

I second Kaboodle. Switched from Amazon a few years ago. Best feature is "reserve" so my family who doesn't shop via Amazon can claim an item to prevent duplicates.

harrymcback

@kflott:

I had a link this morning until I edited the comment.

Not sure if they've said whether this is a bug they are working on or one of the perks of being an unstarred commenter. (I assume the former, since they trust me with image and video.)

@benjaminrmiller:

i do the same here with "wishlist" as the tag. then you can use http://delishlist.com/ to clean it up to send out to friends and family.

I just use Gubb (https://www.gubb.net/home). I have a presents list which I add stuff to for my birthday/xmas and also a Wanted list. Stuff gets added first to my Wanted list then I move it to the Presents one a few months before my birthday if I've not bought it in the meantime.

ArcherMelampus

I just use a Google Docs form and spreadsheet to create my wish list with a link to each item. The spreadsheet is then made public and the link is posted to my profile.

Voltron43

Universal wish list is awesome.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/wishlist/get-button/

I'm surprised no mention of Kaboodle.com

It lets you add pretty much anything on the web to a wish list, and has a handy firefox extension to make adding items really easy.
I don't actually use it that much but my wife swears by it. Personally, I prefer cash or gift cards, but a lot of people think that's too impersonal...

http://www.kaboodle.com/

(No I don't work for them or anything like that.)

P.S. How do I make a link in this new comment system?

i use www.delicious.com and it works great. i have a category called "buys" for everything i find during the year that i want. then you can direct your family to www.delicious.com/yourname/buys where they can find everything to get you. i also have a category called "herbuys" which i use for gift ideas for my wife throughout the year (a much harder challenge in my book!). i just click "don't share" so she can't spoil the surprise.

benjaminrmiller

I get the worst gifts from my husband's grandmother, who openly admits she hates shopping and is terrible at giving gifts. (one might also add, she is equally bad at RECEIVING gifts.....but that is all for another post). So, what can one expect from someone who hates giving you a gift? One year I got a sandcastle as big as a tissue box, and it had a sign that read: "It's Sand". yea! one year she got me a blue and black thing made from shells that is supposedly some sort of wind chime and it said "Perfect for your porch or trailer". yep. When she asked where it was a couple of months later, I told her it blew off the porch in a big wind, it was a shame, we loved it so. OH, and then there were the bunnies dressed like pilgrams for Thanksgiving. ALso, there was a framed Jesus, which couldnt blow away in the wind, so it fell off the hallway wall in a furniture moving inciident. I got a vest one year with knitted santa's on it. So, this service woulod be perfect, except she doesnt understand computers or why anyone would use the, except to play slots.
I'm so NOT, looking forward to Christmas.

OnTheCastingCouch

I use delicious.com for wishlists, but MY wishlists are for things I want to buy for myself, and I don't really keep them up to date as to whether I have bought them or not, or whether they are still relevant.

Several years ago I setup a Wiki on my web site for my family to use as a Want/Wish list. This is mainly used now for Christmas, although it came in handy for birthdays as well.

My Dad has especially remarked a few times how he finds it very handy then in the past where we printed up lists and gave to our parents and family members.

We can section out by category (if our list is complex enough) and create links to examples and such. Each family member has their own Wiki page for their list.

I used to use MediaWiki inside of Joomla, but a couple years ago switched to using DokuWiki (its a bit simpler and faster at the time since DokuWiki doesn't use a MySQL database for everything).

maxrebo

I don't quite understand. Does the person in question wish to receive more gifts relevant to his/her interest or none at all?

If you really don't want any gifts, or still end up getting random stuff, simply donate it to someone who will have use for it. It's a win-win situation: you rid yourselves of items which would likely end up as clutter, and someone in need can derive meaningful use from it.

jeejum

In our family we email lists to each other with gift ideas with a broad range of prices and email addresses of everyone we sent the list to so they can make sure that no two people buy the same thing. The first year there was some resistance to the idea, but after everyone saw how well it worked we have been doing it ever since.

My wife actually makes a spreadsheet with links to the best deals.

bullfroghrr