A dropout after the draw is not the end of the exchange. With a few targeted moves, you can keep most assignments intact and re-route just the affected pair. Here is the playbook.
Four moves to handle a clean dropout
Identify the two affected pairs
The dropout matters in two roles: as a giver and as a receiver. They were going to gift someone, and someone was going to gift them. Identify both. With Cuchumbo, the assignments stay sealed even from you — the affected players see only their own page change.
Reshake to absorb the dropout, not redraw the whole group
A reshake re-routes only the assignments that touched the dropout. The other pairs stay exactly as they were. Players who already opened their match keep that match. The seal stays mostly intact — just the impacted pair changes hands.
Tell the affected players, not the whole group
Only two people experience a real change: the dropout's giftee and their giver. Talk to them directly, explain the new pairing, and let the rest of the group keep going as if nothing happened. Mass announcements amplify a problem that should stay narrow.
Don't refund the dropout's gift — let them keep it
If the person who dropped out had already bought a gift, the cleanest move is to let them keep it (or pass it on outside the exchange). Asking them to mail an unsent gift to a third party adds friction to a situation they're already trying to exit gracefully.
When to redraw the whole group
If two or more people drop out at once, or if the group is small enough that a single dropout creates an awkward triangle, a full redraw may be cleaner than a reshake. Cuchumbo lets you do either — reshake for one or two losses, repeat for a fresh round if the original draw is no longer workable.
Reshake handles dropouts in seconds
On the Cuchumbo organizer page, the Reshake button re-routes the affected assignments and leaves the rest sealed. One click, the impacted players see their new match, the seal holds for everyone else.