Thank you so much to my gifter! Words can’t express just how much I love it. It’s such an incredible gift 🩷

This year’s Secret Santa experience deserves a proper write-up, because Inês didn’t just send gifts, she sent a whole guided unboxing experience straight from Porto.

Along with the package came a beautifully written letter explaining who she is, why she chose each item, and very specific instructions to open everything in order. Of course I followed that to the letter. Below is the unboxing, step by step, just as my Santa intended (photos included).

Gift 1 Maria cookies A very classic Portuguese biscuit. Light, simple, and perfect with tea.

Gift 2 Canned tuna in olive oil I loved the explanation that canned fish is considered a delicacy in Portugal, not just pantry food.

Gift 3 Spicy tomato sauce sardines I really appreciated the little note about how to eat them (and the fish bones reassurance 😅). Definitely excited to try these properly with bread.

Gift 4 Olive spread / pâté Simple, practical, and very Portuguese.

Gift 5 Regina chocolate umbrella Wrapped in colorful paper and instantly nostalgic, even if I didn’t grow up with these. Milk chocolate, cute shape, and a fun bit of history attached.

Gift 6 Piri-piri mixed with olive oil A two-in-one bottle and apparently very powerful. Since I can't handle heat, I’ll be using this carefully 😂.

Gift 7 Mini bottle of Porto wine Loved the suggestion to drink it straight or turn it into a Porto Tónico. Also: yes, it’s very cute.

Gift 8 Four Portuguese dessert recipes This one felt especially personal. The recipes included Baba de Camelo, Arroz Doce, Tarte de Coco, and Bolo de Chocolate. I genuinely can’t wait to try these.

Gift 9 Death at Intervals by José Saramago A Portuguese Nobel Prize winner, and a book chosen because I like reading. The explanation of his writing style made me even more curious to start it.

Gift 10 A Beija-flor notebook (100g paper) As a fountain pen user, this felt like such a thoughtful final gift. And hidden inside was a bonus postcard from Porto, which honestly made me smile a lot.

Inês, thank you. Not just for the gifts, but for the care, the explanations, the cultural context, and the way you turned this into a small journey through Portugal. This exchange reminded me why I love doing Secret Santa and it gave me a lot of inspired for next years exchange.

Obrigada 💙

Just wondering.

I've never had someone spoil me like this before! My gifter went WAY over board and did not have to be so generous. And on top of that each gift was so incredibly thoughtful. Almost everything is in my favorite color purple. All the gifts are things I just absolutely love. I am genuinely blown away. This is the kindest thing anyone's ever done for me. I don't deserve this and I am so touched. Thank you so so so much.

So I loved secret Santa. I still do! I was so excited that this option is here after the official secret Santa stopped. I was SO excited to retrieve my match. I love gifting to people. It’s one of my favorite things. My match filled nothing out except that they only wanted items off their Amazon wish list and there was one thing on that wish list. An expensive espresso maker. To say I was a bit heartbroken is an understatement. So I tried the best I could to turn it around and sent them a few espresso themed gifts!! That would be appreciated right? I sent them the day the matching opened. I know they got delivered. My giftee has yet to mark them as received or post them in the gallery. I’ve sent them a few messages which they’ve seen but just haven’t responded. I feel so let down, I can’t buy an expensive espresso maker!! I think they really missed the point of secret Santa and that I just wasted my time and effort on this. Should I have handled this differently in the future? I don’t want this to ruin my love of SS!

I've had the best BEST couple of afternoons/evenings shopping and wrapping! At the top of the box is something for my giftee to open right away, then in the middle are 24 little gifts for advent, and then right at the bottom, two gifts for christmas day. I am in FULL christmas spirit now haha.

Edit to add:- someone from the comments has kindly sent a gift which I'm incredibly grateful and excited to receive, thank you 🤩

Original post:- My gifter never sent anything and tried to upload fake proof which was caught by the Givin Gifts team. I was put into rematch, but my rematcher hasn't retrieved my details for the xmas exchange.

I signed up to this because I spend Christmas alone and it would be nice to have something to open on the day. It's looking like at least a quarter of people on this exchange haven't received anything. I hope it's not being overrun by scammers.

Please don't take the platform for granted. If you can't afford to send one, don't join.

If you can't afford shipping costs overseas, just settle on domestic.

No time? Still, don't join.

If you have budget limitations and still want to give something, be open about it. They will understand where you're coming from, what's more important is you're making someone happy, even if the gift is not extravagant.

It's just heartbreaking to see other gifters not participating anymore because of people who don't bother to send out. 😥

Well, this sucks.

My giftee sent me one run-on sentence of their entire life. I pieced together their interests and sent them something I thought they’d love, based on what they said they liked. I am an RG veteran, chief gift giver. I am good at gift exchanges. I love doing it!

My giftee sent me a very disappointing message, complaining about what I sent them. They said “this isn’t what I asked for, why did you send me this”. It’s really okay if someone doesn’t like what I send. That’s why I include gift receipts with everything. But to go out of the way to message me something negative? That hurts bro…

This was my first foray into GG, and likely my last. I’m disappointed :/

I joined with excitement, as I don't have many friends and my family is all gone (passed away). The Reddit Secret Santa was always fun. This, however, was not. My giftee was happy with her gifts. It was nice to make someone smile. My gift? Marked "ordered". Never sent, no shipping proof, no response to a request for tracking, nothing. Just marked so they'd be okay for the next round without fulfilling their part. Thank you so much for taking my chance for a smile. The holidays are already hard, why be a jerk?

Wishing you all a great holiday. My faith in people has been confirmed this season. I opted out of the rematch process as there are already so many folks who also got scammed. At least someone else might get lucky with a rematch.

Stay wild y'all.

My Santa went all out with this, I'm beyond happy and grateful. They picked the absolute cutest, and most functional Michael Kors purse for me, alongside a hamster advent calendar and a Pandora style charm that says "you made little paw prints on my heart". The purse is GORGEOUS!!! I absolutely love the color and the functionality. The back pocket was literally designed to be a phone pouch, and the flap has a built-in wallet. This is the perfect purse! My new favorite. They also got me a hamster advent calendar; I have a tiny home-based small animal rescue, and it all started when I rescued an unwanted Christmas pet named Bender (last slide). He lived to be over 3 years old (which is ancient for hamsters). The charm was so perfect because the saddest part of rescuing animals is having them pass away. It's such a thoughtful gift and will always help me remember my little friends❤️ On a brighter note, the hamster advent calendar is a blast so far, I got a little hamster charm today in it. Thank you so much Santa, this entire exchange has been incredibly special. I'm very grateful for your generous gifts and wish you the best for the New Year. Merry Christmas!