Secret Santa works best with a gift that's safe for someone you may not know that well: practical rather than deeply personal, and within whatever budget the group agreed on ahead of time.
Agree on a Budget First, Then Pick
Most workplace Secret Santa exchanges land somewhere between $20 and $50. The exact number matters less than making sure everyone agrees on it beforehand, so no one ends up feeling like they spent too much or too little compared to what they received.
| Budget | What to pick | What to skip |
|---|---|---|
| Under $20 | A small practical item: a candle or a printed tea towel | Anything that reads as cheap for the group's usual range |
| $20-$50 (typical office range) | A gift card, a lunch bag, or another practical item usable at work or home | Generic office-only swag, or anything that only works as a joke if you don't know the person well |
| Over $50 | Only if the group agreed on a higher budget | Going over the agreed limit, which is the one rule every Secret Santa exchange runs on |
What Works for Almost Anyone
- A neighborhood candle, useful and gift-appropriate without requiring much known about the person's taste.
- A printed kitchen towel, practical and easy to use at home.
- A lunch bag with a neighborhood or city print, useful at a desk or on a commute.
All three share the same trait: they're practical and work well as desk or home items, rather than being too personal for someone you may only know casually.
What to Skip
Custom Ink's 2025 Employee Holiday Gift Survey found a real gap between what employers tend to give and what employees actually want: employers often default to generic office-only items or branded swag, while employees said they preferred gifts they could enjoy both at work and at home, with gift cards, food and drink, and outerwear ranking as the most wanted categories and outerwear getting the fewest "worst gift" votes. The lesson for a Secret Santa pick isn't "avoid anything practical," it's to avoid anything so generic or work-only that it reads as an afterthought, and to skip anything that only makes sense as a joke at someone's expense if you don't know them well enough to know it'll land.
Source: Custom Ink, 2025 Employee Holiday Gift Survey. Custom Ink sells promotional and custom-printed gifts, so weigh that alongside the numbers.
If You'd Rather Not Guess
A gift card is a reasonable fallback at any Secret Santa budget level, and it removes the guesswork entirely when you genuinely don't know the person's taste.
What to look for
- Confirm the group's budget before you shop, not after.
- Favor useful over personal: desk items, kitchen items, candles.
- Skip gag gifts and anything scented if you don't know the person's taste.
- A gift card is a fine fallback, not a cop-out, when you genuinely don't know someone.
- Keep it work-appropriate if this is an office exchange.
FAQ
- What's a typical Secret Santa budget?
- Most workplace exchanges run between $20 and $50, with the exact number chosen by the group ahead of time.
- What gifts should I avoid for a Secret Santa I don't know well?
- Generic, work-only items and jokes that only land if you know the person well tend to disappoint. A 2025 Custom Ink survey found employees actually prefer gifts they can use outside the office too, like gift cards or food and drink, over purely practical office swag.
- Is a gift card an acceptable Secret Santa gift?
- Yes, especially when you genuinely don't know the person's taste well enough to pick something more specific.
