Ten dollars is not much, and the person you drew may be someone you barely know. Here is what research says about gifts people value, and fifteen ideas that stay under the limit.
The idea is simple: everyone in a group draws one name and gives that person a gift, often without saying who it is from. It goes by many names. In Germany and Austria it is Wichteln, after the Wichtel, a helpful household sprite whose good deeds are done in secret. Ireland calls it Kris Kindle, and Australia and Canada often say Kris Kringle, both names that grew out of Christkindl, the Christ Child who brings presents in Austrian tradition. Brazil plays Amigo Secreto. The shared rule is that a whole group gets a gift each without anyone having to buy for everybody.
The name has a second meaning in the US. From 1979 to 2006, Larry Stewart of Kansas City handed out cash to strangers every December as an anonymous "Secret Santa". He started, he said, after giving $20 to a carhop working in the cold the year he was fired just before Christmas. He kept his identity secret for 27 years and revealed it only in 2006, when he was ill. His story is a good reminder that the point of the game is the surprise and the kindness, not the price.
Gift exchanges are a big part of the season. In a 2023 survey of 2,000 Americans who celebrate Christmas, carried out by OnePoll for Big Lots, 84 percent said they take part in a gift exchange, 54 percent in a Secret Santa. Respondents expected to spend about $49 per exchange, and 87 percent admitted they would probably go over the limit.
Office and friend-group exchanges often set a much lower cap, because the point is to include everyone, from the new intern to the boss, without anyone feeling the pinch. The low limit is a feature. It removes the competition and leaves the one thing that matters: did you think about them?
Psychologists have studied gift-giving for years, and the findings are useful when the budget is small. Jeff Galak, Julian Givi and Elanor Williams, reviewing the research in 2016, found that givers mostly think about the moment of unwrapping, while recipients think about how much they will use or enjoy the gift afterwards. Givers also overestimate how much the price matters. In plain words: a cheap gift that gets used beats an impressive one that gets put in a drawer.
The same review found that givers lean toward things and recipients often get more happiness from experiences. Cindy Chan and Cassie Mogilner, writing in the Journal of Consumer Research in 2017, found that experiential gifts made people feel closer to the giver than material ones. At $10 you cannot buy a concert ticket, but you can buy something to do, taste, read or listen to.
One caution from the research: givers like unique, personalized gifts more than recipients sometimes do, because a very specific gift can miss. Personal works best when it is built on something you know is true about them.
Before you buy, write down three facts about the person you drew. What they drink at their desk. A hobby they mention. A place they have been or want to go. Then pick a gift that touches one of those facts, and add a note that says why. The note is free and does half the work.
If you know nothing at all, ask a colleague who sits near them, or choose something consumable and good quality: people rarely regret receiving a treat they can finish.
Office Secret Santa often hands you a stranger. The best approach is to stay light and specific. Use what you can see: the team they are on, the mug on their desk, the city in their email signature, the sports team on their screensaver. A story gift works here because it needs only one or two of those details, and the rest is invention. "Dana from accounts saves the office Christmas party" is a funny gift for someone you have met twice, and it costs less than a sandwich.
Keep it kind. Avoid anything about age, weight, appearance, religion or politics, and nothing that could embarrass them if it were opened in front of the team.
Facts checked on 6 October 2026.
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