It was the only exciting part of the holidays. The matching, trying to figure out someone else's profile to find what to give, the packaging, the little details (I included QR codes) and made stuff.
I loved it. First time, I was matched with a philologist runner, I was given a book "The subtle art of not giving a f".
I remember sending a drawing/sketching set.
Most of the times, I put in effort, and got nothing. It was only once I got, that book. It was just sad, I wasn't in to get, but I definitely felt forgotten and worthless. I couldn't care less for the object, but the whole process behind it, someone thinking of me. And me, thinking of someone. Even if it was a complete stranger; that made it so much better, but that's another discussion.
Either way, I have no one to give something to or to prepare something for, and once this was cancelled, holidays lost any meaning.
I miss it too. The first year I signed up for international match and had a great time putting together an assorted gifr package of local treats. Then I discovered shipping was over 3x the value of the gift!
The next year I stayed local. And when our local subreddit also did a secret Santa, I participated in both. Sometimes I got thoughtful gifts back, other times either nothing or more generic white elephant type gifts.
Both are no longer operating, and my family no longer does any real gift exchange either. So I'm also really missing gift buying and receiving this year.
Would you like to exchange gifts with me?
I’ve been participating over at givin.gifts it’s been fun over there. Similar enough to Reddit Gifts that I have fun and out of the three exchanges I’ve participated in I’ve gotten good gifts back as well.
I’ve also been doing givin.gifts. I have done 7 exchanges and gotten some very thoughtful gifts, but twice I’ve had to get a rematch.
I’d love to exchange gifts. I’m lonely and a bit depressed and I miss secret Santa so much. I’m in Utah where are you at
Atlanta. I'm down, obviously not going to be in time for Christmas... Maybe New Year's? What budget is comfortable for you? I wouldn't want to go above $50.
$30-40?
Sure! Let's move to DM to exchange wish lists, unless you prefer to comment stalk to find ideas.
This will be fun, thank you for wanting to play.
I loved it initially but later years I got repeatedly screwed over. Like 3 years in a row my match didn't send anything or communicate with me at all. And for whatever reason I couldn't seem to get rematched!
That was my experience as well. It made me sad to see people not taking it seriously.
The celebrities dropping massive gifts on randos brought in a lot of people who saw it as a lottery. The first couple years I did it putting in a bunch of thought and expecting to get nothing in return only to get something thoughtful.
*Chef's kiss
My favorite was a crocheted "Get Schwify" decoration I got. I like to think of some little old lady knitting it for me. It warms my heart and goes by my tree every year.
Exactly why I say “good riddance” to this sub.
It was great but I think it got a bit too big to keep up the standard it had when people were just doing it for the love of the game. Once people started seeing that there was a chance Bill Gates could be their secret Santa, lots of people started doing it for no reason other than to get stuff.
I liked when we’d find out who got a gift from Bill Gates.
The December Secret Santa was always the one I did a regular gift and a volunteered to do a rematch gift.
Ohh the holiday cards too! I always did international on that one. Got cards from Japan and Russia.
I am with you on this one. It's just not the same and so sad it was canceled.
I miss reddit gifts in general. I enjoyed curating fun gift boxes for my picks but usually got slighted during secret santa. One year I got a microphone stand that clips to your desk. Not only do I NOT do any recording whatsoever, I don't even own a microphone. And nothing in my wishlists or questionnaires suggested that that would be a good gift. I think those couple of years where people went pretty public with what they received when they got matched with celebs, caused an influx of people looking to gift grab but not reciprocate.
I loved doing the random themed ones throughout the year. The participant pools tended to be smaller and I got some really thoughtful gifts from those exchanges.
Ugh yes I loved this too! I just love putting gifts together. I did it for 4 years. Always gifted something local, something handmade, and something bought from their list. My favorite gift I put together was a fellow nerd I made a TARDIS card for them hand painted all of their favorite characters on ornaments and gave them a Harry Potter blanket & puzzle.
I must've been very lucky because all but one time I got gifts in return. The very last year the person went all out and gave me like 7 gifts I was blown away and it turned out they had gone to the same college before me.
I did 50+ exchanges and only had to be rematched once. I was one of the lucky ones, I only got one gift that was obvious they looked in their closets and sent whatever junk they grabbed. I got some of the most thoughtful, handmade, personalized gifts I could ever have imagined. I've been doing GivinGifts since RSS ended. I haven't been burned, but I've never felt any of my Santas really gave a shit. I've done about 30 exchanges there. I'm in 3 right now, 2 I've received nothing from yet but the 3rd sent three gifts that are under my tree waiting to be opened.
I was up over 20 exchanges when it ended. Like you I only had to rematch once and only once did I get a cheap gift. I had many amazing exchanges. I remember using experience points of some kind for the last few exchanges to get matched with others that had higher experience. I think the gen pop is where more people got burned. I miss it a lot. Givin.gifts just doesn't have the same vibe.
I did over 10 exchanges and never had to be rematched, and each gift was SO thoughtful and personalized. I was blown away at how creative people were! Definitely miss the exchange.
Why was it canceled?
Basically reddit got tired of putting money into it.
They idea was exchanges would be sponsored and it would pay for themselves.
Only it didn't work out that way.
Oh. I see. I’m sorry.
Read the pinned post.
During the last one i part in, the person got my dogs a ton of things and in the card sent me a photo of their dogs with Santa. It’s still hanging on my fridge.
Every once in a while someone comes over and asks who the cute dogs are and I have to admit that I have no idea but that they were super sweet
Oh man I still remember one of the best gifts I ever received. The person found a picture of my dog and photoshopped him into all these funny scenarios and made it into a calendar. It was just such a thoughtful gesture and it made my year :')
I'm still so sad that SS ended!!
I loved it too! Although one year I got a bunch of MAGA stuff, and a note that basically said it was intentional because they'd looked at my profile and knew I was opposed to the whole MAGA vibe. That was weird, and stuff like that may have been what shut it down?
What a jerk! They couldn’t put aside their politics for a secret Santa exchange?
Everybody try Givin Gifts. It's a great alternative. Check out r/givingifts to learn about our community.
I discovered it late so only got one year, but it was lovely. My Secret Santa took care and effort and I got ace gifts; a huge selection of Reeces peanut butter chocolate bars, a cute doughnut cushion that I still use, and a Jo Brand DVD.
My giftee enjoyed his gifts too and left really nice comments.
I wish I'd discovered it sooner and feel sad it's no longer around too.
You can still participate in exchanges at r/givingifts
Ah, thank you, I'll take a look. That's kind of you, merry Christmas to you and yours x
You're most welcome. Merry Christmas to you and yours also!
I too want to recommend /r/givingifts (https://givin.gifts). They have themed exchanges every month, and a big one at the end of the year just like the main secretsanta that happened on Redditgifts.
Go check their subreddit and discord!
I just hung the cow ornament I got from my Santa one year on my tree. I miss this too!
I was just thinking this the other day, I miss it terribly. I had so much fun filling out the questionnaire and waiting for a match. I was so excited and anxious waiting for the exact moment I could see who I was gifting. And I put SO much thought into the gifts I prepared. I even did my best to help re-gift people too, it was all just so much fun.
You can still participate in exchanges at r/givingifts. They opened when Reddit Gifts shut down and have been doing exchanges in a similar fashion as RG did but with some improvements in my opinion.
Remind me, why the hell did they take this away from us? </3
Yep, I miss it a ton. I even miss the privilege of taking on someone who didn't get their gift so I could make it extra special.
It wasn't that I was some awesome person. I just loved it myself.
You can still participate in exchanges at r/givingifts and if you just want to rematch for someone who didn't get a gift you can do that at Givin Gifts too.
My cat still uses the toy my first SS (16 yr old!) got her! Breadsticks loves it.
I loved it too, I got some lovely postcards and handmade embroidery, books and more cross stitch thread than I will use in a lifetime, it was so beautiful and thoughtful. I framed the hand stitched pieces and waiting for renovations to find them a suitably special spot on the wall. Thank you again, Santas!
It was a really great idea but unfortunately, I participated four years in a row and while each time I connected with and got great gifts for my match, I never received anything in return - even from the rematches. While I didn’t participate to get anything specifically, I was so disappointed and disillusioned after that I stopped even wanting to try. I am willing to accepted one or two duds/lost packages but four failures and I’m out. It’s really sad how the few can ruin something so fun for the rest of us.
I miss it too! I did it twice. First time I received a beautiful snow globe that I still have out, second time I received chocolates and a necklace
Either way, this was something I really enjoyed. But everything I enjoy goes out the window.
I hear ya. Seems so many things are never going to be the same post Covid era.
I enjoyed the three years of Reddit Secret Santa that I participated in, and will always be grateful for the experience.
Obviously it’s not the same thing, but if it’s the gift giving aspect you enjoy, there are a lot of hospitals and other charities that let you “adopt” someone to give them a gift. They’re typically more personal than something like Toys for Tots where you just give any gift. Sometimes they give a list of items someone wants, and sometimes it’s more like Secret Santa - they give you info about the person and what they like, and you can gift something you think they would enjoy,
I miss it too :(
Some of my best cat jewelry was from secret Santa’s! I miss it too.
I really miss it as well. Putting together the packages and sending them out was so much fun.
You can still participate in exchanges at r/givingifts
I wish I had seen this sooner
If you still want to participate in exchanges you can participate in exchanges at r/givingifts they opened when Reddit Gifts closed and they have a Christmas exchange every year too since 2021. This year's Christmas exchange is already over but they have exchanges going on throughout the year.
I don’t miss sending out cool gifts and receiving trash.
I can send you a book!! If you want to you can send me a sketch!
I signed up 2 years in a row on a college student's budget, sent out nice gifts both years, and never got gifted in exchange. I completely quit after those two years. You can't convince me that so many people are just in this to receive and never give - it's the worst secret Santa I've ever participated in and I've participated in many.
I miss it and I only got to do it twice, the last two years of the program. Finally found something that brought me joy and bam.
You can still participate in exchanges at r/givingifts. They started up when Reddit Gifts closed down.
I miss it so much. The big Christmas one was actually my least favorite exchange they did, all of the little ones through out the year were the best. The snack exchange was my favorite.
You can still participate in exchanges at r/givingifts. They have multiple exchanges all year just like Reddit Gifts did and premium users are allowed to create themed user exchanges as well so you can also participate in those or create your own for people to sign up for if you purchase a premium membership. Givin Gifts also has an annual snacks exchange, I have personally had some great gifters for the Snacks Exchange on Givin Gifts.
One year I got a girl who said she loved IPA beer so I got her a set of hand cut glass large IPA bottles that were made into glass tumblers.
I got a Zelda keychain.
I did secret Santa like four years and put so much effort into making my presents thoughtful. And every year I got some second-thought present, so I completely understand how you feel.
I did it once and spent so much time making a gorgeous package with all the touches and even extra gifts for her daughter leaving for college as well. I got bookmarks on some weird material that were colored by the person who claimed they didn't have money to participate 🤦♀️🤷♀️
I miss it too
I was fortunate to get some thoughtful gifts each year, but I too really enjoyed the thinking about what to get my match and really trying hard to get something they'd want, and I did an extra for a rematcher the year I could afford to too. I loved all the thank you posts, both mine and just scrolling through random ones!
I work at a major shipping company and realized it's been a minute since I've seen any customers shipping reddit secret santa. We used to get a couple dozen each year at my facility. I generally dislike the christmas holiday, but the reddit secret santa is an exception.
Like, getting every single person you know a gift and getting a bunch of gifts in return is a nightmare. I hate it. But giving one random stranger a gift somewhere in the world, and you have to learn about someone from scratch to do it? Not only does that make it extremely fun and interesting, but it's also SO much more in the spirit of the holiday.
I agree was great and a lot of fun.
I really miss it too. Really brought such a fun element to the season.
If you're just wanting to give, and get thanks, I'd recommend being a Santa at r/stressfreechristmas or r/santaslittlehelpers and really brighten Christmas for a stranger.
It's the only time I've gotten a gift for Christmas... felt like zero effort was put into it, but it was a gift for me.
I put a lot of thought into my gifts. Made me feel good to know I could make someone feel seen.
This year is the worst... between the cost of my divorce, hard to find consistent work (the two major companies locally laid off thousands this year so everyone is looking for work... I started my own company to help, but people don't have jobs to be hiring people). I'm working 3 garbage PT jobs to pay for my lawyer and still owe them money. I don't even have money for my kids Christmas. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell the youngest about Santa, so she won't be a complete wreck on Christmas day. For some reason, this not happening is just the icing on top of the sad Christmas fruit cake.