Something similar for me. I did 4 years, I had fun making things, doing research, etc. The one thoughtful thing I got was unfortunately also just junk (3D printed model).

I prefer gift giving when it's with people I know and see, when I know they'll use or otherwise appreciate what I give them. Been doing a lot of handcrafted stuff, homemade food, and event gifts.

For receiving: especially in the last 7 years or so, I don't want to get purchased gifts.

I sent a nice package, and I received one. It was a wooden puzzle box. I'm pretty good at puzzles but it's stumped me; I can't open it. That was years ago. It's still sitting on my bookshelf. I can hear there's something inside, but I can't get in and I refuse to force it. My daughter looked up instructions but still couldn't do it - says maybe it was sabotaged. So unsatisfying but wonderful.

Sounds like a great summary of the reddit experience.

I'd get you a really nice can of beans.

Did the same, but got nothing in return. First and last time.

I had the same type of experience. On a whole people are shit and try to take advantage of each other at every opportunity

You could always give a PO box address. But personally I woulndn't want to receive gifts from random people from Lemmy.

There's always boardgamegeek.com's Secret Santa, too. Though, this year's already closed to new registrants. 😅

Seems more Fediverse apropos.

An IOU for a warm worm anal tissue massage.

Where do we sign up

Years ago Reddit had a sister site called Reddit secret Santa where Redditors could sign up to be matched with other Redditors as an online global secret Santa and you could write down your interests, likes/dislikes, hobbies, fav shows, movies, food etc.

It was pretty neat, I ended up with a lot of foreign nic-nacks and snacks because I would sign up for worldwide all the time

Secret Santa is where a group of people all get given the name of one other person, and they have to buy them a Christmas gift in secret. Someone else will buy them a gift, but no one (usually) knows who got them their gift.

Reddit Secret Santa was just the same, but on reddit, and instead of being among a small group of local friends (eg an office) it was done internationally.

who would be comfortable with sharing the address attached to their real name or username on here?

Yes I've thought about organizing something myself but always get caught thinking about this, everyone here seems more privacy minded than reddit ever was.

Personally, I already have a PO box for random shit so wouldn't mind but yea that's just another barrier to entry that could hamper interest

Idk about that man I played kickball for the first time in like 2 decades and it was a blast

Years ago Reddit had a sister site called Reddit secret Santa where Redditors could sign up to be matched with other Redditors as an online global secret Santa and you could write down your interests, likes/dislikes, hobbies, fav shows, movies, food etc.

It was pretty neat, I ended up with a lot of foreign nic-nacks and snacks because I would sign up for worldwide all the time

Yea, it just sticks out for me because it didn't die because of disinterest as a fading fad, it got shutdown because of corporate enshittification >:(

Dude I made hot sauces for one

Spirit of giving can be consumerist bullshit, but that's only if you don't take it on regular walks and get it plenty of sunlight.