Setting the Secret Santa budget for an Indian office: the three usual caps, the rules that keep it fair, and a gift at eachSetting the Secret Santa budget for an Indian office: the three usual caps, the rules that keep it fair, and a gift at each

Three caps most offices choose from

The Secret Santa budget is the one decision that decides whether the game is fun or awkward. Set it too high and the intern worries for a week; too low and the gifts feel like an afterthought. Most Indian offices land on one of three caps:

1. Under Rs 300: large teams, teams with many freshers or interns, and offices where people are already spending on a Christmas party. Gifts are tokens: a mug, chocolates, a desk toy, or a Raajkosh Heart Bubble Candle, Rs 249, or a single Spiral Pillar Candle, Rs 179.
2. Up to Rs 500: the most common office cap. Enough for a proper small gift without strain. Our Secret Santa under Rs 500 guide has a full list for this band.
3. Up to Rs 1,000: small teams of senior people, or a leadership group that wants a nicer exchange. Gifts can be a book, a good notebook, a plant, or our Braided Candles, Rs 849 for four round candles with plaited rims, or Marble Seashell Candles, Rs 999.

A fourth option some offices use: the company pays. HR sets the cap and orders all the gifts, so nobody spends their own money. That needs a supplier for 10 or more gifts; see below.

Choosing the cap and the rules

• Set it for the most junior person. The right cap is the one a first-year employee can spend without thinking. Ask quietly, or let people vote anonymously.
• Say "up to", and mean it. A cap is a ceiling. Gifts well over it embarrass the people who stuck to it.
• Count delivery. If people order online, shipping can push a gift over the cap. A Raajkosh shop order under Rs 999 adds Rs 79, so a Lotus Candle at Rs 349 costs Rs 428 delivered, still inside up to Rs 500.
• Allow a wish line. Let everyone write one line ("I like plants", "no food please") on the draw slip. It saves gifts nobody wants.
• Fix the reveal date early, and tell people to order a week or two before. We dispatch in 24 to 48 hours, then 2 to 7 days for delivery; check the estimate for your pincode, as we do not promise a date.
• Remote teams. For hybrid or remote teams, ship the gift to the receiver's home and run the reveal on a call.

A gift at each cap

When the company buys every Secret Santa gift

If HR or the office manager buys all the gifts, one order is easier than forty. The terms on raajkosh.com/corporate, set out in full on our corporate gifting terms page:

• From 10 gifts, no minimum order value.
• The company's logo on the gift tag, the note card or a wax seal, or plain tags if the game should stay anonymous.
• GST invoice with your company's billing name, address and GSTIN.
• To the office, or to each person's home for remote teams.
• Prepaid, as set out in the quote. No cash on delivery. The quote confirms pieces, timeline and final price per gift.

Forty Lotus Candles come to Rs 13,960 at shop prices, before branding and delivery. We hand-pour every piece in pure soy wax in Jalandhar, and we are new, with no reviews yet.

When a candle is the wrong Secret Santa gift

• The person drew someone with a strong fragrance allergy. Our candles other than Vanilla Reverie have no stated fragrance, but a plant or a book is safer.
• The office bans open flames and the gift will stay on the desk. Ours look finished unlit; or choose something else.
• The reveal is in three days. Buy locally.

On the card: burn on a heat-proof surface, never leave it unattended, keep each burn to 3 to 4 hours.