Best Secret Santa gift ideas: great gifts, whatever the price

Secret Santas can be great. Or a nightmare.

Among good friends, you might be able to pick out the perfect present, one that makes everyone at your 'friendmas' laugh out loud. Get paired with someone you barely know at work and it's a petri dish for anxiety.

We've had a dig through the virtual online shelves to see which bargains might be a suitable fit for a secret Santa present.

We have innocuous ones for Dave in accounts who you've barely said two words to, and some slightly left-field picks for people you know better.

But all of them stick to one of the most important rules of the average secret Santa: they don't cost too much. We've stuck to around £25 or below with all these deals, and several are well below.

• Check out the best Christmas stocking fillers

Best Secret Santa gifts

Sandy Leaf Farm Ultimate Gin Maker's Kit: at AmazonThis kit lets you create your own flavoured gins. Inside you'll find 10 pouches, each with different infuser ingredients. Flavours include chocolate orange and classic citrus.

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Sweet Shop hamper: at AmazonThis hamper contains 50+ sweets you may remember from childhood. There are rainbow drops, double dips and dib dabs. Sugar may be the enemy these days, but if you're going to indulge, it might as well be at Christmas.

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Make Your Own Neon Effect Sign: at AmazonHere’s a fun one. This pack includes a 3m length of pink neon tubing. You use a length of wire to mould it into the shape you want and clip the light tube to the wire. It uses two AA batteries, not included, so make sure to include some under the wrapping.

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Nerf Elite Disruptor: at AmazonThat’s right, Nerf guns are still a thing. This is perfect for an ultra-budget secret santa, to chase colleagues around the office after a few gins. It fires its foamy darts up to 27m. You could get a three-pack from a £20 budget.

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Naked Grouse whisky: at AmazonThere are many, many whiskies/whiskeys you could pick for secret Santa. Our tip is to try to find out if they prefer the peaty styles from Scotland, or the vanilla-forward ones from the US and Ireland. This is a 70cl bottle and its flavour is packed with notes of fudge and toffee. Sherry casks are used in its maturation for a spicy kick.

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Bulldog gin: at AmazonBulldog London Dry gin It has a light flavour, making it great for a clean G&T, or as a base for cocktails. There are floral and citrus notes, with greater complexity than you might expect at the price.

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Da Bomb Beyond Insanity hot sauce: at AmazonSeen Hot Ones on YouTube? This is the hot sauce that blows everyone's head off. It's 113ml of pure evil, an extract-based chilli sauce that has the potential to ruin, to truly spice up, any Christmas party. Approach with caution.

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