Plan the Best Holiday Gift Exchange with Friends, Family and Co-Workers!

At its core, a gift exchange is that simple—a way to exchange gifts. Our system makes it easy for large or small groups to join an event, draw a name, and know exactly what gifts will make their recipient happy.

We make it really easy to set up your gift exchange—one administrator will create the event for your group and send out invitations. The admin will then draw names, and everyone in the group will find out who they’re gifting for! As Simple as that.

Yes! In other gift exchange organizers, creating a wishlist is usually an optional step. But what makes MyRegistry’s gift exchange special is that everyone who participates MUST create a gift list—so whether you’re exchanging for a specific event (like Secret Santa, or Hanukkah!) or for a generic gift exchange, everyone gets a gift they really want.

The administrator will have access to everything they need to manage the event from their dashboard. From inviting guests and managing status, to drawing and matching participants, everything is organized in one place.

Yes! As long as your gift exchange event has a minimum of two participants, you can play with however many people you want.

There's room for up to 300 participants, so whether you’re participating with your entire office, extended family, or a big group of friends, there's plenty of space for everyone to join in!

Each event is set up by one Admin. The Admin creates the invitation, and inputs the event details–event name, spending limit, and where/when the exchange is taking place. The admin then sends an eCard inviting them to participate in the event!

Well we think we’ve figured out a way 😉 The best part of a gift exchange is seeing people unwrap gifts they LOVE (yourself included). Since everyone who participates in MyRegistry’s Gift Exchange creates a gift list–your event will be all fun!

Hosting your employee gift exchange is just as easy as hosting a regular gift exchange! Our feature makes it easy to organize an invitation, invite colleagues, and make sure that everyone gets a gift they can appreciate.

You can set up your event here - remember, only one person needs to create the event. They’ll be the administrator and invite the rest of the participants to the gift exchange.

As an admin you can create more than one gift exchange, but you can’t do it from your Admin dashboard. You will have to go back to the main sign up page.

All participants will receive an e-card telling them who their recipient is once the admin has drawn names and matched participants.

Think of your gift list like a shareable, shoppable wish list. You can add gifts from any store, anywhere, by using our bookmark, by syncing your amazon wishlist or by using our in-app adding feature in our mobile app If you need help thinking of gifts to add to your gift list, check out our 35 Best Secret Santa Questions article for ideas and inspiration!.

You can! Admins automatically are not participants of their event, but have the option to add themselves as a participant.

Once your gift exchange event is over, you can keep your Gift List going all year round, for any occasion.

The admin will be able to add guests to their event even after the draw is complete and matches are notified. If only one additional guest has joined, the match will be assigned automatically. If more than one new guest joins, the admin should redraw and match the newly added guests.

We’ve made inviting friends to your gift exchange super easy with a bunch of pre-designed e-card templates! But don’t worry, all the event details are able to be entirely customized by you.

Yes! You can use an existing MyRegistry account to participate in a gift exchange.

If you have one or multiple Gift Lists, you can pick which one to connect to a particular gift exchange. If you have a Wedding or Baby Registry, you’ll be prompted to create a Gift List to connect to the gift exchange.

Only matches where both guests are participating will be notified immediately. Pending guests will be notified once they join the event.

All Gift Exchange participants have the ability to check off once they’ve purchased a gift for their recipient. Once they do, it will automatically update to be checked off on the Admin dashboard as well. But just in case someone forgot, Admins are also able to check that box themselves.

To add guests, go to the Guest List on your Event Dashboard. For single guests, enter their name and email, then click Add Guest. For multiple guests, download our spreadsheet template, fill it out, and upload it by dragging and dropping the file or using Browse Files. On mobile, simply enter guest details and tap Add Guest. Remember, the maximum guest limit is 300, and all changes are auto-saved. For a detailed help manual, click here.

Setting exclusions ensures that certain guests aren’t matched with each other during your gift exchange. This feature helps avoid pairing close family members or others who shouldn’t be matched. To set exclusions, go to your Event Dashboard, select Set Exclusions under the Draw Names button, and choose the guests you want to exclude. Exclusions are reciprocal, meaning if you exclude one guest from another, the second guest is automatically excluded from the first. For a detailed help manual, click here.

Editing matches allows you to refine your event’s gift exchange pairings. You can either redraw all names or swap individual matches. To redraw names, go to your Event Dashboard, click Review Matches, and select Redraw Names. To swap matches, use the drag-and-drop feature or choose a new recipient from the dropdown menu. For a detailed help manual, click here.

Notifying guests is the final step in your gift exchange event. To notify guests, you can do so immediately after drawing names or later from your Event Dashboard. On the desktop, go to the Draw Page or Event Dashboard, choose your message, and click Notify Matches. On mobile, tap Notify Matches either from the Draw Page or Event Dashboard. Each guest will see only their specific match. For a detailed help manual, click here.

If a guest leaves your event after names are drawn, it can impact two other guests: the one they were buying for and the one buying for them. You’ll receive an email notification if this happens. On desktop or mobile, you can choose to either reassign matches or leave things as they are by clicking or tapping Reassign or Don’t Reassign. For detailed instructions, click here.

Removing a guest is straightforward on both desktop and mobile. If a guest is removed before names are drawn, it won’t affect matches. If removed after names are drawn but not notified, it will leave two guests without matches. On desktop or mobile, go to your Event Dashboard, find the guest, and choose Remove & Reassign to handle affected guests or Remove Only to remove without reassignment. For detailed instructions, click here.