To think this is a strange way to do Secret Santa?

[Fancylike]

My office has announced a Secret Santa but has set a minimum price of £40. There’s no maximum but you have to spend over £40 on a single gift. I’m new to the company but every SS I’ve done previously had a maximum spend, not a minimum and it’s always been £5-10.

This just seems like a lot of money to spend on coworkers you may not know well (I work in a different department to the name I pulled so have to research them) and also having a minimum doesn’t sit well with me given the disparity in salaries across the office. I’m new so I don’t want to rock the boat by asking if the organiser got mixed up but it’s also been made clear we all need to participate.

Outrageous amount. Ours is £10 max. I wouldn't participate if I were you.

Completely ridiculous, is there not a way out of it?

Sod that! They can’t force you to take part, and if it’s secret they won’t know if you spend £10 max. I hate secret Santa as you always get tat that goes straight in the bin, it’s buying crap for the sake of buying crap and I’d rather spend that money on myself. If you’re new, are you sure they’re not taking the mick? I’d personally rock the boat and tell them you’re not spending £40 on someone you barely know, to receive something you probably wouldn’t want, so will opt out.

I would not take part, if i were you.

I am annoyed on your behalf.
I normally do Secret Santa but have opted out this year. It's only £10 but I invariably get rubbish.

Personally I'd say I'm happy to take part but 40 is a lot of money. Spend 10/15 how would they know otherwise.

I can understand a minimum spend but certainly a maximum of £10 or £20 needs to be in place too.

£40 VALUE. Oxfam online is your friend. Or a good half price deal on something. Or an item that can't be valued easily. Sometimes you can get vouchers to entice you to buy things you don't need online so it's worth looking for those two. Or books with high RRPs - my DH just bought me the books I wanted for Christmas which had RRP of £40 but were on offer in Sainsbury's for about £5 each. Likewise Port and Ferrero Roche are on a Nectar offer at the moment so suddenly £30 is actually only £15...

I doubt people will actually spend £40 on each other anyway...

£40!? That's almost a week's shopping bill for me. No way, just no way would I spend that on some silly secret Santa thing. Call me Scrooge if you want. I don't have £40 to waste these days.

Have read your other comments. If it is awkward to avoid, I'd go to TK Max and get some massively discounted item or books from Amazon that are heavily discounted.

Are you sure it's a minimum? That's more than I spend on some people I know. It's a ridiculous amount for a secret Santa it's also unfair that you are expected to participate. I bet a lot of people can't afford it.

Join in, buy a gift but don’t spend £40. See what happens. My guess: nothing will happen.

Buy something from a charity shop for far less so that no one would know how much you’d spent

We used to do secret Santa at my old workplace about 5 years ago now for £30 each, and to be fair I loved it! Obviously it wasn’t compulsory but most did join in. We used to write a few ideas next to our names of things we would like. I always got something really lovely.
If I was you I would just join in to keep the peace, ask your new colleagues what she likes. Chat to her, if you can say ohh what’s that perfume you’re wearing it smells lovely! You might be able to get her a small bottle of it or a body lotion/shower gel. Do some digging!

Where do you live that 2 tickets to cinema costs £40?
That's £15 to buy in my area.
So your Secret Santa only really costs equivalent of £15 to you?
Not so crazy then.

Who made it clear you couldn't opt out?
How big is the organisation?

I would refuse, but I work in an organisation where it couldn't affect my probation.

It’s totally insane. I work in a well paid team in London and our max is £10.

if in probation though I’d do it and then complain when you’re established. Although to be honest I’m not sure I’d want to work for a company that’s so fucking stupid. And HR? Insane

ask HR person sweetly if you’ve misread your contract and didn’t see that your expected to buy a company gift worth £40 form your salary?

If she says not in contract, smile even more and ask how you then submit your expense form for said gift

if they don’t become embarrassed, state this is inappropriate, i feel this doesn’t constitute a bit of Christmas fun and silliness amongst colleagues , it is serious gift giving for purposes I don’t understand. I cannot afford to subsidise employee satisfaction and engagement levels with my own money, given it’s not in my contract and you’re not reimbursing me.

£40 is very excessive, are you sure someone wasn’t pulling your leg? Or maybe they said £4 minimum and you misheard?
I Suggest you query amount with organiser, and if amount still stands at £40 just explain you haven’t got the spare funds right now so will have to give it a miss this time.

As a new member of staff I’m sure they will cut you some slack and not think badly of you, but if they do then they’re a shallow lot, it’s up to you how you spend your money - spending £40 on a familiar colleague is a lot to swallow for anyone, let alone on a complete stranger.

How can it be compulsory? If you say you don’t want to do it then that’s it they take your name out of it. Can’t sack you for not doing secret Santa

Wtf? Absolutely no way can it be compulsory. The hint that it might be would get my back up and I'd be digging my heels in. They can't force people to spend money

That sound awful. I hate secret Santa and 40 quid is ridiculous

wow! Shocked at the amount of money expected to spend on random colleague! If I couldn’t get out of it, I’d rock the boat in my own passive-aggressive way and donate the money to a charity and give a card saying the I donated £40 on said colleagues behalf…

I recently googled how to do a Secret Santa and quite a few websites said that you are given a list of things to buy for the person you have to buy for so they get something that they want because otherwise it wouldn't be a nice thing to do. It's certainly not a nice thing to do if you've to spend £40 on something that someone might think is awful! The whole idea is bonkers. Think I'd refuse to join in, make a stand!

That’s absolutely ridiculous - one of the best things about being retired is I don’t have to do that nonsense anymore.
Ours was £5 increasing to £10 in recent years and I always put a lot of thought into it but not everyone does so most of the presents went to the charity shop or were given away. It was a complete waste to time effort and money. I always felt sorry for the young lower paid members of staff struggling with child care costs and buying presents for their own children.
I got so annoyed by the end of my career that I gave the money to my poorly paid TA so she could take part. Management wouldn’t listen to my concerns unfortunately.
If you don’t feel you can say anything this year, go to TK Maxx and get him a box of ridiculously overpriced branded socks at a vastly reduced price. But tell the organiser well in advance of next December that you won’t be doing it.