Off-list gifts — discreet anti-duplicate

The principle — announce without revealing

An off-list gift is an idea you plan to offer to a loved one but which isn't on their wishlist. You picked it yourself, maybe a perfect-fit find. Rather than keep the info to yourself and risk another group member having the same idea, you announce it in a dedicated section of the wishlist.

Two principles make the magic work. First, the recipient never sees the off-list section on their own wishlist — the surprise stays intact, just like with regular reservations. Second, the gift is locked to you: no reservation, no contribution, no chat. You announce it, that's all — we trust you to handle the checkout.

Who can announce an off-list gift?

All group members can announce an off-list gift on a loved one's wishlist, including editors and the guardian of a list managed for someone without an account. No quota: you can announce as many as you want if you really have several ideas in mind.

One logical exception: the wishlist recipient sees nothing and therefore can't announce anything on their own wishlist. If a member is both a group editor AND the recipient of the list being viewed, they are treated as a recipient — no access to the section, to preserve the surprise. On other members' wishlists, they regain all their usual rights.

How to announce a gift

On a private wishlist page, a dedicated section is collapsed at the bottom of the list — kept apart from the regular gift ideas to clearly distinguish the two. You expand it, click the add button and a form opens.

The form is deliberately light: a title, a short description if you want to specify model or size, a link to the product, an optional image. No mandatory price, no quantity, no priority — it's an announcement, not an item to reserve. Once submitted, the gift appears in the section with your first name next to it so others know that you're the one covering it.

Two date rules to know. Creation is open until the event date included — the day after, nothing moves anymore, just like the rest of the wishlist. And the section disappears for everyone as soon as the list reaches its expiry date: the recipient then enters reservation-reveal mode, and off-list gifts no longer need to appear.

You're in a shop, the gift already in hand? You can also announce an off-list gift by scanning its barcode — available only from the mobile app. Find all the details in the Mobile app guide.

Edit or delete your announcement

As long as you're before the event date, you stay in control of your announcement: you can edit the title, description, link or image, and you can delete it if you change your mind (gift found elsewhere, idea dropped). Only the announcer can edit their own gift — other members cannot reserve it, modify it or contribute to it.

The group editors have a moderation right: they can delete an off-list gift announced by another member if it's problematic (inappropriate post, accidental duplicate with an official list item, etc.). This right doesn't extend to editing — an editor cannot rewrite someone else's announcement, only remove it.

Notifications and confidentiality

With every new announcement, an in-app notification is sent to all group members — except the announcer themselves (you already know what you just added) and except the wishlist recipient, never notified to preserve the surprise. No email for off-list gifts: it's deliberately discreet, the info stays inside the app.

On the privacy side, the separation is strict: the section is technically isolated from the regular wishlist items. The recipient sees no trace of off-list gifts, not in the list, not in their notifications, not in the stats. You can announce in full confidence.