The most complete list of gift exchange rules anywhere!

The white elephant and secret Santa gift exchanges are the most popular gift swapping parties for groups during the holidays. Similar group gift parties are used by direct sales companies like Tupperware every day of the year. The PartyWeDo recreational experts monitor the gift exchange industry to assist you in finding the best ways to share gifts with family and friends. Our team has collected the most complete list of gift exchange rules and suggestions available on the web. We encourage you to share these ideas with your friends and family.

On the right side of the page is a line of buttons that will take you to various white elephant and other gift swap ideas. We hope that you will try any variety of these great party games for your next group gathering.

Your Going to LOVE this Party!

In every style of gift exchange game there is a requirement that everyone bring a wrapped white elephant gift to the party. Keeping the identity of the purchaser of each gift is an important part of the fun. Some gift exchange games like the White Elephant Secret Shopper game use the secret identity of each gift purchaser as a part of the fun so secrecy is critical. Do not put your name on the gift, and try to be as stealthy as possible with your gift delivery to the party host.

It is the responsibility of the party host to collect and administer the gifts for the exchange. Some hosts require that all wrapped white elephant gifts arrive in a garbage bag to conceal their identity. It is recommended that hosts meet players at the door to collect the gifts and to keep track of how many gifts are available for the exchange. Most gift exchanges require that all of the gifts are gathered together in one spot for the game-play activity. Hosts should set up the room so that all players can have easy access to the presents during the exchanging process.

Gifts are the center piece of a successful gift exchange party so the host must establish some rules or guidelines for the white elephant gifts.

The white elephant or Yankee Swap gifts should:
* Have a suggested price range… Hosts should set a price limit for gifts so that people don’t become to extravagant or go too cheap. Most gift exchange party gifts fall between 15 and 35 dollars each. The exception to this rule is the Bridal Gift Exchange Party or the Birthday Gift Exchange Party where gift pricing is not so much of an issue, because the bride or birthday person is getting all the gifts anyway.
* Be tasteful… This is a very subjective rule depending upon the crowd that is invited to the party. The host should give some guidelines concerning adult themes or other embarrassing products if some of the invitees might find them offensive. Don’t stifle the creative or fun white elephant gifts from coming to the party, just be sensitive to the crowd and use common sense.
* Inspire conversation…. Creating fun banter and friendly conversation is the hallmark of a great party. Suggest to all players that they use some creativity when it comes to selecting a gift. (Here are some links to get your creative juices flowing from the AlbinoPhant marketplace)

15 Dollar Gifts

20 Dollar Gifts
25 Dollar Gifts
30 Dollar Gifts

35 Dollar Gifts

Finding gifts that are a balance between useful, desirable and just plain wacky is an art-form for the better gift exchange shoppers. Gift shopping for this type of party can be one of the most rewarding parts of the activity.

White Elephant gift parties have two schools of thought when it comes to gifts. One side suggests that white elephant gifts should come from the back of the closet or the dusty storage room. These people would love to play a White Elephant Regifting game, were all gifts are used or barely used. The other group follows a more historical perspective, suggesting that in ancient Siam white elephants were highly prized and important gifts (learn more about the Albino Elephants of Siam HERE). This group plays the gift exchange with newly purchased gifts. Ether way is perfectly fine and should work with any of the gift exchange rules listed here on the AlbinoPhant online white elephant party site.

The host must also decide before hand how the game playing order will be administered. A gift exchange is a turn-based activity, where players are selected randomly to take a turn in the game.

If the host chooses the White Elephant Spin the Bottle game, then attention must be paid to the room set-up and finding a bottle to spin. Most hosts use a numbering system and a container (hat, pot, basket, or bag) to provide a random number selection system. This will require several slips of paper with numbers to correspond to the number of gifts brought to the game. In the Online White Elephant Party the players are selected with a computer-controlled randomizer software program.

The game begins by gathering all players into their seats and identifying the leader of the game; usually the host is this person, but it could be anyone assigned to that duty. The rules of the party should be reviewed so that everyone is clear as to what to expect during the white elephant game. Remember to pay attention to unique rules if you are doing an exchange that is not traditional.

Gifts should be placed in the center of the seating area prior to the beginning of the game.

NOTE: We will describe the basic rules of game play for a traditional gift exchange activity and try to mention where there are variation in other types of white elephant gift parties.

The leader then uses the random selection devise (bottle or numbers in the container), to identify the first player of the game.

On the first turn, person #1 chooses a gift, opens it, and displays it to all of the other players. In the case of the White Elephant Gift Auction, the White Elephant Caroling Exchange or White Elephant Left Right games there will be other requirements for person #1 (see individual rule sheets for these games. Most hosts require that the opened gifts remain in full view of all players during the game (no “squirreling-away” a desirable gift from the other players).

The leader randomly selects the next player in the gift exchange.

On the second turn, person #2 gets the choice of “stealing” any unwrapped gift (#1′s) or choosing a wrapped one from the gift pile.

If the second player “steals” the gift from person #1, then person #1 can choose a replacement gift from the pile of wrapped presents. In all games there is no immediate steal-backs allowed ( person #1 can not re-steal the gift just taken by person #2) Stealing back a gift that was once in your possession must wait at least one-turn removed before stealing it back.

NOTE:  You will discover that the most exciting and unique white elephant gifts will build the most conversation.  Usually there will be one or two stand-out gifts that will get the conversation going and will be the target of most of the stealing.  We can’t stress enough that part of the fun of the party is the finding the best white elephant gift and then watching how your friends and family react to what you purchased, once it is revealed.  Now back to the rules…

The leader randomly selects the next player in the gift exchange game.

On the third turn, person #3 gets the choice of “stealing” any unwrapped gift (#1′s or #2′s) or choosing a wrapped one. Game continues based on the following:

1. – If a gift is stolen from you, you can steal a gift from someone else (see #3 and #4 below), or open a new one.

2. – Turns proceed until everyone has a gift. A turn is ended when a gift is opened and displayed to everyone.

3. – A gift cannot be stolen more than once in a turn.

4. – The third “owner” of any stolen gift gets to keep it – it is unavailable to be stolen again. This is the rule in the White Elephant 3 Steal game, but is completely broken in the White Elephant Commando party.

At the end of the last turn, the first person (who had no choice at the beginning) can choose to “exchange” any gift with any player that has a gift available (not stolen 3-times) for the taking. There are some people who choose to not have the first person make the final selection. This is up to you.

The game ends.

Our family has enjoyed white elephant parties for many years as a way to save money on gift giving. When our children left the nest we started playing the game online. AlbinoPhant is the online white elephant party that you can play with family and friends that don’t live close by. We have built this party game so that you host and then enjoy all of the same functions of the party that you would have at home, but with some exciting twists. If you and your guests have an email address and a computer you can play AlbinoPhant. We make the hosting process seamless and completely electronic.

This online party keeps track of your invitation list and then let’s you know who has RSVP’d to your party. You can set the pricing of your white elephant gifts for a level playing field. AlbinoPhant provides all of your guests a great gift shopping experience with markets powered by Amazon.

The game is structured just like the traditional party so you will see all the wrapped gifts and watch as gifts are opened and displayed. AlbinoPhant keeps track of who has which gift and randomly picks the turns. There is a comment area where players can express their thoughts and create lively banter. The extra benefits include picture posting and Youtube videos that will add to the fun. It is a social game that mimics everything that you would do in your living room at a regular gift exchange party. We know that you will have a great time in this online white elephant party…

If you want to give an online white elephant gift party a try you can use offer code 1234 when you host your own AlbinoPhant party.

We are always looking for unique ways to play the white elephant gift exchange party. If you have something to share, please send us an email at partywedo@gmail.com or post your idea here on this post.

We encourage you to share these ideas with family and friends by linking to this page or downloading and printing the rules for your event. Here is some HTML code that you can use for linking to our site:

We would appreciate if you would use the words:

when doing a link to our site

If you would like some other fun ideas for gift exchanges please explore other pages on this site. Have a great party!

The AlbinoPhant site can be your resource for many gift exchange events. If you are looking for Invitation ideas or Decorations and Treats you can find them on the pages of this gift exchange resource site. We are passionate about the white elephant gift exchange system and suggest this activity for any and all gift sharing events in your world.

You would think that powerful social media leaders would endorse big group parties. After all, their perspective is based upon socializing with all of the world wide web.

But I found it interesting that one of the biggest names in social networking discussed his Facebook personal account, which he manages just for those he is closest too. I completely understand why Chris Brogan’s family runs on Facebook, in what could be considered a private party.

Chris has many friends within the internet social space, including Facebook. I am grateful for his connection with me in a few of these web networks and our brief discussions on family in the past. I know that he keeps his family close in both life and business.

Keeping our family close is why parties are so important to our culture of social support and love. Family parties are closed events; private and intimate expressions based upon personal deep-rooted connection.

The same individuals who attend a huge gala party at the civic center to improve their social status, crave the private party in the family room to celebrate the important life-events of those whom they love.

Facebook has become just one tool in providing families various levels of communication, from broad to intimate.

Our family has used these internet tools as a way to stay personally connected in a spirit of love and support, no matter the distance.

The massive world of the web has given us back our private party. What about you?

Maria T. Bailey makes her living by knowing what Moms want. Today she shared what the Mom Market will look like in the next 5-years.

It is exciting to witness the rapidly evolving mommy market first hand, and then to see experts validate some of the thoughts that Sarah and I have had as we prepare our online party concept we are calling PartyWeDo.

Maria suggests that in next five years we will see Tupperware parties hosted online, using computers and social networking tools that virtually mimic the home party systems of the past. She sights evidence that this is beginning to happen on Twitter for baby showers.

We are demonstrating that the PartyWeDo concept will add an even greater level of engagement into the online home party plans of the future.

These five year predictions also suggests that there will be Moms who will build loyalty in a family brand that will link generations together for many reasons. This is evident in our family even today.

My wife Sarah remains the anchor of our family brand and is the most active in gathering the generations together on the internet. It was Sarah’s desire to connect that lead us to start sharing gifts as a family on the internet. This web activity lead to the creation of the AlbinoPhant party and ultimately to the business of PartyWeDo.

Maria should also take into account that millions of Moms will become empty-nesters within the next 5-years, just like Sarah is today. These women will be desperate to find ways to stay involved in the lives of many generations, all at the same time. These women will want to share gifts in a more exciting way, even when the family is dispersed around the country. A Mom’s giving nature will provide a great many marketing opportunities for e-Retailers in the future.

We are excited to be on the leading edge of these trends and thank forward thinking women for their efforts to keep family connections strong.

Thanks to azurehat.com for the image

After reviewing some of the business models employed by the social networks, we are struck with the lack of self-sufficient concepts being employed.

Many are falling back on advertising or virtual transactions because recession has made it difficult to sustain a business without a solid model.

Just two years ago there was a effort to find and define the various business models for an internet business.

I have included a few links to some of the business models lists:

From Fred Wilson comes a long-tail list.

From professor Michael Rappa who wrote, “In the most basic sense, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself — that is, generate revenue. The business model spells-out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain”. (We will discuss how the Value Chain is important to selling in a minute.)

Dave McClure spent some time discussing Facebook’s need to find a good business model in early 08 when he suggested, “All they gotta do is figure out how to Show Me The Money“.

The big social platforms like Facebook and Twitter have relied on rapid growth to buy time, as they figured out a monetization model that could sustain. In the end, they have mostly fallen back on advertising sales to pay the bills.

Selling advertising is great. But Google and thousands of other sites are reaching into the pocket of advertisers all at the same time.

Yes, advertising is an important part of the process of selling, but it is not finding a great deal of success in social networks.

Selling things (real things) has been a part of the business value chain for generations. Selling goods can be adapted to the large internet networks as well, but the sales offer must fit the audience.

As we study the list of business models, we feel that the sustainable models for social spaces will begin in Affiliate sales and then move into full-on E-commerce.

Nothing happens of real value until someone sell something. Amazon sells real stuff, so does Ebay, Microsoft and Apple. Sustainable models work off from the proven components of cost-of-goods, capture-cost, mark-up and efficient distribution.

The internet already has proven Affiliate sales commissions and E-commerce both succeed online… The Web 2.0 world will eventually evolve into a place where it is common to buy something real by using an application that adds extra value to the purchase and delivery process.

Sell something and sustain!

It has been reported that Facebook continues to build strong engagement statistics . AllFacebook announced that the number one social network is now gathering an average of 143 pages viewed per user, every month. This represents a huge lead over other web properties.

Our family knows about engaging websites that draw us back time and time again. For the past 4-years we have gathered online to share gifts and conversation for a few days before Christmas.

We all live in different parts of the country so we can only get together on the internet. Our family game makes us feel closer when we can’t gather in real life.

Here are the statistics of this engaging party:
… 11 players participated for 19 days.
… 789 comment visits were made to the party page
… 67 pictures where gathered from Google images where linked to the party.
… 37 videos where gathered from YouTube into the activity.

It is not possible to know the actual page views that the game creates, but we each spent a great deal of effort and time to stay engaged.

It is a great blessing that the internet has provided us the opportunity become engaged with any of our family and friends, and the latest numbers from Facebook is just one more illustration that we all want to stay connected.

This has been an interesting year for the rambunctious infant business, Facebook. Like any two-year-old they have moved everything in the room up at least one level.

When a toddler comes into our house we immediately move up the knickknacks and put the door locks on the cabinet doors. If we don’t, they would be into everything!

Facebook has moved from crawling to sprinting around our internet houses like a whirl-wind. And this growth spurt has caused some growth pains for many.

But like any birth date, we should celebrate what has been accomplished in the last 12 months, and then look forward to what might be ahead.

Nick O’Neill of AllFacebook said it best: “While the past year has been a bumpy one, hanging on to the rocket that is Facebook has no doubt proven to be an exciting ride”!

Happy Birthday Facebook…. We should throw you a party…

Maybe a huge gift exchange? I know of an application that would be just the ticket!

And it is on Facebook….

Marketing Trend reports continue to suggest that online retailers have a huge opportunity to use social networks as a sales channel.

Most of these internet retailers are attempting to use traditional advertising methods and static pages to reach out to the connected-groups on the web. This approach has yielded a mixed result, due to the unique nature of social network usage.

In one trend report the author suggested that…“A critical challenge remains the ability to effectively harness the marketing intelligence inherent in the way people communicate and interact with one another through the digital medium and make it actionable”.

Since most of the social web is built as a mimic of social interactions from the real world, we might find an actionable e-commerce solution the same way.

We know that people purchase things for each other desiring to ether give support or to build up a relationship. The act of delivering the item carries the non-verbal message that someone cares enough to sacrifice money, thought and time for someone else.

When this delivery is completed in person, the added verbal communication, facial expressions and physical contact reinforces the message. It is hard to beat going to Target, wrapping a gift and then showing up on the doorstep of someone you love.

The disconnected nature of e-commerce takes this physical interaction from the process, loosing some of the impact of the message.

Social networks and e-Retailers are trying to find solutions to this disconnect, and they will eventually find a good mimic.

The answer will come as we apply more of the product distribution activities we use in our real social life to the process.

Any great ideas?

The bell rings and you swing open the door to reveal the smiling UPS driver, holding an Amazon box… Your birthday present has arrived…

This same story plays out millions of times a year with little fanfare or personal impact, because UPS isn’t tasked to deliver personality, fun or Love. They only distribute the box, get a signature and then move on down the road.

The UPS distribution system is a marvel of good logistics and great efficiency, but they deliver boxes… not love.

Many of the items that the UPS driver handles are expressions of love, sent by family and friends to support important life events. UPS simply becomes the intermediary in a process that would have been more personal, if the parties had lived closer to each other.

When it comes time to give a birthday present to a distant friend, we shop with love and thought. We wrap the gift with bright paper, a bow and some ribbon. Then, because we must ship, the gift is placed in a plain box and given to UPS.

What would happen if we could insert some of our personality and love into the gift distribution process?

Maybe we could require that the UPS driver wear a party hat or sing a short birthday tune when the door opens?

When the day or event is special, we should find ways to deliver our love and our personality to support UPS in the package delivery. We could do better for those we love, and make the delivery a part of a memorable process.

What could we do to help UPS deliver the love?

A report in the blog Inside Social Games from TrialPlay states that; “...in the days leading up to Mother’s Day, promotional offers dubbed “gifts for mom” generated around $1 million per day”. This revenue was mostly from the sales of flower deliveries for Mom’s around the world.

This action was a boost of 5 times the action usually received by game developers, as they capitalized on our love of Mom…

Two things are interesting about this information: First, it points to the value that we place on supporting each other with real gifts. And second, it demonstrates that we will use online tools to share in the giving process with each other.

And where do most real gifts get distributed within families? At parties and other social gatherings. In fact, there was almost $15 billion spent on real gifts this last Mother’s day and nearly 20% was spent online!

The value of the new internet tools like Facebook, Amazon and PayPal is that we can use the web to share gifts with even the most distant loved ones. We can celebrate important events right from our computer.

These are the reasons that we have such a passion for online parties…

We see a day when everyone can use this platform for sharing real gifts on Mother’s Day and every other important holiday. We are happy to be on the leading edge of this effort.

We have also sought the advice of various internet based experts as we refine what we are offering. These experts suggest a well crafted Elevator Pitch as the basic introduction to our plans. We appreciate the suggestions from the guys at Venture Hacks, who have written much on this subject.

We also stumbled upon a post from Dave McClure on pitching the problem and not the solution.

I don’t use the language that Mr. McClure often chooses to make his points, but his post on problems makes a great deal of sense. 

Dave’s suggestion is that the “problem” that needs the clearest definition,  as opposed to a discussion concerning building a solution.

So… Dave McClure… Here is a problem:

You don’t live close to all the people that you love and want to share gifts with. This distance causes you to miss personal gift delivery opportunities. You feel guilty that you can’t be there to offer your support at birthday parties, weddings, baby births, graduations and holiday gatherings.   Sure, you know how to shop and ship, but UPS doesn’t deliver your love and personality with the package.  It is sad that you can’t be in several places at the same time, because you will miss some of the great parties that are planned by those you love.

You, me, and millions of other people face this same problem, because we live to far away to really show our love and support in person.

While I am thinking about problems Dave, here is another one…

Facebook, and other social platforms are very dependent on advertising as a business model.  This model really has nothing other than eye-ball volume to sell. These networks must rely on limited advertising budgets to fund their business; and there are many advertising choices.

NOW FOR SOLUTIONS:

1. Give distant friends and family the opportunity to join in the party and share their personality and presents from wherever they reside.
2. Partner with a vast number of eCommerce companies to sell the gifts for the party and earn commissions to fund a socially-center business.

Mr. McClure I would appreciate your thoughts on these problems.  (Oh yes, if you could recommend a technical co-founder I would appreciate the lead)