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.

Yanbu our family secret Santa has a £25 limit. Has whoever organised it got the min max the wrong way round?

Not read through the thread , but I don’t even spend £40 on my nieces and nephews .

I hate secret santas too so i’d just bow out

This is SO weird.

Firstly, that there's a 'minimum' amount instead of the set max. Secondly, that it's at least £40!

Is this what they've always done? Is no one else gossiping/joke-moaning about it? WHERE DO YOU WORK? Having (reluctantly) taken part in many a work Secret Santa, I'm going to wildly assume you're at Vogue/Tatler.

I wouldn't spend £40 on a present for most members of my family. This is bullying and ridiculous.

well you can pretend its from harrods lmao

Agreed! It's more than I spend on most family members. Crazy.

They can't sack you for not doing Secret Santa, OP.

I’m very confident that legally they can’t tell you what to spend your salary on. But I understand your concerns with being in a new job, so if it were me I would very likely buy something in the £10 - £15 range and just make sure it was anonymous.
Also - they’re fucking bonkers.

YANBU but I think I'd buy something for around £15 rather than not participating at all.

It would be a no from me. I mean I am no to secret santa anyway but £40 is ridiculous!

How can it not be optional? What if you don't have a spare £40?

They can't force you to participate and I doubt you're the only one who dislikes this or can't afford it. Politely decline, ignore management pressure.

Secret Santa is a nonsense anyway when you don't know much about the person you're supposed to buy for. Much better to do a lucky dip of fun items max £5!

In my book club Secret Santa we are allowed to spend up to £5 and only from charity shops. Last year was brilliant with everyone pleased with what they got (much more so than the previous £10 gift bag trap - wish lists are key). I’ve managed to get mine 3 of their 4 suggestions- one being “surprise me” which helped 😂

Sorry this doesn’t help your situation! I did once have to spend that much on someone I didn’t know once when I was visiting a friend who lives overseas & had to participate in her workplace secret Santa. Although she’d given me a steer on what to get he didn’t look that happy! And what I got was nice but cost much less…

I just saw a headline on the billions(?) Brits waste on these gifts each year which end up in landfill 😞 Would you feel able to explain that at least part of their gift is a charity donation in their name? Wateraid is a good one that few could object to 😊

My company has restructured recently and our team has been joined by another group that has implemented SS. Our budget is ‘only’ £10 and I’m fuming. I hate the fact that I have been forced into it (my boss said it’s optional when I complained, but the email with the detail made it very clear it’s not).

Id already done all my Xmas shopping (I’m an amateur musician and spare time at this time of year is very limited). So having to order an extra item, pay for delivery and get out all my wrapping paper again is just so annoying. On top of this the company has cut back on our Xmas meal to two courses instead of three due to budget constraints. Yes still nice to get a free meal but if the company is feeling the pinch do they not think that their employees who’ve not had pay rises in the past few years that even come close to matching inflation, might also be looking to save a few pounds too?

Rant over- OP YANBU - if you have the time I’d do the imaginative vague value present and wrap it up beautifully. If anyone queries how much you actually spent (which is highly unlikely) just say you bought it at a Xmas market and thought it was cute!

Do you get to request what your gift is, or at least give suggestions? Because really you're buying for yourself. So you could ask for something you were going to buy for a relative anyway, then regift it.

Have a quiet word with your line manager and tell them you just can't afford it.

£40 is ridiculous!

Fuck that, I don't even spend as much as £40 on some family members, never mind a bullshit secret santa for work colleagues.

ok so the fact of the matter is £40 is a fortune to some and not so much to others. If the company has a £40 minimum secret santa I hope the pay is upto snuff to match!

Assuming it is and with the whole wanting to fit in / not look like hard work before you get your contract I offer the following suggestions

prestat chocolates https://prestat.com/products/the-magical-garden-selection
xbody bag tk maxx https://www.tkmaxx.com/uk/en/christmas/christmas-gifts/gifts-for-the-gentleman/black-grained-crossbody-bag/p/34105707
high quality umbrella https://www.thebrollystore.com/products/flip-umbrella-colours?variant=31407048097927
cashmere bone and white herringbone https://www.aran.com/cashmere-scarf-bone-white-herringbone
aran snood with buttons https://www.aran.com/aran-snood-scarf-with-buttons
leather belt https://www.lakelandleather.co.uk/product/braithwaite-leather-belt-in-brown-500

That is a silly amount! But as you said you are on probation. I think I'd sus out a little of what they like. And then maybe get some nice coffee + a voucher for the closest cafe if they like coffee. Two bottles of wine if they drink. Chocolate + a voucher for cafe. That sort of thing. I'd have something for them to open + a voucher that will hopefully actually be used.

The charity thing sounds nice but I wouldn't

Next year stand your ground!

Totally get that you don’t want to rock boat on probationary- but unless it’s written in your contract (can you imagine!) then of course you can opt out, there will be those opting out for religious reasons

that is an insane amount of money and surely far more than most can afford. What are the salaries like where you work? No way I would take part and management cannot force you. of course opting out is an option. I cannot believe people get bullied into this sort of things.

Our secret santa is supposed to be £5 max! Setting a minimum spend is ridiculous, especially a minimum spend of £40.

What a waste when you don't know the person well. How likely are you to buy them the perfect £40 gift?

DH and I work for a big company, the lowest salary paid is £35k and it is the lowest by miles. Even we wouldn't expect a minimum spend budget. We still have a £5 cap! It makes things interesting.

Do you leave the price tags on then? What other way would anyone know what you spent, and it's a recipe for one upmanship if no max. Someone is taking the piss here and I would say something myself, because I know in my heart and soul that "I" would be the one totally ripped off having spent well and with care on my SSanta. It never fails, what have I done in a former life to deserve that 😂

Surely the point of Secret Santa is to be an unstressful way of getting round the even worse practice of co-workers buying each other individual presents. This was feasible in one of my jobs, as there were 4 of us, and there was an expectation which felt like an obligation.

I hate buying presents at the best of times, and found it a source of unneeded extra stress when I was trying to organise my own family Christmas. I never worked anywhere that did presents after that job, but remember thinking that Secret Santa was a good idea - a cheap silly present takes much less thought to buy!

This undermines the whole idea, and makes it stressful again.