Reservations & Group contributions

Reserving an item — full or partial

Reserving an item on Olaf Wishlist is simple and unambiguous. One click, and the item is marked as reserved for all other group members — except the gift recipient, who never sees reservations before their list expires.

When the list is kept on someone else's behalf — a child's list, for instance — the people who look after it see the reservations and can place their own, since the gifts are not for them. That is what lets several of them organise together.

For items with a quantity greater than 1, you can make a partial reservation: reserving 2 items out of 5 wished for, for example. Other members can cover the rest. This feature avoids duplicates while allowing several people to contribute to the same wish.

In a shop, you can also reserve by scanning the product's barcode: if it's on a loved one's list, Olaf offers to reserve it on the spot. This feature is available only from the mobile app — see the Mobile app guide.

If you would rather not announce to the group what you are giving, an option in your profile hides your name from the other participants: they see that the gift is taken and how many units, without knowing who took them. Each group can also, from its settings, hide the names of everyone who reserves: that is how a new group starts. The person being spoiled still discovers your name and your message when the list is revealed.

Personal note for the gift recipient

When making a reservation, you can leave a personal note for the gift recipient. This message can be a warm word, an explanation about the chosen gift, or simply your best wishes for the occasion. The message remains secret until the list's expiry date.

This is one of Olaf Wishlist's most loved features: it turns every reservation into a heartfelt gesture, beyond simply giving an object. The gift recipient discovers these messages after the event — a lovely surprise on top of the gifts!

Group contributions — giving together

The group contribution allows a group of people to coordinate giving an expensive item together. The person who initiates the contribution sets their own share, then sends invitations to other participants. Each participant indicates their contribution, and the item is automatically reserved once the contribution is finalised.

Important: contributions and partial quantity are mutually exclusive modes — an item cannot be both in contribution mode and in partial reservation. This choice is defined at the item level when it is created. This rule ensures consistency in the management of complex reservations.

"My Reservations" dashboard

The My Reservations page is your cross-cutting dashboard: it brings together in one place all your active reservations, regardless of the group or list involved. At the top of the page, a counter recaps each of your commitments: the gifts you have reserved, the group contributions you are taking part in, your reservations on public lists and the gifts you have announced outside the lists. The "My Reservations" card on your home page shows exactly the same count. Items are grouped by wishlist, with the gift recipient's name and the event date clearly displayed — upcoming events appear first, past lists below.

For a single reservation (one unit only), the item is shown with its "Reserved" badge, its image and the personal note you left for the gift recipient — you can re-read it at any time.

For a partial reservation (an item wished for in several units), the card shows the quantity you have reserved relative to the total quantity wished for (for example "2 out of 5"), the number of units already taken by other members and the number still available. Up to and including the event day, you can adjust your quantity or cancel your reservation directly from this page.

For a group contribution you have joined, what is displayed depends on its status. While the contribution is still open, the item appears in a dedicated "My Contributions" section at the bottom of the page: you can see the initiator's name, your committed share, the amount already gathered by the group and any note you may have added. Once the contribution has been finalised by the initiator — the item is then reserved for the gift recipient — it joins the main reservations list, along with the full details: total amount reached and the list of participants with their respective shares.

Your reservations on public lists — a wedding, a birth — also appear on this page, in a section of their own. Each card shows the item, the name of the list and the event date, with a link back to the list and a button to cancel as long as the event is not over.

A final section brings together the gifts you have announced outside the lists: they too are grouped by list, with a link to the list concerned and the buttons to edit or withdraw your announcement as long as the event date has not passed.

This overview is invaluable when you are part of several groups or when the festive season approaches: no more navigating group by group to remember what you promised to give.

Time rules and cancellation

Reservations remain possible up to and including the event day. From the next day, lists are frozen: no more reservations or cancellations are possible. This rule ensures that gifts are organised in advance, in line with the event's schedule.

Until then, a reservation can be cancelled by the person who reserved or by a group editor. In the event of an unforeseen circumstance or change of plan, this flexibility frees up the item so another member can reserve it instead.

When you're entrusted with managing a list

Managing a list and giving a gift on it don't go together: the surprise wouldn't hold up. If you're entrusted with managing a list on which you had reserved, your reservations are cancelled, along with your contributions to group gifts and the off-list gifts you had announced on it. Olaf lets you know with a notification. If you had already bought something, talk to the person who entrusted the list to you.

The amounts pledged by the other participants in a group contribution are never lost: the contribution carries on without you. The only exception: on the list of a loved one without an account (a child, for example), you keep the right to reserve and nothing is cancelled.