How do you avoid duplicate presents when coordinating with extended family?

Question

honestly im so over the gift-giving chaos every single year. last year my son got the exact same Lego shark set three times because my mom and the in-laws apparently dont talk to each other ever. its such a huge headache having to drive back and forth to the mall for returns especially with my schedule being so packed right now.

we have about 10 relatives spread across the East Coast and nobody listens. I tried:

a group text that got ignored

a google doc that was too hard

just telling them over the phone

how do you guys actually coordinate with extended family so you dont end up with doubles of everything?

bushwickartist · Accepted Answer

Saw this while scrolling today and honestly, i have been there with the triple-gift madness. It is so draining. Quick question though before i suggest a specific app... are your relatives mostly on iPhones or is it a mix of tech levels? That usually changes which tool actually sticks. I would suggest being careful with open lists because people always forget to mark stuff as bought. You might want to consider these steps to keep the peace:

Use a dedicated registry tool that hides items once someone clicks bought so they literally cant buy it twice.

Make sure to keep the list updated in real-time or the whole thing is basically pointless.

Tbh, I just started using ShareProduct for my kids and it makes sending ideas to the less tech-savvy grandparents way easier since it is just one simple link. Just a warning, if you dont stay on top of them the first week, they will probably just go rogue and buy whatever anyway lol.