Elfster - Reviews and experiences

I got roped into this by a family member and I had my doubts — mostly about privacy and the emails. I used it days after signing up for our family draw and impression was a lot of countdowns and updates in my inbox. You can mute messages in settings but you can't delete your account until the organizer's set date (three weeks away), which felt odd. Coordination worked fine, but I'm not thrilled about the data/spam side.

I'd recommend Elfster — overall handy for gift exchanges. We've used it for years and the customer service is pleasant and responsive, which surprised me. It's simple to set up, share and run a Secret Santa, though I keep wishing I could just link my Amazon wishlist instead of rebuilding one on Elfster. If they add that import it'd be flawless — seriously.

Needed this for our family secret-santa — couldn't be in stores because of a recent move and a bad back, so I was relying on the site. I typed in the wrong email by accident and it created a second account, then kept jumping straight to the next signup page and locked my husband out. I sent one email to support; they responded that evening and by morning the accounts were fixed, access restored. Pleasantly surprised they also merged a few settings for us — saved me time.

two accounts, one created by mistake, and my settings gone. Support fixed it. Dazzle tracked the duplicate account, showed me the exact error and walked me through restoring my app. I was doubtful at first. Quick replies and clear steps won me over. Tip: double-check account names when you sign up.

I was really looking forward to this little pick — grabbed it from my Elfster match's wishlist a couple of weeks before our Secret Santa. I needed something to tuck into a stocking and thought it would be a cozy, useful surprise. Ordering was straightforward and payment went through, but the item never shipped in time; tracking barely moved. Elfster support suggested I send a cute note saying Santa's running late, which felt a bit thin. Kinda disappointed, sure, but the product looked great online and the process otherwise was okay. If you’ve got a firm date, don’t bank on tight shipping.

I started using this for our office secret-santa three years ago — or two, memory's fuzzy — and this season I goofed up the settings. Customer support walked me through each step, calmly, over chat, and delivery info was clear so gifts arrived when expected. The wishlist link is straightforward and there's decent range at different price points. First impression this year was relief more than excitement; not perfect, but once support fixed my mess it ran smoothly. Packaging was fine, delivery on time, and service actually felt helpful, not scripted, and polite.

the draw itself is straightforward and it did assign pairs without obvious bias. But the workflow around it needs work. My advice: test with a couple of people first, and be ready to spend time fixing emails manually. It would help if the site let you review everything before publishing and if only the organizer received the admin-type emails. Not perfect, but usable if you have patience.

the quick, practical help made the site actually useful when I needed it. Appreciate the calm, professional tone of the agent — felt human, not scripted.