Secret Santa disappointment, anyone else?

[youcanonlydraftthefuture]

We had a 'minimum' spend in our office of £10. Highest was £20 max.

I spend about £18 and bought my secret Santa a Emma Bridgewater mug, her favourite chocolate and a fancy bubble bath she's well known to adore.

I got... A flimsy mug with cheap chocolates inside.

The previous year (a different office), I was given a pair of socks from Poundland and a small pack of M&M's, the spend limit there was £15.

AIBU to wonder how people can be so mean?

DH is usually well known for this kind of cheeky fuckery, usually re-gifting a naff toiletry set from someone. However, last year he was bought a Peroni glass and beer which he loves so makes the effort now.

Do people buy secret santa presents for family instead of usual presents,i know a family who do this
I had never heard of this until last year

We do with my husband’s family.

Most years what I get ends up in the school tombola the following year.

Hate secret Santa as I always try and get something the receiver would like, I always end up with shite!! Like the one year when it was £10 spend and I got a 3cm x 3cm picture frame out of a Christmas cracker!!

Grow up FFS !!!!!

Does your SS have form for this?

Did anyone else comment when you opened your gift?

I haven’t read the whole thread but we give three suggestions of things we like to our Secret Santa. Minimum spend of £5 and absolute maximum of £10. Only people who want to be a part of it take part - nobody is offended if someone doesn’t want to join in.
Suggestions might be

1. Nice white wine
2. Sanctuary Spa shower gel
3. Starbucks/ Cafe Nero / Costa voucher and a Chocolate Orange

Secret Santa gets one of the above for their person. Everybody gets something they like 🙂 There’s no excuse for a thoughtless present really, OP. I’d have been delighted with your gift though - you really put some thought into it.

Secret Santa presents are always disappointing and usually consist of some appalling tat. I'm a new member of the local WI, going out for Christmas meal next week and doing Secret Santa. The organiser didn't seem to know I was going to the meal when she got everyone to pick a name, so I'm not expecting to get given a present. Result!

There was one person at work everyone hoped wouldn’t pull out their name for the Secret Santa. She had form for either forgetting or giving something awful. One year she gave a bottle of hand cream to the person who had given her it (as part of a set) the previous year! Wouldn’t have been quite as bad if it hadn’t been opened and was only half full! Apparently one year (before I started working there) she had put her present in the box under the office desk 2 weeks before Christmas. When those working on Christmas Day opened their presents together, at the lunch break, the “lucky” recipient found a tin with a mouldy cake in it! I did ask why nobody called her out on it, but was told nobody would stand up to her! The person organising the Secret Santa started to buy an extra gift in case it was needed, which was very unfair on her. I only took part for 2 years before I had had enough of receiving thoughtless gifts (some cheap skin care (everyone knew I had a skin condition and could only use certain creams) one year and a box of cheap biscuits another year), when there was a £10 minimum spend! I had really tried to get something nice for whoever’s name I pulled out. I just thought why put your name down, when you can’t be bothered making even a small effort in choosing gifts? By the time I left there were only about 6/7 people taking part.

We have to buy from charity shops only this year. I know it is good ethically but it makes it really hard to get something really personal as it is so limiting. Found it a bit annoying as I like buying the right gifts for people.

Best secret santa was when we had to buy an Xmas themed jumper from charity shop. Easy and fun

This was one of the reasons & for ethical reasons that we decided to contribute the money towards a local food bank, we purchased as much of the "needed supplies" as we could out of the money raised and it avoided previous year difficulties & awkwardness around secret santa

Those unbranded buttons in a clear bag could be from a special chocolatier could easy cost £5 and the mug could have cost more from somewhere else. Quite often things end up in the pound shop for example the Zoella range which can still be bought for more at boots. I just think all those who think that they personally have bought the prefect present might be surprised to find out they haven’t .

I'd have been pissed off too, OP.

My work now does a raffle instead of secret santa. You bring in a gift around the price of £5. Not wrapped up. When you hand in your gift, you get given a raffle ticket.

Then, just before Christmas they draw the raffle and you go up when your number is drawn and chose from the table of prizes. Much better imo.

Urgh I’ve had this. Which is why I opted out of Secret Santa this year. I’m just fed up of actually putting thought etc into people’s gifts and not getting the same thought in return.

Last year I bought someone a nice gift, spent the max amount.

I got some shit cheap photo frame from Poundland (it was truly horrific. Every person I showed pulled a “what the hell is that tacky monstrosity?!” face. It had like pearlised type discs stuck all around it, like something from the 70’s).

Would rather keep hold of my cash and put it towards some alcohol for my Xmas stash

I get it, the £2 gift would irritate me too.

My workplace has the right idea. £3 budget, quite often the theme is from a charity shop. For £3 everybody can afford it, if it's naff at least a charity shop got a donation and if you don't want to, you don't have to come to the xmas nibbles and SS after work do (where it happens); it's lucky dip so your present has to be generic, and there's no targeting people, and the SS is instead of individual gifts, so no guesswork who will buy for me that I have to buy for, favouritism or awkwardness!

She said the M and Ms were last year.

Yes. Your point is?

One year I got a free gift from Avon given to me as my SS present! I'd seen it advertised.
As SS is entirely optional at our place, that does seem bloody tight.

@MutedUser er I think the OP can tell the difference between some expensive luxury choc buttons and a clear bag that came out the middle of an Easter egg don’t you?

Can someone please explain...

Why do any of you care about Secret Santa?
Don't you have enough cheap candles, mugs, chocolate oranges blah blah

Do you really need that small child's micro-thrill of unwrapping something?

Wouldn't you feel better either not doing it or just giving the money to a cause or something?

Our budget is normally £10 but as we've paid £50 for our work Xmas party and buying an extra present for someone who probably won't appreciate it anyway is an extra hassle that I just don't need, I decreed the budget for Secret Santa was £1 (£2 tops) and the challenge was to find the funniest/cheapests/rudest thing you can from Poundland.

I thought it would be fun and as we all plan to get as smashed as poss it won't matter if we leave it behind.

I decreed the budget for Secret Santa was £1 (£2 tops) and the challenge was to find the funniest/cheapests/rudest thing you can from Poundland.

I thought it would be fun and as we all plan to get as smashed as poss it won't matter if we leave it behind.

More waste! What is fun about this? What's fun about getting rude tat and leaving it on the table for staff to throw in the bin?

I always enjoyed doing Secret Santa. Each person wrote a note about what they liked/didn't like so it was made easier.

Missing the point and not rtft, but why on Earth are you opening secret Santa gifts in November?

L’Occitane soap, £750 a bar would make a great present. If budget £10 add some chocolate. Many people would not spend that on a bar of soap for themselves.

Agree some people can be terrible BUT in my current office no one likes to be a Scrooge so everyone should get a gift at the limit.

Duh, £7.50 a bar!