The words people use around gifting
Ten terms that show up whenever gifts get organised, each explained in a couple of sentences.
Wishlist
A list of things a person actually wants to receive, written by that person. A good one mixes price ranges and carries enough detail, such as size or colour, for someone else to buy confidently. In an app, each item can hold a link, a photo and a price.
Read moreGift list
Another name for a wishlist, used more often for a specific occasion: a birthday, a wedding, a housewarming. The practical difference is scope. A gift list belongs to one event and is usually shared with the people invited to it.
Read moreGift registry
A wishlist tied to a shop or a service, traditionally for weddings and baby showers. Guests buy from the registry and it marks each item as taken. Registries work well for one big event and less well for everyday gifting across the year.
Claiming a gift
Marking a gift on someone's wishlist as yours before you buy it, so nobody else buys the same thing. Everyone else sees the item change status; the wishlist owner sees only that it is taken, not by whom.
Read moreSecret Santa
A gift exchange where everyone in a group is randomly assigned one other person to buy for, usually with an agreed budget. The pairings stay secret until the gifts are opened. It is popular in offices and large families because everyone buys one gift instead of many.
Read moreAnonymous giving
Claiming and giving a gift without the recipient learning who is behind it. The owner of the wishlist sees that a gift is being prepared, but not the name. It keeps the surprise intact right up to the moment the gift is handed over.
Read moreGroup gift
One gift prepared by several people, usually because it is too expensive or too big for one person. Some apps pool money for it; others, Gift Buddy included, coordinate who does what and leave the payment to the group.
Read moreRegifting
Passing on a gift you received to someone else. It has a bad reputation, mostly from being done carelessly. The etiquette is simple: the item should be unused, genuinely suited to the new recipient, and never handed back into the circle it came from.
Universal wishlist
A wishlist that accepts items from any shop, rather than one retailer. You paste a product link and the item joins the list with its title, photo and price. This is what separates a standalone wishlist app from a single-store registry.
Read moreGift etiquette
The unwritten rules around giving: how much to spend, when to ask what someone wants, whether to include a receipt, how to react to a gift you do not like. Most of it comes down to sparing everyone the awkwardness.
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