YT Gift Exchange Rules & Regulations

[admin]

Last updated on April 4, 2012

Please read the rules in full before you sign up. Thank you.

1. Finding a Gift Exchange Buddy - Pairing up will be randomly done by computer and you will be informed by Private Message (PM) as to who your secret gift exchange buddy is, their address and all their information on themselves and their pet(s)! You may register up to two Yorkies per Gift Exchange. If you have more than two Yorkies, they will have to take turns participating. If you have two Yorkies participating, you will most likely get two Yorkies from different households to give gifts to. Thus, you would have to pay for shipping for two packages if you want to register two of your Yorkies for the Gift Exchange.

Please include at least 3 pictures of your Yorkie(s) that are participating in your signup post. You may link to YorkieTalk Photo Galleries, YorkieTalk threads, your YT personal albums, or links to other photo sharing sites that include pictures of the Yorkie you are entering. Members love to see which adorable Yorkie they are giving to!

2. Privacy - Your personal private information will only be gathered for the purposes of the Gift Exchange. The only person that will be given your name and address is the person that is sending your Yorkie a gift. We will not divulge your information to anyone else (unless required by law).

3. How It Will Work - After the signup period has ended, each person will get a Secret Buddy to give a gift for. Keep in mind, just because you have "Barbara" does not mean that "Barbara" has you! If you have two Yorkies participating, you will have to buy gifts for two Yorkies, and you will receive presents for your two Yorkies. Or you could participate one of your Yorkies this time around and participate your other Yorkie on our next Gift Exchange!

4. Price Ranges - There will be a suggested minimum spending limit of $40.00 so that everything can remain fair and noone will feel like they spent too much and received too little, or vice versa! This is the amount for actual items for the Gift, shipping will be additional (usually from $5 to $10 depending on the size and weight). If you want to spend a little more (or a lot more!) on your buddy, you may do so but please do not expect that in return! YorkieTalkers have been known to be very generous in the past. It may be out of the goodness of your own heart to do so.

For gifts, gift cards or donations in your Yorkie's name to a charity is acceptable, as long as this is above and beyond the $40.00 limit. In other words, only giving your Secret Buddy a gift card for $40 for the Gift Exchange is not allowed. We believe most members would prefer not to receive gift cards (as not everybody may have the same stores as you have near your home), but that is up to you.

5. Shipping and Receiving - Please allow 1-2 weeks shipping time! If you are participating, we are putting all our trust on you to get your buddy's gift and to send it out on time so that your buddy on the other end and their Yorkie will not be waiting for their presents for too long! It is in your hands to ship it and since we are all trusting each other, please do not forget to ship it out! If you do not ship out your gift, you will be held responsible for it. Again, this is based on TRUST so if you believe that you may not be able to ship it out on time or that problems may arise, please let us know as soon as possible! If your buddy does not receive their gift for any reason, you may not participate in the next Secret Buddy Gift Exchange and there may be other consequences as well!

PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU ARE SHIPPING TO CANADA OR A NON-USA ADDRESS:

We suggest you use the US Postal Service to mail to Canada or a non-USA address (as UPS and Fedex charges additional fees).

Also, please note to mark your item as a gift, and please do not claim it as more than $60, otherwise your Secret Buddy will have to pay import taxes on it. If you have any questions about this, please contact us. Thank you!

Please read the links below if your Secret Buddy lives in Canada:
Mailing Gifts to Canada - Stay Clear of Duties and Taxes When Mailing Gifts to Canada
Canada Post - Customs Requirements

6. Sending Out Your Gift - For every installment of the YorkieTalk.com's Secret Buddy Gift Exchange, there will be a set deadline. This deadline has to be met and your gift must be sent out before the date. You will have approximately one month to send your gift out. Please send your gift out within this time span (Remember, keep in mind the approximate amount of time it will take to get there!). We completely understand the inevitability of complications or that crucial personal problems may occur. If this happens, please notify us by PM. Remember to put in your YorkieTalk username in the package, so your Secret Buddy knows who to thank.

If you are waiting on a special item for your Secret Buddy, and it may not come before the shipping deadline, you may separate your gifts into two shipments. Please note in your first shipment that there will be another box coming.

We can help you find alternate solutions to have your gift mailed out or if, early enough, we can withdraw your name from the Participants List. It is only fair that you send out your gift in the allowed time window because other members may use their best judgement and send out their gifts a month in advance. We believe you have the ability to do the same also.

Please DO NOT send your Secret Buddy any USED toys or clothing. Re-gifting an item you may have received previously is okay, but only if it is NEW. Please give away or throw away your USED items you do not want, as they should not be given to YorkieTalk members in the YT Gift Exchange.

7. Receiving a Gift - Your buddy has put a lot of thought, effort, money and time into your gift. We believe that the least you can do is thank them. Please start a thread in the YT Gift Exchange Forum after you have received your gift so that your Gift Giver knows that you have received the goodies. It shows your buddy that you appreciate it and also lets us know that you received your gift so we know who or who did not receive their gifts. This is a requirement of participating in the Gift Exchange. We also require members to post at least three pictures in the Thank You thread as well, as members like to see the gifts being received, as some say that's the best part of our Gift Exchanges. Please note you have two weeks after you receive your package to post a 'Thank You' thread, unless you notify us in advance of family vacations or emergencies, etc. We will try to accommodate you if it is reasonable, but not posting a thread is not acceptable and may result in a suspension or ban from YorkieTalk and may ban you from all future YorkieTalk Gift Exchanges.

8. Tracking Numbers / Confirmation Numbers / Insurance / Signature Confirmation - Please insure your package and get a tracking number (or delivery confirmation with the US Postal Service). This is a requirement. It will let us know where your package is and the status of it so your buddy can also be updated. You must use a shipping service that either has a tracking number or delivery confirmation number (either US Postal Service, UPS, or Fedex). The shipping services DO lose packages and it would be a shame if your secret buddy did not get the package due to no fault of your own. We have had an average of two lost packages per gift exchange thus far. Insurance has come in very handy in several cases already.

Also, we highly recommend using Signature Confirmation or requiring an Adult Signature. This is to ensure that packages do arrive and do not get stolen off the porch. You may choose not to use Signature Confirmation, but we will hold the sender responsible for the package if it gets stolen. Insurance may not cover stolen packages, but Signature Confirmation will protect your package from theft. Just to be clear, if the package is delivered without Signature Confirmation or Adult Signature and then it gets stolen, the SENDER will be held responsible and would have to send another GE package. Signature Confirmation or Adult Signature required may NOT be available for overseas deliveries (we are unsure of this), but if you can have this service for your shipment, please utilize it.

PLEASE USE SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION or ADULT SIGNATURE REQUIRED when sending a package.

9. Estimated Time Windows - Gift Exchange Timeline

You will have roughly a month to Sign-Up to be a participant in the Gift Exchange. You will receive Secret Buddy info within a week of gathering all the information from new participants. You will have 3 to 4 weeks to shop, prepare your package for delivery and to deliver it.

10. Not Receiving a Gift - If you have not received your gift after 2 weeks of the posted deadline, please PM us to let us know. There will be action taken. It is not fair to you if you have sent out a gift and did not receive one in return. YorkieTalk guarantees that you will get a Gift per Gift Exchange as long as you follow the rules. Every single participant in every single YT Gift Exchange thus far has received a gift. Please do not complain about not receiving a gift in any threads until after two weeks of the deadline. Remember that YorkieTalk guarantees you will get a gift if you participate so please be patient.

[admin]

11. Eligibility - The Gift Exchange is open to all Donating Members that have donated $25 or more to YorkieTalk. A member may enter one Yorkie or Yorkie mix. Click here for information on donating. (If you want to enter two Yorkies into a Gift Exchange, you will need to have donated $50 or more). If you are a Donating Member (your YT username is in dark blue next to your post and you have a Donating Member user title), you may join the Gift Exchange. If you are a Junior Donating Member (your YT username is in light blue next to your post), you have not yet met the eligibility requirements for the Gift Exchange.

This will allow you to participate in the YT Gift Exchange as long as YT does Gift Exchanges. We require this now because there are certain former YT members that DID NOT mail out a Gift in previous Gift Exchanges while they did accept a gift. This is totally unfair and unjust, especially with all the effort, time, and energy everyone in the Gift Exchange has given.

The YT Gift Exchange is open to all YT Donating Members from the United States and Canada. If you are anywhere else in the world, there is an additional $20 shipping fee per Gift Exchange to cover the extra cost of shipping items to foreign countries. This fee must be paid before the start of the Gift Exchange for you to participate. The fee will be given directly to your Secret Buddy (minus any Paypal fees, if any), which they can use to apply towards their shipping costs. Shipping from the US/Canada to anywhere else is VERY expensive and this is for those costs. The shipping fee will be paid by YorkieTalk to your Secret Buddy AFTER you have received your gift. (Please note that APO military addresses are considered by the US Postal Office to be USA addresses and thus do not require the additional $20 shipping fee. If you are sending to your Secret Buddy that has an APO military address, you will not be reimbursed any additional shipping fees).

The $20 shipping fee reimbursement is ONLY for YT members who live in the USA or Canada and are shipping their gift to a member that is NOT in the USA or Canada. If you live in the USA and are shipping to Canada, you will not be reimbursed. If you live in Canada, and ship to the USA, you will not be imbursed. If you live outside of the USA or Canada and ship to the USA or Canada, you will not be reimbursed.

We also require you to be a member of YorkieTalk for three months or longer as well as have at least 250 posts on YorkieTalk. You must be a member of YorkieTalk for a full three months before the start of the signup of the Gift Exchange. The actual date of which you must have already been a YorkieTalk member will be listed in the Signups thread. This is so that members can get to know you and your Yorkie better.

Please note that you MAY receive a secret buddy in Canada (if you are in the US), and you MAY receive a secret buddy in the US (if you are in Canada). Be prepared to pay a few dollars more in shipping costs if this is the case. Also, to save on shipping costs, you may want to keep the package "lighter".

We do not allow any threads or posts for seeking any "unofficial" YorkieTalk Gift Exchanges, however, you may send gifts to any member or friend you would like at any time.

12. Consequences - We want to keep the fairness in this Gift Exchange and we want everyone to have fun! It is not fair to send a gift and not receive one without any actions taken against the participant that decided not to send a gift.

If you do not send out a gift, you may be banned from YorkieTalk forever with a note in their user title stating the reason they are banned. We do not want this to happen to anyone and that is why we stress that you contact us as soon as possible if anything occurs which prevents you from sending out a gift.

If members ship their gifts out substantially late and without reason or warning or notice to us, their accounts will be suspended for two weeks and they will not be eligible to participate in the next Gift Exchange.

If members ship their gifts out late in multiple Gift Exchanges, they will not be allowed to participate in the next two Gift Exchanges. If it happens again after that, then the member will be permanently banned from all future Gift Exchanges.

If members do not post "Thank You" threads, their accounts will be suspended or banned and they will no longer be able to participate in any future Gift Exchanges.

Again, please let us know as soon as you can if you are unable to send out the gift by the deadline. We will work with all members involved and notify your Secret Buddy for you if we know.

If you do not send a gift, you (and any immediate family members in your household) will be BANNED from YorkieTalk and from participating in any future YorkieTalk Gift Exchanges.

[admin]

We have updated the rules, which will apply starting with the YT GE XII.

Some of the changes are gifts regarding gift cards and donations in your Yorkie's name, shipments in two packages for those waiting on a "special" gift, as well as Signature Confirmation, which we highly recommend for all members.

We have also clarified the eligibility rules paragraph.

[admin]

We have updated the rules on Signature Confirmation (#8), as well as clarified shipping to APO military addresses (#11).

Please note that the senders of gifts are responsible for packages if Signature Confirmation or Adult Signature Required is not used and the package somehow gets lost on the receiver's porch. Signature Confirmation will help insure that your Secret Buddy gets their gift.

[admin]

We updated #6, remember to put in a note or card in your Gift so that your Secret Buddy knows who to thank!

[admin]

We have clarified the shipping fee reimbursement.

[admin]

We have added a few additional rules as we have gotten a lot of great feedback from our members in the past few weeks regarding our Gift Exchanges.

The minimum spending amount has been raised from $25 to $40. We are requiring that members include pictures of the Yorkie they are entering in the YorkieTalk Gift Exchange, as there have been several instances of members not knowing "who" they are giving to.

Since we are requiring photographs, we are also requiring members post pictures in the "Thank you" threads. YorkieTalk would be happy to help you with inserting pictures in threads, or if you want to mail us print photographs, we can scan them for you as well. Just let us know.

If members ship their gifts out substantially late and without reason or warning or notice to us, their accounts will be suspended for two weeks and they will not be eligible to participate in the next Gift Exchange.

If members do not post "Thank You" threads, their accounts will be suspended and they will no longer be able to participate in any future Gift Exchanges.

We have decided not to implement any different tiers or levels of Gift Exchanges nor did we decide to implement a maximum spending limit. Please note that you should not expect to receive any more than $40 worth of gifts if you do participate. Some members may spend more, but that is completely at their discretion.

It is a requirement to send the tracking number (if it's available, sometimes there are no tracking numbers when you ship overseas or to Canada) to us after you ship your item.

Please do not complain about not receiving a gift until two weeks after the shipping deadline. We will look into it for you if you PM us and let us know you have not received your gift, and YorkieTalk does guarantee that you will get a gift. If your Secret Buddy is in Europe, it may take as long as three weeks to reach you. Thank you.

Starting with the 18th YT GE (November 2009), we will be requiring members that participate to be on YorkieTalk at least three months and have at least 250 posts. This will not apply to the 17th YT GE because there are several members who have signed up in the past month asking about their eligibility in the upcoming GE and we have told them they are eligible for the next GE. So we believe it would be unfair to "change" the rules on them at this time.

Please remember that YorkieTalk Gift Exchanges are purely optional and that while we wish we didn't need a long list of rules, these rules are designed so that everyone has a fair and fun GE, and that these rules were implemented after much thought and input, as well as through our GE experience.

We look forward to your participation!

[admin]

We have added under #12 Consequences:

"If members ship their gifts out late in multiple Gift Exchanges, they will not be allowed to participate in the next two Gift Exchanges. If it happens again after that, then the member will be permanently banned from all future Gift Exchanges."

[admin]

Starting with the YT GE XXVII, the spending minimum has been raised to $40.

[admin]

Updated two week time requirement (after receiving your gift) to post a "Thank You" thread.

[JMuedog]

Minimum number of members required to sign up in order to have a Gift Exchange is 8.