There’s one thing I’ve been struggling with a bit. Shipping internationally is expensive. Significantly more expensive than the budget we set. So the whole process seems a bit inefficient to me. This always makes me feel like spending more on the gift so that the gift/shipping amount ratio is improved :P
I know that having a fixed budget is important, but I was wondering if there is a way we can take advantage of the fact that we’re often sending things half-way around the world.
One way I figured we can keep the budget but still take advantage of the shipping opportunity, is to allow the recipient to sponsor more items. So if I’m shipping stuff with a limit of 15$, then the recipient can ask me to send over additional stuff, and they can pay me back for that amount.
Of course, if the recipient doesn’t know who’s sending the gift, they can’t really ask for anything specific they want. It can just be more of what they specify in their wishlist, and there is a chance to be disappointed.
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? Is anyone else in a similar position?
I hear you on this – I’ve got the same problem when shipping gifts to my family back home.
I know it takes the local flavour out of the gift options, but if you order something that originates in the recipient’s country, then that means no international shipping…
I think it’s a bit tricky to ask the recipient of a gift to pay for the postage. If both the recipient and their santa are fine with it then anything goes, but I would agree with @jill that if postage is an issue (with pricing, but sometimes also because of bad post office service, or import restrictions, etc.), it can make sense to get it delivered from an online merchant that’s closer to the recipient (or who will work out the postage/import issues). Alternatively, if the fact that it comes from the santa’s country is an important part of the gift, then maybe just go for a smaller size / slower delivery, so that it fits in the santa’s budget?
To be clear, I’m not proposing that the recipient pay for postage, or even share in that cost. I’m saying that to make better use of the money already being invested in shipping, we can go above the standard gift budget. In this case, the recipient can then pay whatever amount the Santa goes over the $15 budget.
I personally am OK with just going over budget on the gift, but I understand that that goes against the sprit somewhat. So I proposed the above. i.e. a gift from Santa, restricted to the budget, but also a gift from the recipient to themselves which can have an arbitrary budget.
It seems I am the first to receive my gift this year :-)
I got this nice package of candies and treats along with a personalised post card two days ago:
It’s an incredibly wide spread of items including various candies and chocolates, a peanut butter spread, a marshmallow spread, and most importantly, a box of handmade candies.
I must say that despite being a marshmallow lover (especially of fresh ones I make at home), spreading it on bread isn’t something I’ve ever tried :-)
I’m ashamed to admit that it’s been over 30 years now since I’ve owned a LEGO set, despite loving the concept.
Thank you, @sarina, for the brilliant bundle of gifts! I was surprised by how much you managed to fit in. Looking forward to sharing these with my loved ones and spending some time with the LEGO set.
Unfortunately, I did not have to work hard to guess who sent this since I had to sign for this package, and it declared the senders name. It would have been hard to work it out, but would have been a fun challenge.
@kshitij it was so much fun to figure out what American (and even, Boston!) specific treats to send you; I had a whole team of friends helping me out. The marshmallow fluff and the Teddy peanut butter are made right here in the Boston area, and yes, sandwiches with the fluff and peanut butter are very common out here (not from where I’m from, in Arizona (western US)). You can even try the sandwiches grilled!
I hope you enjoy the candies, my aunts, uncles, and cousin run the candy store and were super excited to donate a box to send to India, the first time we’ve sent a box internationally. I was pretty bummed I had to put my name on the customs form - I wanted it to be a secret! - but I’m really glad you enjoyed.
My gift is an assorted collection of the most iconic masala chai blends from across India.
A masala chai is a tea preparation with different spices added into it, to add/enhance the aroma and flavour of the tea.
Each part of the country have their own unique style of preparing their tea. Not only does the spices vary, the method of prepraration as well as the strain and grade of the tea leaves themselves vary.
Thanks a lot @pooja for this wonderful gift. My whole family being tea lovers, would certainly enjoy this gift through the winter.
Also, the gift was delivered a few days back, but my neighbour received it, and I could get it from him only today.
Hi! I received my gifts a few days ago and absolutely love them - cats AND so cute! it’s perfect!
This is hard to guess because everyone knows I like cats :3 but I’m going to guess @gabriel only because he sent me my Contributor’s shirt thus would know the correct size for my tshirt.
A donation to the foundation have been made on your name :) Thank you for supporting the Coral Reef Alliance and helping us save the world’s coral reefs! Your donation will be put to immediate use protecting one of the most valuable and threatened ecosystems in the world—and also supporting the people who rely on the many services and benefits it offers.
This is very thoughtful gift, and a cause close to my heart.
I’ve got zero chance at guessing who it might be from, though… this message was sent anonymously through the secret santa app!
I received my gift today and my Santa was @kaustav !
What a treat!!! Kaustav sent me intriguing snacks (he even left me the receipt ), a conch shell, a carrying pouch, and a very cool-looking Ganesha hanging ornament
Thanks so much @kaustav for the great gift, I really appreciate it. Receiving this made my day! I’m looking forward to eating the snacks during my time off, and sharing them with my family
I’m glad to hear you like it and hope the shirt fits well (let me know if it doesn’t, and I can organise a different size). Initially, I put together a package of South African treats, but when I took it to the courier, they said they’d be very surprised if it made it across border control (apparently they’ve had some trouble with packages destined for the USA from SA). So I decided to play it safe and use Threadless instead.
In mid December I started receiving multiple packages with food-related items from my secret santa (I asked for spices and items to make food).
Initially, the packages only had my name on them (smart move!) and were purchased from local resellers. But, the last two ones came from Amazon and had @kshitij’s name on them.
Here’s what I’ve got:
Basmati rice
Garam Massala
Curry
Tea
I haven’t had the change to use the ingredients yet, but I’ll post a picture here once I do.
The tea is so good! I wasn’t really used to drink tea, and now I only have 3 packets left.
Thanks a lot for the gift @kshitij, I really liked it.
and I’ll pay back whatever amount is in excess of the $15 budget. 
which can have an arbitrary budget.
( ← very northern hemisphere-centric).
and my Santa was 
