How to buy return gifts in Bengaluru

The spare is for the guests nobody counted. Brothers and sisters who come along, and anyone working at the function you'd like to thank: the priest, the cook, the photographer, the drivers. Count them in now, or keep a few aside.

Per person or per family is the big choice. 150 guests could be about 60 families, so one gift per family is well under half the order. Decide it with whoever in the family has a view, before you price anything.

The parents at a kids' party? You don't have to give them anything. If you want to, one small thing per family is enough.

Buy for the people who said yes, plus the spare. Leftovers are hard to return where there's no bill, so ask the shop before you pay.

How many you buy changes the bill more than which gift you pick. 40 children at ₹50 is ₹2,000. 150 guests at ₹300 is ₹45,000. So settle question 1 before you pick the gift.

A mug with a name on it is ₹99 to ₹199 at Kapricorn Prints in Jayanagar. A Channapatna wooden top is about ₹107 each in a set of four, and a wooden tractor ₹280.

Doing it yourself is the cheapest way. Sweets from your own kitchen, or a steel piece from the supermarket in a cloth bag, cost less than anything a shop packs for you, though they take an evening.

• For children, something to do. A paint kit, a craft at the party, or a build kit to make at home.
• Under three, nothing small enough to swallow. No beads, small balls or tiny erasers. Toys for small children should carry the ISI mark.
• Children from 1 to 10 at one party? Buy two kinds, one for toddlers and one for older children, and keep them apart so you don't run short of one.
• For adults, one useful piece. A steel bowl or plate is about ₹37 to ₹65 at a supermarket, a small brass lamp or kumkum box ₹70 to ₹130 at a pooja shop (question 2).
• Plants are hard to carry home in a cab or on a scooter, so they suit a party at home more than a hall.
• Books: ask a bookshop near you for a bulk price.

Chickpet is cheapest, and the work is yours. The wholesale shops around Chickpet, Avenue Road and Balepet sell by the piece, the dozen or the box, and post no prices. You carry it home and pack it. Ask for a bill if you'll want to swap broken pieces, and count the boxes before you leave.

A supermarket or a pooja shop sells steel, brass, stationery and thamboolam bits by the piece, so you can buy exactly 37.

A maker sends it packed, often with the name on it. Maruthi Events in Rajajinagar sells a small ready range of festive gifts from 5 pieces. He takes ₹500 to confirm and keeps it if you cancel.

A two-wheeler parcel across town on Porter starts at ₹48 for the first kilometre.

Ready sets, cheapest first. Check what's inside before you compare prices.

• A fuller one for elders and close family is fine. Plan two kinds, count each, and pack them apart so the bigger ones go to the right people.
• Pack the dry things a week ahead, and add the coconut, betel and fruit the day before.
• Use a cloth, jute or paper bag. Karnataka has banned plastic carry bags since 2016.
• For a wedding or a housewarming with food, Authana Caterers adds paper or jute thambula bags to a catering order. Ask them the price.

The box is the biggest part of the gap. Kottanz's similar brocade set in a pouch, with two wrapped bangles and no box, is ₹499, about half the boxed one's price. Puja Celebrations' page gives no reason for its price.

Which to pick. The loose set is the usual thamboolam, and most guests won't look for more. A box is worth it for a few elders and close family, as the fuller thamboolam in question 5.

• For a loose set, none of the makers named here sells one. A pooja shop like Giri, or Puja Celebrations, does (question 5).
• For a box like this, Kottanz makes them to order. Ask about bulk.

• German silver is copper, nickel and zinc. It looks like silver, costs far less, and darkens slowly over time, so it needs a wipe now and then. Kottanz's shop lists a Nandi at ₹775 and a kalash at ₹799 as German silver.
• Real silver is about ₹230 a gram in Bengaluru today. A 5 g coin is about ₹1,150 for the metal alone, and the jeweller adds a making charge and GST. The rate moves, so check it on the day.
• Brass is the middle way: a one-wick lamp is ₹70 and a kumkum box ₹85 to ₹130 at Giri, and Kottanz's hand-painted brass kumkum box is ₹299.

Under ₹100, you're buying a silver colour. For German silver at that price, ask at the wholesale shops.

1. The same day

   Chickpet, a supermarket or a pooja shop. A white mug with a name, ordered before noon at Kapricorn Prints.

2. 1 to 2 days

   Arch's simple branded sets of 100 or more, "one day or one and a half day max", he estimates, depending on his workload. Little Creatives Club needs 2 days' notice.

3. 2 to 4 days

   Charmly's custom kits, 2 to 3 days. Maruthi Events' ready range, 3 to 4 days. Arch's fully custom hampers, about 4 days, his estimate.

4. About 2 weeks

   Kottanz, standard delivery 7 to 9 working days. The Wrapped Hearts, 4 to 5 days for a simple hamper, 10 to 12 working days customised in festival season. Prashaa, a Chennai thamboolam seller, 1 to 2 weeks to send. ChocoCraft, a printed-chocolate maker that ships, asks for 2 weeks.

• Before a festival, start three weeks out. Everyone wants the same kumkum boxes and bags before Varamahalakshmi and Navaratri, and makers take longer.
• With a name on it, ask for a proof and read every name and date before you say yes, in writing. Kottanz sends photos or a video before it sends the order, and Arch sends photos of the finished boxes.