Shareagift – Pool Your Funds for an Amazing Gift

People have been getting together and pooling their money to buy gifts for friends for years. Shareagift is a new tool that aims to make that process easier. In five simple steps, anyone can organize the purchase of a group gift for a mutual friend, colleague, or family member – all without having to deal with receiving multiple checks or making change for people who only have cash.

Shareagift probably isn’t a web-app you’ll use every day, but it is something that’s useful during wedding season or when you plan on attending a housewarming party or some other type of event that usually requires the purchase of a gift. Rather than calling your friends and asking everyone if they’d like to go in together on a bigger item, you can click over to Shareagift and create a ‘Gift Page’ in honor of the recipient. Each page should have the name of the recipient, the occasion, gift information, contributions, and a message to the people you’re inviting to take part. You can then share this page with your friends via Facebook or email. Friends who visit the page can contribute money toward the gift with a credit card, debit card, or PayPal account, and you can keep track of how much money you’ve raised by checking back at Shareagift at any time. When you reach the target goal, which should be the amount of the gift, the money you’ve collected will be deposited into your bank account or PayPal account and you can go ahead and buy the gift.

In addition to all its cool money-collecting features, Shareagift also features a “Find a Gift” tool that people can use to select the perfect gift for any occasion. Although most people will think of Shareagift as the ideal tool for buying group birthday presents and housewarming gifts, it can also be used by engaged couples who are interesting in registering for certain large-ticket items, like honeymoon excursions, or by high school students whose extended families are eager to help them save for future college expenses.

Practical Uses:

• Get together with your friends to buy a friend a stereo for his birthday
• Ask wedding guests to donate to your honeymoon fund
• Buy a gift with your siblings for your parents’ anniversary
• Collect money for a group present from friends who live far away

Insider Tips:

• People who don’t reach their target amounts can still extract the donated money to spend on a different gift
• Shareagift will deposit money in any bank account or PayPal account
• Contributions can’t be changed once they’ve been submitted, but a user can decide to contribute additional funds at any time
• Organizers can check who they have sent invitations to by clicking the ‘Edit’ tab

What we liked:

• Shareagift makes it easier for people to collect money for work-related events and parties
• Asking people for money is less awkward when it’s done online
• Users can pay with credit cards, debit cards, or through PayPal
• People can check out potential gift ideas right on the Shareagift page

What we didn’t like:

• Shareagift asks for a $1 admin fee when people make contributions

Alternatives:

• Invested.in – http://invested.in
• Kickstarter – http://www.kickstarter.com

Company Info:

• Launched: September 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Sunnyvale, California
• Founded by: Justine Angelli
• Web site: http://www.shareagift.com

Costs:

• $1 admin fee for contributions