If You Aren’t Using Elfster, You Should Be

Have you heard of Elfster? It’s a fantastically easy to use website and app specifically designed for gift exchanges. In fact, more than 5.5 million people use it every year! It’s one of the most used online gift giving and Secret Santa generators for the Holiday Season.

I have 4 siblings and now that we are “all grown up” we have been using Elfster exclusively for our Secret Santa gift exchanges for the past 3 years. My super-busy sister (who happens to be a music teacher with hardly any free time) is able to coordinate the entire gift exchange without any stress. At all. 

Who needs more stress at the holidays? Not us. 

How To Have A Fun Gift Exchange With Elfster 

It’s really the easiest thing – and with their app, it is even easier and you don’t even need a computer! 

There are 5 crazy-simple steps to using Elfster. It’s way easier than drawing a name out of a hat and trying to guess what they want for Christmas (yikes!).  For the complete explanation (including answers to frequently asked questions) read the Elfster How-To page. 

Create An Account

You can join with your Facebook account, or create an account with your email address. Just remember which email address you used. This is how the organizer of your gift exchange will invite you to the group.  If you don’t want to use your personal email addres, ou can use a 10 Minute Mail service whenever you want to access websites that require a signup.

Join Your Elfster Gift Exchange Group

Next, send the organizer the email address you used to sign up. Once everyone that was invited confirms, s/he clicks one simple button and Elfster pairs people up! Not even the organizer knows who has whom. 

FYI – Before Elfster, my sister had to draw all the names for our gift exchange. Then, she emailed everyone with their secret Santa name. Not very secret, know what I mean? This is the best software for gift exchanges. Such a huge time saver and help! 

Make A Wishlist

This is a very important step! If you want to open a gift you actually wanted, then create a wish list.  Elfster lets you search for products and it pulls from websites like Amazon and Etsy. (Personal sidenote: I love supporting Etsy shops!)

Get Matched

With one click of a button, the organizer will tell Elfster to match everyone up! You’ll receive an email with a link to your pair’s profile and wish list. (See why it’s important to create a wish list?) 

TIP! – You can ask anonymous questions too. If you think you know something perfect, you can ask without giving away your identity. 

Go Shopping!

Shop directly through Elfster or take the ideas and shop wherever you want. So easy, right? 

Why We Have Used Elfster for the Past 3 Years

We’ve used Elfster because my siblings and I live so far apart from each other that it just makes sense. We’ve grown up and our tastes changed. By using Elfster it saves my sister (the organizer) a ton of time, and it helps make sure all of us receive gifts we actually want. 

What About You?

Have you used Elfster before? What did you think? Share your stories with me here or join the conversation on Twitter!