You’re invited to a baby shower, the date is circled, and now comes the question nobody quite says out loud: how much are you supposed to spend? Too little feels thoughtless; too much can make things awkward for everyone else handing over their gift. The honest answer is that there’s no official number — but there is a sensible way to arrive at yours.
Start with the relationship, not the price tag
The simplest rule of thumb: let closeness set the budget. A colleague you chat to at the kettle doesn’t expect the same gift as a sister or a best friend. For someone you know casually, a modest, well-chosen present says everything it needs to. For close family and old friends, most people naturally stretch further — not because it’s expected, but because you want the gift to carry a bit of weight.
Whatever your number, spend it on one good thing rather than several fillers. A single considered gift gets remembered; a bag of bits rarely does.
What different budgets actually buy
Abstract advice only goes so far, so here’s what real price points look like, using our own build-your-own baby gift boxes as a benchmark.
Around £30–£35
Our Small box is £32, contents included. That’s a crib-shaped wooden keepsake box — in pink, blue or neutral — filled with items you pick yourself: perhaps a muslin comforter, a dummy clip and a small wooden toy. It’s the sweet spot for colleagues, neighbours and friends-of-friends: clearly thoughtful without being showy.
Around £55–£60
The Medium box at £57 suits close friends and aunties-to-be. The extra room means you can cover more than one base — something practical like a hooded towel or a feeding set alongside a teddy and a toy to grow into.
£80 and up
The Large box is £80.50, and because UK delivery is free on orders over £80, postage costs nothing at this level. This is grandparent territory — or the gift from a whole friendship group. A proper armful of essentials, comforters, wooden toys and a keepsake or two.
Splitting the cost makes bigger budgets painless
If £80 sounds steep for one person, it rarely has to be one person. Split between four friends, the Large box works out at about £20 each — and the parents receive one memorable gift instead of four middling ones. We’ve written more about why chipping in for a baby gift box works so well at showers.
Spending more isn’t the same as giving more
Worth saying plainly: a bigger number on the receipt doesn’t guarantee a better gift. Personalisation does far more of the emotional work than price. An engraved wooden item — a wind-up music box with the baby’s name on it, say — will still be sitting on a shelf in ten years, long after the fanciest outfit has been outgrown. And if money is tight, don’t apologise for it. Our guide to affordable baby gifts makes the case that babies genuinely don’t need expensive things.
Don’t forget delivery when you set your budget
Factor postage into your number so there’s no surprise at checkout. Standard UK delivery is £4.95 and takes three to four days; if the shower has crept up on you, next-day delivery is £9.99. And once your order passes £80, delivery is free — one more nudge towards clubbing together.
The short version
Pick a number that feels comfortable for your relationship, put all of it into one gift rather than many, and let personalisation — a name engraved, colours chosen deliberately — do the heavy lifting. Do that, and whatever you spend will look exactly right.