Hooray! It's that time of year again - the BGG Secret Santa! Well, Christmas is still a while away, but if we want this to run smoothly, we got to get it started now.

If you want to sign up for the BGG Secret Santa, we invite everyone to get involved. But before you do, please read the following guidelines to make sure that we are all on the same page.

1.) We invite all to join, closing it on November 19th. At that point, each person involved will have a random name and address sent to them. Players should check the BGG profile and choose a game off of that person's wishlist and send it to them, so that it arrives by Christmas.

2.) All involved should update their wishlist (NOT want list) of games. Please have at least ten currently available games on your list, and try to have some of them fall within a reasonable price range. If you only have high priced, hard-to-find games on your list, don't be surprised when you don't get them.

3.) Secret Santa is all about the giving, not the getting, so be prepared that the person who is sending you a gift may be a jerk and not do so. Most people last year did a good job, but idiots do abound - and I urge you NOT to join the Secret Santa unless you plan to send a gift; this isn't "get a free game for nothing" club. Those who don't send gifts, and then won't respond to follow-up emails from us may have their accounts suspended, as we don't want the name of BGG besmirched by greedy folk.

4.) You should buy one game for the person who you are giving a gift to, and not a dinky game like a card game - use Ticket to Ride as a good control measure. However, there is no problem with going above and beyond - sending two, three, or even more games! And what makes it really cool is if you can personalize the gift somehow. Examples and ideas can be found on this geeklist.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/17908. Some really nice stuff was given out last year.

5.) This is an international Secret Santa. Everyone from all countries is welcome to join. Realize that you very well may be given someone from a foreign country, so be prepared to factor shipping into your gift. Some have complained about this in the past, but I am determined to keep this event truly international, and those who don't want to get involved are welcome to start a localized Secret Santa in their countries. I love the fact that BGG is pulling the whole international community together - and this is a really neat indication of that fact.

6.) I will add any online stores (from whatever country) wish to get involved in the program. Please notify me if you run an online store and want to get involved in the program.


An early Merry Christmas to all who get involved, and let's see how much fun we can have!!

oh cool!!! I'm in!!!

Gantrell
"KMG365"

Ditto! I just signed up.
Can't wait to find out who I get to be Santa to.


My first time for this.

Excellent! Thanks for running this, Tom.

I appreciate it may be a little more expensive at the moment for a US resident to buy and ship a gift for a UK resident than vice versa, but I endorse Tom's comments about the international aspect of this. Last year, I received a gift from Chile and I had never even communicated with anyone from Chile before - either on BGG or elsewhere.

In again!

I'm in!

We need a new microbadge too - if anyone has a good one post here, and I'll pick my fave - and give you some geekgold for the effort.

We have a lame one in the system for now - but I can update with your masterpiece.

Thanks for doing this again, Tom. I'm especially glad that you're starting it earlier this time. It seemed like the last two years there was a bit of a time crunch, especially for international recipients. I'm looking forward to shopping for a new friend again.

I'm in.

Almost signed up last year but then regretted it after seeing so many posts of people having fun with this, so will definietly sign up this year.

Hopefully the 200+ games on my wishlist will give secret santa enough choice

Thanks for organising this again Tom

In.

Great fun last year.

I'm interested in participating but also poor and high shipping costs internationally may be the deciding factor. I can justify dropping $30 - 40 on a game but another $20+ for shipping is too much (especially if I have to get the game shipped to me and then off to wherever in the world).

I was wondering if it would be cool if I found an online merchant in the same country as the giftee and had them listed as the sending location with my own address listed as billing. It may end up cutting into the secrecy of the whole secret santa thing but could also tip the scales towards my contributing.

BGG Secret Santa rocks!

Thanks for organising this again, Tom.

I was wondering that - did this happen at all in previous years? Even sending it straight from the suppliers to the giftee would save the postage which would be good, especially since we are having postal strikes in the UK at the moment...


I'm sure Nick (Moviebuffs) from Shire Games would consider being involved in this way for the UK end. I don't know him personally, but I know he is active on BGG and he has an excellent reputation for going that extra mile for customers.

Susie_Cat.

I'm in!

Woohoo!!

Oh ....

Shire Games in the UK will once again get involved.

That means that any games bought for the BGG Secret Santa will be anonymized (if that's a word) and gift-wrapped in nice sparkly Xmas paper before sending on.

Have fun all!


N.

What a great idea. I'm definitely in and love the idea it's international. I'm in Japan, but I don't mind shipping anywhere in the world.

Great minds ...... etc



N.

Yes, I can indeed verify this happened last year. I in fact helped a guy in Australia try to find a domestic store in the US to have the games sent from -- his Secret Santa was in the US. (Don't know how much of a help to him I ended up being in the end, though.) There are times when this is impossible because of the location of your target, but oftentimes this is possible.

Just be sure to find the store in the actual country of the target -- VAT is not your friend!

Will there be a special "Secret Santa" username which anyone can log into to taunt their targets with? That was one of my favorite parts last year.

My wife asked me about this only two days ago and I said I didn't expect to hear anything before early November. I was pleasantly surprised to see this already. Ok, let's go and make sure that wish list is updated properly then. Er - that's right, the Essen reports haven't shown up yet, I'll have to wait at least another week before I do that.

Thanks Tom, I'm in!

Thanks Nick - I've never been called a great mind before!

Count us in too...

Susie_Cat.

I haven't yet decided on whether I'm doing this, but I did recently have to do a shipping quote that might be relevant for those worried about potentially shipping abroad from the US.

Remember, the USPS has substantially increased rates from last year; just over 5 pounds (I'm The Boss + packing materials) from the US to Greece was just under $40 or $52, depending on the speed desired.

Yes, you could easily be spending more on shipping than on the game(s).

Just something to think about. (And a darn good reason to *not* be requiring involuntary international shipping, but I don't expect Tom to get off of that particular hobby horse.)

I'm in again, this was so much fun last year !

Thanks a lot for organizing this once more Tom !!!

Missed out on this last year as I was still new to the whole 'BGGSS' concept. Aint gonna be making that mistake again... I'm in

Well done, former fellow-countryman!

Now that I realise we can use local gamestores (is there a list of "shops BGG loves" anywhere?) to deliver the gifts, I'm in, too!

QUESTION: Is the name we enter on the form our BGG username, or our IRL name?

Happy Chanukah, everyone!