Setting up takes about as long as making a coffee. Sign up for free, name your list, and start adding the things you actually want. Paste a link from almost any online store and Wantsy pulls in the title, image and price for you, so the list looks tidy without the busywork.

Keep as many lists as you need. Plenty of people run a birthday list, a home wishlist and a holiday list at the same time. Add a note when the colour, size or exact version matters, then drag the items you want most to the top.

When the list is ready, you get one shareable link. Drop it in the family group chat, text it to a friend, or paste it into a party invite. Nobody you share with needs an account or an app; they open the link in any browser and see your list straight away.

Everyone views the same live list, so there is no back and forth about what you already own or what someone has already bought. The link does the coordinating.

This is the part that makes a wishlist app worth using. When someone decides to give one of your items, they quietly mark it as reserved. Everyone else sees it is taken, so two people never turn up with the same present, and you never see who reserved what, so the surprise survives.

You open gifts you actually chose. Givers feel sure they picked something you wanted. And nobody spends money on a third scented candle.

An online wishlist is useful well beyond birthdays. People use Wantsy for weddings and housewarmings, baby showers, the office Secret Santa, or just a running list of things they would love one day. The same create, share and reserve flow holds up whether five people are shopping from your list or fifty.

The core of Wantsy is free. Create a wishlist, add as many items as you want, and share it with as many friends and family as you like, all at no cost. Nothing to download, and nothing to pay before you find out whether it fits how you give gifts.