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+-- Thread: Can I offer a suggesion? (/showthread.php?tid=121280)
Can I offer a suggesion? - Gourmet_Mom - 05-09-2011
I LOVE our Secret Santa. But it bothered me that my present would reveal my identity. I have a proposal. I would like to add an alternative address for my shipping info for "Santa". If others would like to make it more secretive, you can join me. Barbara, if you're still willing, I'd like to add this to the mix, if you're willing to still be our North Pole Connection.
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - Harborwitch - 05-09-2011
Do you mean the return address? I've thought about that.
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - luvnit - 05-10-2011
How would we give a different address? Is there a service that the post office offers?
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - cjs - 05-10-2011
I'm not sure what you're talking about either, Daphne.
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - Mare749 - 05-10-2011
Daphne, I tried this already. When I took my package to the post office to mail, I put Santa, North Pole, as my return address. The clerk at the counter told me that I had to put a "valid" return address, just in case something went wrong and it didn't get delivered.
I told the clerk that it was a secret santa gift and that I would just trust the post office to deliver it. He finally consented, but I realized later that it was probably stamped by the P.O. with my city and state anyway.
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - Trixxee - 05-10-2011
The post office is definitely going to stamp it's origin. I don't think there's any way around that.
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - labradors - 05-10-2011
The only way to get the maximum amount of privacy (though not 100%... read on) would be as follows:
- Assign one trusted person to be the "North Pole." This person would have to know the true mailing addresses of EACH participant (hence the lack of absolute, 100% privacy).
- Each participant would send the gifts to the "North Pole" person within removable, plain wrapping paper that would be marked according to postal regulations and would include some form of prepaid postage (the correct amount of stamps, a money order, a PayPal payment to the "North Pole" person, etc.).
- Upon receiving the gifts, the "North Pole" person would remove the wrapping that contains the original sender's address, wrap the gift in a new sheet of plain wrapping paper, properly address it to the appropriate recipient, apply the already-paid, additional postage, then send it.
- The "North Pole" person would have to be someone willing to take on the added work of forwarding everyone else's packages, as well as being someone who would be trusted by all participants.
- The entire Secret-Santa program would have to start earlier in order to allow for the additional shipping time of such a method of forwarding.
- There would be additional (approximately double) shipping charges because of the intermediary involvement of the "North Pole" person.
- If the "North Pole" person is also a participant, he or she would already know which other participant was his or her Secret Santa and, although surprised by the gift, would not be surprised by the identity of the sender.
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - karyn - 05-10-2011
I have an alternative suggestion. I think I confused Denise pretty well by shipping FedEx. I used my sister's address (she lives in another state) as the return address. FedEx doesn't care what the return address is, as long as it's a real address. FedEx Ground is slightly more expensive than the post office, but not much...
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - cjs - 05-10-2011
I like Barbara's idea better, would hate to put all that on "Santa."
Re: Can I offer a suggesion? - Gourmet_Mom - 05-10-2011
What was Barbara's idea?
To clarify. I would give my daughter's address in addition to mine. If my "Santa" would like, he/she could mail it to Ashley. Ashley would remove the return label to prevent me from knowing who mailed it.
I forgot to add. Ashley lives close enough she can get it to me. But I would probably have her hold it until she came Christmas Eve. (I know....sad....no willpower.) If she was not close enough or would not be home for Christmas, my alternate address recipient could relabel it and send it to me. I'd be willing to pay the shipping. But ideally, it would make more sense to use someone local that could just remove the label and bring it to me.