Let's start the first ever Anime & Manga SE community gift exchange!

Question

With the holidays coming up, tis the season to be jolly. Regardless of your race, religion , creed, or otaku power level, we're all gathered here by our interest in anime and/or manga! Why not celebrate this time with a gift exchange among community fellow members (mods included!)?

To participate, you will need a minimum of 200 reputation excluding the association bonus (at least 300 with the association bonus) and have an account age of at least 1 month by Wednesday, November 5th. The elevated barrier of entry is there to ensure that those participating has what it takes to follow through with their commitment to the event.

Here's how the event will go down:

1. First you sign up by submit some basic information through this form. You'll be asked for the following:
   • Your Anime.SE username
   • You email where you wish to be contacted
   • The city/country/providence you are located in
   • If you are willing ship your gift far away? (If not we'll try to match you with someone close by)
   • Acknowledge the Terms of Use (read: keiyaku)
   • And a few other things...
     
     
2. The deadline to sign up is Wednesday, November 5th. You will be assigned a number, and on Monday, November 10th you will be paired up with another fellow user and given their username and contact (only the number will be posted here). It's up to you, as the Gifter, to contact them, the Giftee, to get their contact and shipping info (some parcel services require you to include an phone number). PLEASE DO NOT USE P.O. BOXES. Try to format you contact as so (include the Anime.SE username as a c/o so the Giftee knows that the parcel is related to the exchange):

Asami Sanada
411 Gamers Rd
Apt. 723, c/o Dejiko
Winter Garden, DG
Broccoli Country

3. The Gifter does not have to reveal themselves to the Giftee, nor do they have to pick anything listed on the Giftee's wishlist. The soft requirement for the gift is for it to be somewhat anime and manga related (handmade goods are always welcomed!). The suggested value of you present should be around $20 USD or the economic equivalent (certain countries may have a higher or lower cost of living compare to others.) Contact a moderator is you are unsure about any aspect (including economic conversion). Gifts can be digital if you do not have the means of sending a physical parcel at a reasonable rate, but try to do your research to ensure that the Giftee won't have trouble getting access to it in their respective country.

4. You Gifter won't be your Giftee, and viceversa. The pairings will happen something like this, assuming there are 5 people participating:

#1 --gifts--> #2 --gifts--> #3 --gifts--> #4 --gifts--> #5 --gifts--> #1

5. The deadline to ship your gift is by December 10th. If for some reason you cannot make the deadline, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR GIFTEE to let them know. Be sure to send an email informing your Giftee that their gift has been sent, if possible, include a tracking number or a teaser image of what to expect.

6. When you get your gift, be sure let your Gifter know you have. Afterwards, post it for other people to see (so they can be jolly) on this meta (A separate meta question will be posted). You may use an Imgur album if you so choose. Be sure to post your reactions as well. Feels free to post links to it in your preferred social network(s).

7. If you haven't had any contact from your Gifter by the shipping deadline, please email a moderator and we'll work on getting you rematched ASAP.

8. The most voted gift may receive a hidden bonus?! (Stay tuned for more info)

9. Contact a moderator via chat or by email at anime.mods@madara.ninja if you have any issues, questions, or need help on anything related to this event.

10. Let's all have fun and play together!

To start, opt-in: >> HERE << OPT-INS ARE CLOSED!!

• Sign up ends: Wednesday, Nov. 5

• Matching happens on: Monday, Nov. 10th You should have been matched! Contact a moderator, if you haven't!

• You should ship by: Sunday, Dec. 7

• If you don't get a response of any sort about your present being shipped by Friday, Dec. 12, notify a moderator and we'll get you rematched.

>> It's a go! Phase 1: The Great Matching and the Ship Off

Answer 1

Here are some basic questions to address the questions asked by users so far:

How does rematching work?

If you, as the Giftee, does not a get your gift by Friday, Dec. 12, message a mod and we will match you up with someone that has opted in to rematching, so they can send you a present in lieu of your previous Giftee.

$20 USD feels like too much for a gift in my country... What is the economical equivalent for my country?

Though it might not necessarily be effective or accurate, take a look at how much it cost to purchase a Big Mac in your country (if you have a McDonalds in you country) and compare it to the average cost of a Big Mac in the US. For an example, the average price of a Big Mac in America in July 2014 was $4.80 USD. In Malaysia, it's around $2.41 USD or so (numbers may be off depending on the location), a difference of a raw index of about 49.8%. Take these conversion into consideration when making cost decision for your gift. If you are still unsure. Message a mod in chat.

I want to get matched up with someone higher than the minimum rep (200 for new user or 300 w/ association bonus) requirement, because {{insert reason}}...

Although the barrier of entry has been raised by a bit, the end goal is not to alienate low-rep users. Opportunities to gain rep are not as abundant for new users, but for those who have shown initiative in participation, should be given the opportunity to stand on an equal platform as higher rep users.

I wanna know how many people are participating before I sign up! Can you tell me?

No. But the general statistics of the gift exchange will be published when the exchange concludes. But I'll tell you more than 5 people have already signed up, just about everyone from different countries.

I've never shipped overseas before, can you help me with {{XYZ problem}}?

Message a mod in chat (or invite them to a private chat) and try will try to help you as best they can with these type of things.

You may also email the mods at by email at anime.mods@madara.ninja if you have any issues or questions that you wish to have addressed privately.

Where can I post my wishlists?

Reply to your Gifter, when they contact you about being matched. The idea is to have some sort of dialogue between the Gifter and Giftee.