When deciding on which Gift List company to use, there are some important factors you should take into consideration.

1) Is the gift list service a money contribution type or an actual purchase type?

What’s the difference? Well, the traditional department stores like John Lewis and Debenhams are the “actual purchase” type. Another words, when you add an item to your list and one of your guests buys that item, that item has indeed been physically bought and neither you nor your guest can change your mind about it. With the specialist gift list services like The Bottom Drawer or Wrapit, the list is a “money contribution” type which means your guests make a contribution towards your selected gifts but the gifts aren’t actually bought until after your list closes. This gives you the flexibility to change your mind.

This is worth bearing in mind because if you have your list at a department store you may well end up with odd dinner plates or glasses from a larger set which you then either stick away unused in a cupboard because you don’t have the full set, or you end up having to pay out yourself to complete the set. If you use a more flexible gift list service for those items you can decide when your list closes whether to buy the complete set or use the money received to buy alternative items you can afford instead.

2) Am I limited to the items that store sells?

With the traditional lists at department stores like John Lewis or some of the specialist online stores like Wrapit, yes you are limited to just the items they sell. You might think this isn’t a problem as they offer so many items after all. But, remember it also means you are limited to the price they charge for those items – which could be a very expensive mistake to make.

At flexible gift list companies such as The Bottom Drawer you are able to add any item, from any store to your list. The gift list company simply collects your guests contributions for you which you are then able to spend at any store you wish. To show how much difference this could make, here’s an example with data taken on the 15 February 2007 from John Lewis, Wrapit and The Bottom Drawer. Say you really wanted your guests to contribute towards a new LCD TV. At John Lewis you would have a reasonable choice though at Wrapit if you wanted one over 20” you would have a choice of just 1, the Panasonic TX23LXD60. At The Bottom Drawer you could choose from every TV available on the market today. But let's stick with the Panasonic to give a fair comparison. At Wrapit the price is £795 for this TV, if you had your list at John Lewis and selected this TV you would have to pay £745. However, if you held your list at The Bottom Drawer you could choose from the best price available, which a Kelkoo search showed to be £494! So going with Wrapit or John Lewis could mean you pay more than £250 over the odds!

It is only at the specialist gift list companies where you can really have a unique gift list. For example,  how about a garden makeover paid for by your guests? At The Bottom Drawer this becomes a reality as they can arrange for a local landscaper to produce a quote for you which then forms the basis for your gift list so each square metre of patio can be one gift, each plant another gift and so on! They can also arrange similar services for a new kitchen or bathroom! One couple recently got a hottub through their gift list service.

3) What if I want gifts from more than one store?

Traditionally, you may want some lower priced gifts from Argos to go with some more exclusive gifts from John Lewis. In the past you would need to set-up two separate gift lists at two separate stores and send out two lots of invitations. With a flexible gift list provider you can have all your gift items on one list (and yes you can often even add items from John Lewis, Next,  Argos and the other traditional department stores!)

4) What about the charges?

With the traditional department stores it is usually free to set-up your list and in fact they may offer incentives to draw you in such as vouchers to spend in their store. But remember you are limited to the items that store sells, at the price that store charges which could be quite expensive (see point 2 above)! You should also check delivery charges as whist some will be free, others will charge a separate, small delivery charge to each guest which can add up to quite a significant amount of wasted money.

With the alternative flexible gift lists the charges are normally split in two ways: charges to you to set up and use the list and charges that are levied against the value of the gifts your guests make to you. You need to compare carefully to know the full charges you will be paying. Many of the services that offer a free facility to set-up the list then go on to charge 9% or more on to the orders from your guests. Not only can this add up to an awful lot of money but your guests won’t be too happy either! Some services such as The Bottom Drawer are set-up in such a way that potentially there is no cost for you the couple to use the service AND no cost for your guests to make contributions (if they pay by cheque for example rather than credit card) as they earn income by selling items direct to you or from commission received from the companies they work with to provide gifts. You should also check that all payment options are supported for your guests so that those that prefer not to pay by credit or debit card have the option to pay by cheque and over the phone too. One final thing to bear in mind is that the money collected may be used to purchase gifts from stores other than the gift list company – so you should check what the delivery charges will be from the store(s) you will eventually by buying your gifts from.

Another recent introduction is the Confetti Wishlist card. Whilst at first this looks a good idea, again it's the small print that may catch you out. As well as the £15 sign-up fee, every time a guest wants to leave you a contribution they get charged a £2 admin fee. If you have say 75 guests then that's another £150 of charges eaten up by the card. There is also no way for your guests to make a contribution other than online using a debit or credit card.

Conclusion

So our advice is to think twice before going with the traditional department store – there is much more choice to be had elsewhere. And if you opt for a flexible gift list service then always check the (sometimes very) small print to know what ALL the charges – both to you AND your guests – will be.