Secret Santa Gifts for Coworkers Under $30

The office Secret Santa is a strange kind of gift. You have a small budget and a name you drew out of a hat, and the person is somebody you see every day but do not know well enough to buy anything personal. Candles, mugs and chocolate are the safe answers, and that is exactly why they are forgotten by January.

The gift that works is one that lives on a desk. It gets used in meetings and on calls, other people pick it up as they walk past, and every time it does, someone remembers who gave it.

Desk toys: the right answer for almost anyone

A Newton's cradle is the classic for a reason. It sits on a desk, it clicks when touched, and it suits the senior partner and the new starter equally. If you know nothing about the person at all, this is the one.

A metal push slider is for the colleague who clicks pens in meetings. Two heavy metal plates slide past each other and snap into place with a soft click under the thumb, almost silently. It looks like nothing, which is the point: nobody across the table knows it is a fidget.

The chaos pendulum is for the engineer, the analyst, the one who reads about physics for fun. A double pendulum on bearings, hand-sized, that never swings the same way twice.

The royal flush spinner is a fan of spades — ten to ace — cast in antique bronze on a spinning bearing. For the colleague who runs the office poker night, or would like to.

Small things with meaning

The yes-or-no decision coin is a joke with a use: it settles where the team goes for lunch. The good luck koi coin is a small enamelled charm for someone starting a new role or facing a big year. A Peking Opera playing card deck is for the colleague with an eye for design; every court card is an opera character in full costume.

Only if you know them

The spider prank box is a plain wooden box with a spider that leaps out when the lid slides. It is a wonderful gift for the office joker and a terrible one for someone who hates spiders. Know your recipient.

What to avoid

Anything that comments on the person: self-help books, gym gear, skincare. At work, the safe gifts are about the desk, not the body. And keep it grown-up: an office exchange is the wrong place for a children's toy.

Shipping

Everything ships from our supplier overseas, and we do not quote delivery dates because we would be guessing. Office parties are usually mid-December, so order in November.