I know this is kinda early for discussion, but since the "holiday shopping season" really begins in mid Oct., I figured now would be a good time to start discussion of this topic.

I know I'd like to see the holiday swap return, but I'm curious as to if others felt the same. I also frequent some other boards where some secret swaps take place & I've noticed a few things that they do that sound interesting. I have some little suggestions that I would like to share, but I want to see if others want the swap back before sharing those.

Question:
When do you think the signup deadline should be?

Choices:
Oct. 1
Oct. 2
Oct. 3
Oct. 4
Oct. 5
Oct. 6
Oct. 7
Oct. 8
Oct. 9
Oct. 10
Other (please elaborate in post)

Question:
Do you think we should have a seperate shipping deadline for those shipping internationally?

Choices:
Yes
No

Question:
If you feel that we should have a seperate shipping deadline for international packages, what do you think would be a good date?

Choices:
Nov. 23
Nov. 24
Nov. 25
Nov. 26
Nov. 27
Nov. 28
Nov. 29
Nov. 30
Dec. 1
Dec. 2
Dec. 3
Dec. 4
Dec. 5
Other (please elaborate in post)
I voted no for seperate international deadline.

Question:
Do you think we should keep last year's domestic shipping deadline of Dec. 10?

Choices:
Yes
No

Question:
If you think we should change the shipping deadline for domestic packages, what do you think it should be?

Choices:
Nov. 30
Dec. 1
Dec. 2
Dec. 3
Dec. 4
Dec. 5
Dec. 6
Dec. 7
Dec. 8
Dec. 9
Other (please explain in post)
I don't think we should change last yr.'s domestic shipping deadline.

 

I am interested, I had a lot of fun last year, but I will be honest: our board has changed some since last year and we have a lot more "floaters", and I personally wouldn't feel good about spending money on a gift to a person I never see post. We have had some personality issues from people on this board, as well as some others who have repuatations on other boards. I'm not trying to stir a pot, but I'm just being honest. I think we need to have some guidelines I worry we could be asking for problems if we don't. Feel free to PM me or continue the thread if you have any suggestions.

I was just thinking of the holiday swap
in the past few days.
i would love to see another swap again.
i think it brings our little "family'like
board closer together, however i do agree that
there should be some guidelines.
usually the first time for a event or idea
is room for improvement.
1.i think this swap should be for only established known forum members or those who
have swapped with those members on here and/or
reliable.
2.a deadline that is reasonable for all those
who are taking part, in a few months i know
everyone will be thinking about the shopping seasaon again.

i agree as far as past issues with certain
people on the board, i couldnt agree more.

thanks for posting the topic, ill be thinking of ideas myself as time goes on.

I'd love to have another Holiday swap this year. It was a lot of fun last, and it was a smashing succes. As the person who "organized" it (meaning randomly pairing people with each other and providing the addresses etc), I can say that everything went very smoothly. Everyone sent as promised. There was only one minor problem with a package, but a replacement package was sent immediately. Turns out the first package arrived safely in the end and in time.

I also wouldn't feel comfortable with people that rarely post signing up. I would hope that those people that hardly post or have no real connection with the people on this board have enough sense not to sign up.

I think I have a way to solve the dilema of the
people for swapping. I think there should be 2 people (the ones that post the most) and they should make a list of the eligible members that can participate in the swap. This way if anyone is unsure they can be referred to the list. just
my suggestion

Yes I would love to see the holiday swap return! It was a lot of fun last year. I'd also only be comfortable in swapping with people that have successfully done past swaps or hosted fraffles (I don't think anyone dishonest would have been kind enough to host a fraffle ).

I think we had one fraffle where there were 3 winners and none of them ever got their item? I can't remember the exact name.

I would love to see the Holiday swap return! It was so much fun last year!

I'm happy to see that there's some interest in our holiday swap. I agree w/ Anemone about fraffles being a way to determine someone's trustworthiness if they haven't completed a lot of swaps. But said fraffles would have to be successfully completed from original post to receipt of items by winners. I would like to see some newer members on here participate in this b/c I know there's some newer members out there who are starting to make some good contributions to this board.

Another suggestion that I think would be good is that participants fill out a survey when they sign up about general scents & products & other miscellaneous stuff that they'd like. Last year, I think we had 3 posts in the Poll Room devoted to the holiday swap & some of the questions kinda overlapped each other. Thoughts/opinions/further elaboration on that idea are welcome.

I thought the holiday swap was *really* fun last year!! I'm all for it again.

I remember the multiple threads and surveys and whatnot... it did become a little arduous. I think that this year, maybe we could all plan out our survey questions ahead of time, and submit them to the "Head Elf" , and have one master compiled survey for everyone to do, instead of several smaller ones with similar questions.

So maybe we could have three different threads:

1. Wish lists. We could all just have ONE post, where we compile our wishlist and make any edits in the original post.

2. Survey. The "Head Elf" could compile one master survey from all of the questions submitted, and everyone could again have just ONE post answering the survey questions, again making any edits within their original post.

3. General comments/questions/chat. This would just be for us to chat about the whole process, comment on other people's wishlists or surveys, ask general questions, etc. It would take some self-discipline not to leave questions and comments in the other threads, but I think it would be worth it by making it easier to use those threads for planning our swaps.

What do you guys think??

More suggestions by me....

*Have a deadline to sign up. I know from discussions via PM with Fryl last year, there were some issues with people not signing up by the deadline and then being snippy about not being able to participate. Sorry folks, but that's why it's there. If it's something you'd want to do, pay attention to the timeline. Once it passes, you sit out.

*Members need to be CURRENTLY ACTIVE or LONGSTANDING ESTABLISHED. Like mentioned above, surely someone who isn't active wouldn't have sense to sign up, but you never know so it has to be mentioned. Newer members I think should have a "daily" to "several times weekly" posting status.

*Members need to have either had successful swaps with established members or hosted fraffles that were sent in timely fashions. I'm also hesitant to send a holiday package to a newer member who sends their fraffle out a month after the winner was named...And that has happened before, personally to me. So to anyone new hosting a fraffle, please keep in mind that the winner would need to be really watching the timeframe. I think last year a part that was vital to the success of the holiday project was that we all sent at around the same time.

*Let's all try not to make more than one thread devoted to a specific Secret Santa topic, sort of like Megan mentioned above. It gets hard to follow and really isn't necessary if you just follow the threads. Examples: Official Secret Santa Wishlist Thread, where you post your list to your Secret Santa (and really make an effort to not get this thread off topic or make replies to posts); Official Secret Santa Rules, Deadline, and Participant List (this is where rules could be posted, people could sign up, and the finalized list and date could be posted); Fryl and iliveatbbw did a super job last year of assigning the secret santas/elves and keeping track of when the packages were sent and received. I don't know if they'd be interested in doing that again this year?

Anyway, I'm not trying to be a pain, I just had a super time doing this last year and I'd love to see it happen again this year. We all just have to make sure we have our bases covered.

Those are great suggestions, Anan!

I would totally be up for organizing it again, but I think we can vote on it.
Also, if someone else wants to take a turn that would be wonderful too.

The secret santa swap was sooooo much fun last year. I would love to do it again....I just love all the shopping and putting it all together

I would love to do a santa swap.I think all of the ideas and guidlines that have been posted are grea ideas.I wasn't here last christmas to take part but I would love to this year.

One other suggestion I have is to set up two deadlines for sending the gifts.
One of them would be set a little earlier, and would be for those sending gifts out of the country.
It gets really busy around that time of the year, and the mail takes longer to arrive than usual.

I was just thinking about the deadlines thing myself. I think the remainder of this month is a good time to work out all the details/rules. It would probably be good to have signups & filling out surveys during Sept. I know last yr. we got our elf assignments in mid Oct., but I wouldn't mind seeing a early Oct. cutoff date for signing up. That way, we could get our assignments earlier & maybe have an extra wk. or 2 to shop & plan.

I agree w/ Fryl about having 2 deadlines for shipping. Dec. 10 was our deadline last year & I think that would work for US domestic mail. But for international mail, maybe the deadline should be Dec. 1.

I really dont want to throw my 2 cents in, since I am newer but I think what you guys are discussung sounds like alot of fun!! I understand being a little leary on who signs up. Maybe for the newer ones make sure they have done a sucessful swap and /or fraffle. I would love to be included because it does sound like fun

I think we should start having our signup soon, maybe sometime within the next week or so. I took some time a couple of nights ago to make sort of a rough survey. Feedback/input is appreciated.

Types Of Products Used:
Moisturizers you use? (lotion, body butter, body cream, etc.)
Fragrances you use? (splashes, EDTs, etc.)
Bath products you use? (bath salt, bubble bath, bath bomb, bubble bar)
Shower products you use? (body wash, shower gel, 3-in-1, bar soap)
Types of scrub you use? (sugar, salt, coffee, etc.)
Face makeup you use? (foundation, powder, blush)
Eye makeup you use?
Lip makeup you use?
Nail products you use?
Haircare you use?
Home fragrance products you use?
What particular items do you consider to be "staples"?

Scents You Like:
List types of scents you like by each category.
Florals:
Fruit:
Gourmand/Bakery:
Exotics/"Complex" (amber, musk, etc.)

Discontinued Products
What discontinued BBW products would you like to have a chance at getting if possible?
What discontinued VS products would you like to have a chance at getting if possible?
Are there any discontinued products from other brands that you might like to have a chance of getting?

Other Brands:
What other beauty brands (retail) do you like besides BBW & VS?
What retail brands would you like to try, but haven't gotten the chance to yet?
What are your favorite etailers?
Are there any etailers out there you would like to try?

Potential Allergies:
Are there any allergies that people should consider? (i.e. certain beauty products, specific food allergies, pets, smoke, etc.)
Do you live in a smoke free environment?
Do you live in a pet free environment? If not, please state what types of animals reside in your living environment.

Miscellaneous Questions:
Are you willing to ship internationally?
Are there any companies that you boycott?
What other interests or types of products do you collect besides beauty items?
What types of candies/snacks do you like?
What powdered beverages do you like?
What types of items would you like to receive as extras?
What types of holiday/winter seasonal decor do you like?

That is a great survey, Megan!
I think you have everything covered, and if everyone filled this out for the holiday swap it would make it a lot easier for the secret santas to shop.

YAY! What a fun topic! I would love to see the holiday swap return. We all had so much fun last year!

I agree with the deadline for our international friends as my package was the last to arrive (thankfully on time). I'd even sent it out a day or two earlier than the deadline but as previously mentioned, it is a very busy season!

I love all the suggestions made so far, and Megan thanks for putting together such a great list of questions. It will definitely help us to plan our list of likes and dislikes.

The only suggestion I have right now is for the wish list. I'm sure people will want things from the BBW/VS Christmas set so we want to give everyone the opportunity to see it before they finalize their lists.

Other than that, I'm hoping for another smashing success!