You Need A Wish List!

When people get married or have a baby they register for items they want or need. You don’t want mis-matched plates or decorations that don’t really go with your theme – so you tell people exactly what you need. It’s also smart because this way people won’t buy items that you already own. I think the same attention should be paid to holiday gift giving.

Why not make a wish list of all the things you’d like to receive so your friends and family have a guide? It will save time and money. Some etiquette experts might disagree but I think everyone could use a little help with their holiday shopping.

You can always handwrite or email your lists with links to the items – that’s simple enough. Some retailers like Overstock.com, Amazon.com and Target.com have this feature for items found in their inventory. But I think there’s an even more productive way to do it – there are dedicated websites for this kind of thing. Who knew? Here are some of the ones I’ve checked out for you:

1. WishListr.com: This is a basic listing site. You will get a personalized URL that you can share with friends so everyone can see your list. You can include links to items so people know where to buy them and info such as what color or size you’d like. But the listing is very basic – as in… it doesn’t pull in photos from the links that you provide.

It allows you to pick different backgrounds for various lists depending on what occasion it is for – very festive! You can add friends who also use the service and look at their wish lists too. There is also a bookmarking feature where you can easily add items to your list from other websites – but it’s not as simple as other bookmarks – there is a bit of copy and pasting to do.

2. Kaboodle.com: This site is for serious shoppers – I mean…those of us who treat it like a sport. Kaboodle includes a lot of suggestions for gifts you might want according to your profile. You’re asked to “favorite” brands and their inventory is pulled in so you can quickly scan through all the items. You can also get deals on various items by checking back to this site.

Like other sites there is a button to download, which will allow you to add items from wherever you’re surfing on the web. It takes a snapshot including a photo and pricing information and adds it to your lists. You can share with friends and see other’s wish lists too.

3. WishPot.com: You can organize your shopping into various lists like a wish list, a pick list that allows you to write reviews about items, a baby registry, etc. There is a browser button that you can download which will grab a picture and price of the item you’d like.

The unique thing about this one is that you can search for items in various stores through their website. And you can email products directly to a personalized email address so it will automatically be entered into your lists. There is an option to put a priority level on gifts so people will know just how much you really want that gift – this will help gift givers narrow down options. There are alerts if you’re interested in finding out when items you’re shopping for go on sale! Love that.

4. Froogle.com: This is Google’s shopping site and it’s really easy to use. You just search for items that you want and “add to shopping list” or “add to wish list.” There isn’t’ really a sophisticated system for organizing your lists. But you can add comments and share rather easily. It’s very simple and basic — just to remember things that you like. I love anything that Google does so naturally this one is on my list.