Secret Santa ideas: the ultimate 2024 gift guide for all budgets

Looking for the perfect present for your Secret Santa giftee this Christmas?

We’ve got the lowdown on the best Secret Santa ideas this year, with options for every budget and recipient. From beauty gifts and cosy winter accessories to unusual gifts you won’t find on the high street, we’ve got plenty of options from a wide range of brands.

We also share our top tips for saving money on gifting this holiday season, as well as a whole host of fantastic cashback deals.

Keep reading if you want to find the ideal Secret Santa Christmas gift.

What makes a good Secret Santa gift?

Picking the perfect Secret Santa gift is all about knowing your audience. They can be lighthearted and funny, thoughtful, or purely practical. Personalised gifts are another great idea, depending on who you're buying for.

Whether you’re doing Secret Santa at home with your family, with your group of friends or at work, you can give a thoughtful gift without going over budget.

Office Secret Santa exchanges can sometimes be tricky, particularly if you draw someone’s name who you don’t know all that well.

This guide has a roundup of over 30 brilliant gifts that’ll be perfect for a Secret Santa exchange this Christmas. If you’re looking for more general tips for choosing a good gift or saving money on your purchase, we’ll cover those topics later on.

A few top picks for Secret Santa 2024 gifts

If you know your recipient’s hobbies and interests well, this will make choosing the right Secret Santa gift a lot easier.

Here are a few of our top picks for a range of different giftees this year.

Our favourite Secret Santa ideas for 2024

Let’s face it, there are thousands of things on the internet that you could buy for your Secret Santa recipient.

But with so many options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and sidetracked. If you want to stick to your budget, check out our list of ideas below, which we’ve categorised by the size of the spend.

We'll be updating these deals frequently during the Christmas period. All current prices and cashback amounts are correct as of November 11th, 2024.

Gift ideas under £5

Looking for seriously cheap Secret Santa gifts? Check out these gift ideas, all under £5 each.

With such a low budget, you’ll probably need to stick to finding a novelty gift, or perhaps sweet treats (such as a coffee or chocolate gift). These fun, cheap gifts also make great stocking fillers.

Gift ideas under £10

With a budget of around £10, you’ll find plenty of options for personalised gifts. These are great for Secret Santa because they add a personal touch that’ll immediately elevate the item you’re buying into something much more meaningful.

We've also included a range of other funny Secret Santa gifts, plus some tasteful home accessories.

Gift ideas under £15

Once your budget reaches the £10+ mark, you’ll probably find you have more options to choose from. Whether it's a luxurious self-care set or you're looking for practical homeware gifts, check out the products below. 

Gift ideas under £20

If your budget is up to £20, you’ll find a wide range of gifting options for every type of person. Here are a few of our favourites.

Our quick tips for a successful Secret Santa

Use an online tool to draw names

Using an online tool like Draw Names is a quick and easy way to kickstart the Secret Santa process. These tools will prevent you from picking your own name by accident and they also help keep things anonymous as you can get your giftee’s name sent straight to your email.

Submit a wish list

Help your fellow gifters out by submitting a wish list to give them some inspiration. If everyone in the group can do this, you’ll all find it easier to buy presents and can each rest assured you should get gifted something you actually like. You can use Draw Names for wish lists too.

Keep it a secret!

Don’t spoil the fun by blabbing about who you’ve got. If you’re really stuck for ideas, ask someone who’s not taking part to help you out. So, if you’re doing a gift exchange with your group of friends, you could ask a family member for help. If you’re exchanging with family, why not ask a colleague for inspiration?

Save money on your Secret Santa gifting

Whether you snap up a bargain in a retailer’s Black Friday sale, or browse the internet for discount codes, there are always ways you can make savings on your festive gifts.

You can find fun gifts for friends, family or colleagues without going over budget with these simple affordable gifting tips.

Stick to your budget

The higher your budget, the more pressure you might feel to choose something good. On the other hand, if your budget is lower, you’ll be more limited on what you can actually get for your money.

If your group hasn’t decided on a budget, it’s worth having a conversation about it so you don’t overspend.

While you might be tempted to go over budget, this is obviously not the most money-savvy thing to do. Can you find the same item (or a similar one) on a different website?

Personalised gifts often cost more, whereas smaller items like stress balls, bath bombs, travel mugs and tea towels will tend to be more affordable.

Earn cashback when you buy Secret Santa gifts online

Did you know you can earn cashback on your online shopping from hundreds of different retailers when you sign up to TopCashback?

Every time you make a purchase with one of the brands on our site, that brand pays us a commission for sending you over to them. We then give you 100% of that commission as cashback, which will be credited to your TopCashback account for you to redeem.

Your cashback can quickly add up, especially if you’re doing a lot of online shopping at this time of year. Cash out your earnings directly to your bank account, or opt for a gift card using the Reward Wallet to spend online and earn further cashback.

Not already signed up? We're currently offering new members a £15 cashback sign-up bonus to help get them started. Just click the green Join TopCashback button below to get started.

We have a mix of premium brands and high-street names on TopCashback, many of which have been mentioned in this guide, including Not On The High Street, Emma Bridgewater and The Body Shop.

We also have a handy browser extension, which will remind you to activate your cashback offers while you’re browsing on any of our retailers’ sites. Check out our guide to making the most out of TopCashback if you're keen to start saving money today.

Secret Santa: a Claus for celebration…

No matter what your budget is or who you’re buying for, hopefully this guide has got your mind firing with Secret Santa gift ideas.

From quirky joke gifts to beauty gift sets that have a touch of luxury, Secret Santa is the perfect opportunity to think outside of the box.

And if you want to make things more affordable, don’t forget to look for discount codes and shop through TopCashback whenever you’re ordering products online.

If you're looking for more gifting inspiration, we've also covered the best men's advent calendars, stationery advent calendars, and even cheese calendars.