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How to run a family Christmas wish list without spoiling the surprise
Wishful Thinking is a free wish list app for families. Each person keeps a list of things they would like from any store, shares it by link, and the rest of the family marks what they have bought. The person the list belongs to never sees those marks.
The two problems a shared list has to solve
The first is duplicates: two aunts buy the same Lego set because neither knew about the other. The second is the surprise: the moment a list shows what has been bought, the person who wrote it knows what is under the tree. A shared note or spreadsheet solves the first by creating the second.
Wishful Thinking handles both by showing different things to different people. Family members see what is already bought. The owner sees their list exactly as they left it.
Set it up in five steps
- Everyone 13 or older creates a free account at wishfullthinking.app. Parents keep the lists for younger children (see wish lists for kids).
- Each person makes a Christmas list and sets the date to December 25. A dated list repeats every year and shows on the gift calendar.
- Add wishes as you think of them. Paste a product link from any store. On Android, share straight from the store’s app to Wishful Thinking.
- Share each list. Tap Share wishlist and send the link to the family chat.
- Buyers mark what they buy. Open the link, sign in, tap “Mark as bought”. Everyone else then sees “Someone already bought this”.
Who sees what
| Person | What they see on a shared list |
|---|---|
| The list’s owner | Their wishes and prices. Never what has been bought. |
| A signed-in family member | The wishes, which ones are already bought, and their own “You marked this as bought” with an Undo. |
| Someone with the link who is not signed in | The wishes only, with a prompt to sign in or create a free account to see and mark what is bought. |
| Anyone without the link | Nothing. |
Make the list easy to buy from
- Mix price points. Mark the big wish “Really love this” and add a few marked “A little treat” so every budget has something.
- Let the prices work for you. Where a store’s page can be read, Wishful Thinking checks the price daily and keeps a history, and you can sort your list by biggest price drop.
- Fill in what is missing. Some large stores block automated reading. For those items, type the price in so buyers are not guessing.
- Start early. A list begun in October gives prices time to move, and gives you a price history to judge a “sale” by.
After Christmas
Leave the list where it is. Because it is dated, it will be on your gift calendar again next year, and anything nobody bought is still there for a birthday. If a link has travelled further than you meant, open the list’s settings and choose “Make a new link” or “Stop sharing”.
What it costs
Wishful Thinking is free for the whole family. There are no paid plans and no ads.
What it will not do
Wishful Thinking does not draw names for a Secret Santa, and it has no iPhone app: it installs on Android from Chrome and works in a desktop browser. See the comparison page for how to weigh it against other wish list tools.