:thumbup: Yes, I agree and have suggested this as well !

Agreed!

I agree!

me too! :thumbup:

Me three :)

i am not in this one, but I would hate a limit, it would be hard to track for those that made things as opposed to buy things and what if you got a lot of stuff on sale or had few things that would work for your buddy that were new that you could not use.

It would still all fit under the limit. It's up to you what you want to get so if you get 50 things all on sale under the limit, that's great. Someone else may only get 4 things for the same price. But, again, it's not the quantity of what you get it's the thought :)

As for making things, it's all relative. How much did you spend on the supplies? If you want to factor in the cost of your time, that's up to you.

In the end, no one is going to know how much you spent except for you. ;)

[QUOTE=brezofleur;4113687]But there is currently no limit. There's a minimum, but not limit. If we set a limit, it would be much, much more helpful. I don't think that GE participants would object to that. In fact, I think the vast majority (if not all) of us would appreciate it.[/QUOTE
I agree with this as well, some of us don't have x amount of dollars to spend, when I saw hundreds of dollars being spent I had the feeling that my box would be under par. IMHO.

Ya know... I really feel that if there was a limit, more would participate. Lets face it, no one ever hardly spends the minimum and then we feel like we need to do as much as the "last person". Someone mentioned in a post before that they were sorry If someone asked for a cloud nine bed or something else, but as for me, if you ask for something, I feel almost obligated to get it and have! (And don't get me wrong, have loved doing it!) I have given cloud nine as well as recieved... I love it! But... I think if we set a LIMIT... More will respond. A lot of us get out of control (myself included) and don't want anyone else to not get the opportunity to participate in the genuine fun! I have the means to get out of control but know I am fortunate and many others may want to join but feel like they can't. It's not about the money... It's about the experience!

Although I had shied away from GEs in the past because I did think some of them were a bit on the extravagant side, I don't think we should set a limit. We know the minimum is $40. Like some others have said they are thrifty shoppers and come across great deals so it looks like they are spending way more than they are on their boxes.

I think the minimum is good enough :) I'm really not a prolific poster. Otherwise, I would have joined.

That is exactly how I felt, for me the whole GE was about buying the stuff for my buddy, everything I bought and looked at got me very excited. Perhaps it has to do with the age of the dog and the gifter, I am old and Lola is not a puppy so she really has everything she could ever need and then some, so what she received was not that important to me. The gifts we received were very nice and thoughtful so I don't want to sound ungrateful but honestly i have to say that the buying and the giving part was what i enjoyed the most. The GE is made up of a wide variety of ages and incomes, going into it I recognized that and was fine with it, we had several young people that were still in school I would never expect them to have the same funds as someone my age did, I also have no children and only one niece so when I drew Cess, a college kid, LOL I felt motherly so I wanted to buy more. In fact I could not stop buying so I put a small box together for Carmen the other young person in the exchange. LOL maybe I should adopt:D anyway I hope you understand why a max amount may take the fun away for some of us and just cause someone spends a lot does not mean they require a lot in return, I even said send Lola a ton of dollar store toys since that is what makes her the happiest. hope ya'll understand what I mean.

I for one will never participate in these GE's, please don't get mad but It so reminds me of that pageant show for little girls...(can't remember the name and only watched it 2ce)...I'm going to be honest IMHO its to see who can out do who, the questionnaire alone made me squirm...I have watched all the smileboxes and rather enjoy them but I could never keep up with the GE participants...

I envision a GE where Lets see what you can do for $40 dollars and how cool the decorated box it came in was, the home made card etc......I've seen the GE's where wayyyy more than $40 was spent and expected, I've heard of the arguments and tits for tats...

I'm sorry while I enjoy the view from the sideline and do see how everyone gets caught up in the moment, I think the spirit of it, for many of us has been lost...

Love ya all, really...no hard feelings, just my well known 2cents.

I will stick to sending folks a gift who I choose on

I understand what you are saying and I can see that.

I was worried at first on people trying to out-do each other. I did look back at the other GEs. I thought about it a lot and decided that I can only control me and why I do what I do and if that is worth it for me...not worrying about others motives. After thinking about it, I truly believe we have very big hearted people here who have the same thoughts as me...just doing it for the "meeting new friends" and having fun shopping (whether I spend minimum or more...no matter...shopping is fun lol). So, I'm gonna give it a shot.

But I do really see where you are coming from.