Are scented candles a good office gift? Fine for one colleague you know, risky for a whole teamAre scented candles a good office gift? Fine for one colleague you know, risky for a whole team

Scent is personal; a team gift is not

A scented candle can be a lovely office gift for one person whose taste you know. For a whole team, it is a gamble. Scent is one of the most personal things you can give: a fragrance one colleague loves gives another a headache, and people with asthma, migraines or a pregnancy may not want any at all. Add the fact that few offices let anyone light a candle at a desk, and a scented candle given at work is really a gift for someone's home, chosen without knowing their home.

So the honest rule is: personal gift, scent can work; group gift, go unscented.

What to give instead, or as well

What companies and colleagues in India choose, by kind:

• Home fragrance brands' scented jars and diffusers: good when you know the person likes a particular scent family.
• Unscented decorative candles from handmade makers: no fragrance risk, and they look good unlit on a desk.
• Plants and planters: a neutral alternative with no scent at all.
• Sweets, dry fruit or gourmet boxes from hamper companies: shared and safe, gone in a week.
• Raajkosh, Jalandhar, which happens to sit on both sides of the rule. Our one scented candle is Vanilla Reverie, Rs 549: warm, soft vanilla in an amber glass jar with a black screw lid and gold flakes. Everything else we make is a shaped, unscented soy candle, such as Spiral Pillar Candles at Rs 179 each, the Heart Bubble Candle at Rs 249, the Blossom Candle at Rs 299 and Sunflower Tealights at Rs 449 for ten.

How to decide, case by case

• One colleague who already burns candles at home: a scented jar is welcome. Vanilla is among the safest scent choices because it is soft and familiar.
• Your boss or a senior client: unscented is safer unless you know their taste. A gift they cannot use because of the smell is worse than a plain one.
• A team of 10 or 200: unscented, the same piece for everyone.
• A team where you want to offer a choice: the corporate order can mix pieces, so you could give the vanilla jar to those who ask for it and an unscented piece to everyone else. Collect the choices before you ask for the quote.

Scented and unscented, side by side

Shop prices per piece; your quote confirms the final price per gift with branding and delivery.

Our terms for an office order

Raajkosh takes corporate orders from 10 gifts, with no minimum order value. Fewer than 10, buy from the shop, where orders of Rs 999 or more ship free and smaller ones pay Rs 79. On a corporate order your logo goes on the gift tag, the note card or a wax seal, with the branding and lead time confirmed in the quote. You get a GST invoice, delivery to one office or to every address in India, and the order is prepaid as set out in the quote. Branded gifts are not returnable unless damaged, defective or wrong. Full detail: Raajkosh corporate gifting: minimum order, logo and GST.

When a scent brand is the better supplier

If your team has asked for scented candles, or you want several scent families so each person can choose, a home fragrance brand with a wide scented range will serve you better than us: we make one scent. If the office bans flames and people want something to use at work, skip candles and give a plant or stationery.

Order the unscented set, or the vanilla jar

For one colleague, buy Vanilla Reverie from raajkosh.com/shop. For a team, ask for a quote at raajkosh.com/corporate or WhatsApp +91 85958 24586.