Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question which is not answered here then you can use the feedback form to ask me. If a few people ask the same question then I'll add it on here.

What is WhatToGive and why should I use it?

What is WhatToGive for?

Can I use it for my wedding list?

Why is WhatToGive better than other gift list sites?

What if I like surprises?

Can I try it before signing up?

How does WhatToGive work for guests?

My friend has told me they have a list on WhatToGive - how does it work?

I've made a promise where do I pay?

I didn't enter any card details - how will the goods be paid for?

I don't want to use PayPal what should I do?

I've promised something but it isn't in stock. What shall I do now?

What if I change my mind about what I want to give?

How do I cancel my promise?

How does WhatToGive work for list-owners?

How do my friends find my list?

How is delivery of gifts handled?

Can I add a link to my list on my own web site?

How do I find my friend's lists?

What if I want to make my list more private?

How much does it cost?

Why does it need my email address?

How do I know who's got me what?

What's to stop 5 people getting me the same thing?

Can I upload my own pictures to go with the items on my list?

How do I use PayPal to collect cash gifts from friends?

How do I delete my account?

How do add pictures of the things on my list?

What is WhatToGive and why should I use it?

What is WhatToGive for?

Are you fed up with receiving gifts you didn't want and not getting the things you do?

Are you fed up with the big chain stores making a fortune from wedding lists

Do you instantly forget all the things you want when someone asks what they should get you?

Do you sometimes need to get something for someone special but you can't remember what they want?

That's why I wrote this site! With WhatToGive you can create a list of things you want that other people can look at. These could be specific items from specific shops ("a luxury leather golf ball holster") or just a general preference ("any white wine is good - preferably dry"). Other people can then visit the site to look at your list.

You're not tied to having items from just one shop or just one website - you just describe what you want!

Can I use it for my wedding list?

YES! I am confident that WhatToGive has all you need to manage your wedding list. Once you have listed all the things you want, the site will track who has promised to get what. You won't be tied in to using any particular shop. You can list items that are available online or from ordinary shops. You can easily send an email to all your friends telling them where to find your list.

If you think there is anything we have missed just tell me using the feedback form and I'll do my best to add it in.

Why is WhatToGive better than other gift list sites?

The main thing is that WhatToGive is designed to be simple and easy to use. The signup is quick - literally just type in your email address or mobile number and you've got yourself an online gift list! Special features include:

Add items to your list when you think of them via SMS - no need to go online! As long as you have registered your mobile number against your account just SMS your gift list idea to 0791 3533695.

Quickly invite friends to look at your list. Just click on the "Invite" link when you're logged in and type or paste their email addresses into the box. You'll be able to preview and change the invite email before it is sent.

Items are removed from your list as people promise to get them unless you want as many as possible of that particular item. If you don't believe a promise you can cancel it and the item it will reappear on your list!

What if I like surprises?

I still think you'll find WhatToGive useful! Here are a few points to consider

Just list your preferences - Because your WTG list is so flexible you don't have to list actual items - you could just list things you like e.g. anything in red, or anything to do with squirrels. You can of course mix general preferences with specific items on your list.

On the "my settings" page you can choose to switch off email alerts so that you don't get an email when people promise items from your list.

Normally when someone has promised to get you something this is shown when you log in to your list. You can also use the options on the "my settings" page to switch this off too so there won't be any clue as to which items on your list have been promised.

Can I try it before signing up?

YES! Just log in as an existing user on the front page with email address "demo@whattogive.com" and password "demo". Feel free to add and edit items - just please don't change the password or delete more items than you create!

How does WhatToGive work for guests?

My friend has told me they have a list on WhatToGive - how does it work?

WhatToGive is a totally independent wish-list web site. Users can create a list of things they want from any shop for any reason. WhatToGive is also totally free to use for the list owners and their friends. Many other list sites (especially wedding list) take up to 9% of the value of the goods on the list or charge a membership fee. WhatToGive is different to many other list sites in that we do not sell or deliver any of the goods listed. It is up to the list owner and you as their friend to agree between you whether the list owner would like you to give them money to cover the cost of them buying the item or to actually buy the item for them and give it to them somehow. The list owner has the option of allowing friends to pay money using PayPal. This feature is integrated into WhatToGive but if you use is we do not ever receive your money - it is transferred directly from you to your friend.

So how do you use WhatToGive to get something for your friend?

Find their list
If your friend has told you that they have a WhatToGive list then the first thing you need to do is find their list so you can see what is on it. To do this you need to enter their name (firstname and lastname) or email address in the box on the front page.

If you entered your friend's name and several people with the same name have lists with WhatToGive then you will be presented with a list of possible people with a special phrases provided by each user. This phrase should say something distinctive about that person which, as their friend, you should recognise. This will enable you to chose which list you want to look at (e.g. "Out dog is called spot").

Your friend may have supplied some questions that you must answer before you are allowed to view their list. If this is the case these will be questions provided by your friend which they feel that people who know them should be able to answer.

Pick an item
Once you have found their list you will be able to see all the things they have on it. The order of items on the list is chosen by the list owner - it is the order of priority of the items in their opinion.

Some items on the list may be greyed out. These are items which have already been promised. DO NOT buy them any of these items.

They may have divided their list into several separate smaller lists - if this is the case you will see these different lists shown as different "tabs" on the page. Some items have links to supplier's web sites. In this case you will find you can click on the title of the item or on the picture and a new window will open to take you to the supplier's web site. WhatToGive doesn't have any control over these links as they are supplied by the list owner. Sometimes the store might move pages around so the link no longer points at the right thing. In this instance you should contact the list owner to ask them to update the link for the item

Promise the item
It is very important that you tell WhatToGive that you're going to buy something from the list BEFORE you actually go out and buy it. If you don't do that then someone else might see the item on the list and buy it as well as you. When you have found an item on the list that you would like to get for your friend then click on the "more info" button and then the "I'll get this" or "I'll contribute" button. This will take you to a screen where you can leave a goodwill message for the list owner (depending on how they have their options set up this will either be emailed to them straight away or seen later on, after the big event). If your friend wanted more than one of the item then you'll be able to say on this page how many of the item you would like to get. You can also provide your email address here. Providing an email address will set you up with your own WhatToGive account which will show all the things you have promised and allow you to cancel these at a later date.

Fulfil the promise
WhatToGive is designed to be flexible enough to be used in a number of different ways. The steps you need to take to fulfil the promise will depend on how your friend has chosen to use WhatToGive. It should be clear from the list and item description what your friend intended. If it is not clear please contact your friend and ask them for advice. If you write to us asking this we won't be able to help you! The possible methods for fulfilling the promise are:

Buy the item and give it to the list owner. This option is usually used for less expensive items which are physical goods (kettle, toaster etc). The list owner should make it clear whether they want the specific item listed or if they are happy to accept similar ones. They may well have provided a link to a web based store where the item can be purchased. It is between you and your friend how you get the item to them. If you know their address you might be able to get it shipped directly to them otherwise you can give it to them in person when you see them.

Send or give them the money so that they can purchase the item. This option is usually used for things which aren't physical goods (e.g. holidays) and for more expensive items where more than one person can contribute part of the cost (e.g. washing machine). In this case it us up to you to get the money to your friend in a mutually convenient way. Your friend may have chosen to enable the PayPal integration which will enable you to choose to be taken to PayPal to make the payment immediately after making your promise. Alternatively your friend may have indicated on their list or in an email of invitation that they would like fund paid into a specific bank account. Or you may be able to send them a cheque for the amount. If your friend has not made it clear which method you can use, or if the method they suggest is not convenient for you then you should contact your friend and make alternative arrangements with them.

I've made a promise where do I pay?

As described above WhatToGive doesn't sell or deliver any of the goods listed on people's lists. Neither do we have any relationship with any of the stores that people link to on their lists. Promising to get something from someone's list is nothing more than a promise - it is not a purchase transaction. It is simply a way of making sure that you know what your friend wants and which things people have already got them. Once you have promised to get an item it is up to you to then go and fulfil the promise in the appropriate way (either by buying the item elsewhere or by giving them the money - see "Fulfill the promise" in the answer above).

I didn't enter any card details - how will the goods be paid for?

See previous question

I don't want to use PayPal what should I do?

List owners have can choose to only accept promises in the form of PayPal payments. This is the list owner's choice and is not forced upon them by WhatToGive. If the list owner has chosen this option then you will always automatically be directed to PayPal to make the payment for any item you have promised. In this instance, if you don't want to use PayPal the only thing you can do is email your friend and explain to them that you would like to promise to get them the item but you don't want to use PayPal and arrange an alternative means of payment.

It may be the case that the list owner has chosen to make the PayPal route optional for their friends. This means that when making a promise there is a box you can untick labelled "Make payment via PayPal". If you untick this box then you will need to send the payment to your friend by some other mutually convenient route. This usually takes the form of giving or sending them a cheque for the promised amount. If it is not clear how the payment should be made then you should contact the list owner and ask them.

I've promised something but it isn't in stock. What shall I do now?

WhatToGive allows users to add links to any website in the world. We are totally independent of all of the stores which are linked to. The plus side of this is that your friend has total flexibility to add anything they want to their list. The down side is that we do not and cannot know whether the item on someone's list is in stock or not. If you find that the item you promised to get is out of stock then you have a couple of options:

Cancel the promise (see "How do I cancel my promise" below) and then go and promise something else from their list. It is worth cancelling the promise since someone else might have better luck finding the item or it might become available later on.

Contact the list owner and ask them if they can suggest an alternative product or a different supplier for the thing that you promised.

Contact the list owner and see if you can come to some other arrangement (such as giving them money so that they can buy the item themselves at a later date)

What if I change my mind about what I want to give?

In this case you should cancel your first promise (see "How do I cancel my promise" below) then go to your friend's list and promise the new item from it.

How do I cancel my promise?

If you provided your email address when you made the promise then you will have been sent an email containing details of the item you promised and also a password for your own WhatToGive account. Your WhatToGive account enables you to manage what you have promised to give for any of your friends who have WhatToGive lists - including cancelling promises. So to cancel a promise you first log in and then click on the "Friends" page. Alternatively you can click on this link to go straight to this page (you will be prompted for your email address and password if you are not currently logged in)
http://www.whattogive.com/friend/list.php
On the "friends" page you will see a list of any friends whose WhatToGive lists you have previously looked at and below this a list of all the items you have promised to give. Next to each promise there will be a "Cancel" button. You can click this to cancel the promise. When you click this you will be given the option to enter a message for your friend. If the item is out of stock this is a good place to let your friend know this - they can then remove the item from their list or replace it with an alternative.

If you did not provide your email address when making your promise you will need to get the have the promise code to hand. This code was included on the Promise Receipt page when you made your promise. If you go to
http://whattogive.com/cancel.php You will be able to use this code to cancel the promised.

If you did not make a note of the promise code and didn't print the promise receipt then you will have to use the feedback form (click on the "feedback" link at the top of every page) to ask us to cancel the promise for you. When doing this please provide as much detail as possible about whose list the item was on (their name and email address) and also about which item you promised to get and when.

How does WhatToGive work for list-owners?

How do my friends find my list?

The site is geared around either email address or mobile phone number (or both). Anyone that knows your mobile phone number or email address (depending on which you tell us) will be able to see your list (as long as they know the answer to the optional security question - see below). Anyone in the world can view your list but only if they know the necessary details.

Just to make sure they know about your list though, once you are logged in, you can send your friends an email to let them know that you have a gift list.

How is delivery of gifts handled?

WhatToGive isn't a shop! it doesn't sell anything. It is just a place where you list things you want. This means that it never takes any money from you or your friends. It also means that how things are delivered is up to you and your friends. There are a couple of places where you can tell friends how you would like them to get stuff to you. You can either say something in the "welcome message" which appears at the top of your list when friends view is (this can be set up on the "My Settings" page). Alternatively you can make some reference to how you would like to receive the item when adding it to your list in the individual item description.

Can I add a link to my list on my own web site?

YES! Its simple - when you are logged in take a look at the very bottom of the "My Friends" page. There you will find details of how to add a special link to your web site. This link will automatically take people straight to your list without having to type in your email address.

How do I find my friend's lists?

In the same way that they find yours - i.e. you search using either their name, email address or mobile phone number. If you know these details then you can find their list.

What if I want to make my list more private?

You can choose up to three optional security questions - if you have set some up, anyone wanting to view your list must answer the questions correctly.

How much does it cost?

Its free! Writing code to charge people money is too hard! If enough people use the site then I will probably try adding a few small Google adverts and see if I can make a bit of money that way!

Why does it need my email address?

Here are the reasons why the site is based around email addresses:

Without this you would have to choose a username and give this to your friends if you wanted them to be able to view your list. Most people have an email address and most people know their friends' email addresses. People who are not your friends are unlikely to know these. By using email address we can allow others to see your list being fairly sure that they know you.

How do I know who's got me what?

When others view your list they get an "I'll get this" button next to each item. If they click this they are given the option of filling in their email address and message. If you have indicated that for that particular item you only want one, then as soon as someone promises to get it, it will not be shown to anyone else. When you view your list you can see which items have been promised. Viewing the details for each item will show you who promised the item and when and any message they left. If you don't belive any promise you can cancel it and if the item had been removed from your list it will automatically be added back on.

What's to stop 5 people getting me the same thing?

As mentioned in the answer above if you select the "just one" option when adding an item to your list then that item is not shown to anyone else once someone has clicked the "I'll Get This" button.

Can I upload my own pictures to go with the items on my list?

At the moment you can't upload your own pictures to WhatToGive - you can only include pictures that come from another web site. This is on my to-do list however in the mean time you can put your pictures onto a free picture sharing website and point WhatToGive at that!

Don't worry if the page where the picture lives is not actually the page you want your item to link to. You can put the web address of the page with the image in first. WhatToGive will then grab the picture from there. Once you have the picture you can change the URL - this will not change the picture you have chosen. Hey presto you have a picture from one page and a link from another!

I reccommend www.flickr.com its very good and its free! If you sign up you can upload your photos - You should make sure that you choose for the pictures to be "public" when you upload them otherwise WhatToGive won't be able to find them! Once uploaded you will find each photo has a page of its own - you can then cut-and-paste the address of this page into the WhatToGive "Web address" box when adding your item in WhatToGive. This will then retreive the picture from Flickr. You can either leave this link in place - this will allow your friends to click on the image in your WhatToGive list to see a bigger version. Or you can delete the link address once WhatToGive has found the picture - the picture will remain even if the "Web address" box is empty.

How do I use PayPal to collect cash gifts from friends?

WhatToGive has the ability to automatically send your friends to PayPal when they go to "promise" an item on your list. Your friends then complete the transaction on PayPal before being returned to WhatToGive. So all the financial stuff happens on PayPal and is totally independent of WTG. We don't take a cut or have any other involvement with this.

Now... you need to know about how PayPal works. At the moment they have three account types: Personal, Premier and Business. Personal account can only accept PayPal payments - so if you had a personal account your guests would all have to create their own PayPal accounts. However, if you go for the premier account your guests can pay by Credit or Debit cards. The Business account has extra features you probably won't need/want.

PayPal do charge for accepting credit/debig card payments. The charge is currently 20p per transaction as well as up to 4% of the value. However other sites charge between 7% and 9% so I think PayPal is about the cheapest option. Another advantage of PayPal is that they are a well known and stable firm whereas there have been some scare stories in the last few years about smaller wedding list firms going bust and taking people's money with them

To get your own PayPal Premier account click here

For more info. on PayPal's charges go to https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-pop-fees-outside
If you want to set this up for your WhatToGive account then all you need to do is log in to your WhatToGive account and tick one of the "Friends can promise via PayPal" or "Friends must promise via PayPal" on the "Settings" page. The site will then use your "primary" email address when it passes your friends to PayPal for them to make their contribution. If you signed up for WhatToGive with a different email address to your PayPal account then you will have to add the other email address to your WhatToGive account first - you do this in the "settings" page too. WhatToGive will send an email to this new address for you to confirm that it really is your address. Once you have confirmed it you can then go back to the settings page and make this your primary address so that this address is used when your friends give using PayPal.

How do I delete my account?

This isn't asked very frequently but we thought we would put it in here anyway!! All you have to do is send an email to support@whattogive.com saying "please delete my account". We will delete your account - usually within 3 days of getting your mail - and reply to let you know that your account has been deleted. This email will have to come from the address you signed up with.

How do add pictures of the things on my list?

You can't upload your own pictures of items on your list. However if you enter a web address for the item the system will go off and find the best picture from that page. If it gets the wrong image you can choose from all the images on the page. Here's what you do. If you leave the web address in place then the item will be linked through to this page. However if you take the web address away the image will remain but the item will not be linked to this page. This means you can use pictures from just about any web page - and you can usually find a picture to match your item out there somewhere!! Of course you can always upload your photos to a picture sharing website such as flickr.com and then set the web address to be the page with your photo on. Here are the steps you need to take to attach a picture to an item...

Click "more info" next to the item you want to add an image for
In another browser window go to Google and do an image search to find an appropriate image for the item
Click on the image in Google image search
At the top of the page it will say "Below is the image in its original context on the page: www.webpage.com/page"
Right click on the address of the page containing the image and choose "Copy Shortcut" (for IE) or "Copy Link Location (for FireFox)
Come back to WhatToGive and paste this address into the web address box - It doesn't matter if this isn't exactly the right page as it will only be used for the image - the item will not link to this page - in fact you can even substitute a more accurate link once you have grabbed the image
Click into the "Item title" box and you should see the text "Loading Item Data" appear

Were all your questions answered?

I hope so... but if not please click here and take a moment to tell me what was missing or why you still wouldn't sign up. All feedback is greatfully received. I just want to make this site as useful as possible!

Create your own WhatToGive list!

Birthday, baby or wedding - whatever the reason you can create your own free list.
Just enter your email address here and click "start"

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