Surveys show that people setting up their registries for special occasions refrain from asking for the gifts they really want because they don't want to ask for the expensive big-ticket items and they usually end up with multiple "unwanted gifts" such as expensive salad bowls or candles when they really wanted a new flat screen TV or a nice honeymoon trip.
Group Gift enable guests to contribute together towards more expensive gifts people could really use. If it is done right, people don't need to spend any more than they would have had they purchased the salad bowl. But with the concept of dividing up the big-ticket items among a group of people, they can spend $50 to $100 dollars and still get the couple something they could really use.
The problem today is that there are no good solutions to manage the entire group gift buying process. Someone usually has to organize the group gift and collect all the contributions. It is difficult to get everybody participating on the same wavelengths as they want to know what they are contributing towards. For the organizer, collecting all the contributions is a major headache as reminding people to collect the contributions can be awkward.
Perfect occasions for organizing group gifts for someone else include birthdays, graduation parties, baby shower, father's day, and mother's day. If it is your friends 30th birthday, get your friends to contribute small amounts towards something of value. This way, they don't need to get ten wine bottles and five CD's for their birthday. Or if your friend is graduating from collect, get them a good graduation gift that will have a long lasting impact.
Wedding and baby registries are perfect occasions for using the group gift concept. Knowing that there are a group of people that will be part of this gift, you don't have to feel guilty when you ask for that flat screen TV or new vacuum cleaner.
In short, the nature of group gifting is nothing new. A little bit of effort with the help of the right tools can get people big-ticket items without actually spending a lot of money.
