Hampers from Aldi, Waitrose and M&S were found to be up to £52 more expensive than the festive goodies they contain cost to buy on their own, Channel 5's Shop Smart, Save Money reports.
Waitrose and Partner's £100 Duchy Organic Christmas Hamper looks inviting in its wicker basket, but researchers found that you can buy all the items inside separately for £47.49 in stores or online – a saving of £52.
The price does exclude the basket, but shoppers would still save money by buying the items individually even when factoring in the cost of a decorative box.
Aldi has a cheaper option for shoppers than Waitrose with its £24.99 Festive Delights Hamper.
But you can still save £11.15 if you buy the items inside individually as the contents only cost £13.84 to buy on their own in stores, according to the show.
How much you can save by buying the contents of Christmas hampers separately
Aldi Festive Delights Hamper – £24.99
Contents: Chocolate Bombe (227g) £1.99, Puff Pastry Twist Assortment (180g) £2.39, Moser Roth Sweet Enough Truffles (195g) £4.99, Cranberry and Clementine Fudge (150g) £1.49, Specially Selected Colombian Coffee (200g) £1.99, Caramelised Red Onion Chutney (310g) 99p
Total cost to buy contents separately: £13.84 (£11.15 saving)
Waitrose and Partners Duchy Organic Christmas Hamper – £100
Contents: Golden Ale (500ml) £2.09, Ruby Ale (500ml) £2.09, 2x Cider (500ml) £2.09 each and £4.18 total, Oaten biscuits (150g) £2.20, Onion Marmalade (340g) £3.39, Honey Mustard (170g) £2.45, Cranberry Sauce (200g) £2.79, Christmas Pudding (454g) £8, Afternoon Tea (62.5g) £2.00, Breakfast Tea (62.5g) £2.00, Shortbread Tin £7.50, Orange Biscuits £2.95, Marmalade (340g) £2.00, Strawberry Preserve (340g) £1.65, Ginger Shortbread (150g) £2.20
Total cost to buy contents separately: £47.49 (£52.51 saving)
M&S Classic Christmas Hamper with Fizz – £75
Contents: Clementine and cranberry Bucks Fizz (75cl), Classic Recipe Christmas Pudding (454g), Classic Recipe Holly & Festive Berry Cake Bar (1.3kg), British Soft Set Raspberry Jam (113g) not available individually, Festive Classic Tea (125g/40 bags), Turkey Feast Hand Cooked Crisps (150g), Apple And Fig Chutney (100g) not available individually, Christmas Coffee (227g), Prosecco Caramels (100g), Belgian Milk Chocolate Coated Mint Flavoured cream Biscuits (220g), Cranberry & Clementine Jaffa Cakes (125g)
Total cost to buy contents separately: £35.15 (when swapping the 113g raspberry jam and 100g chutney for larger 230g jars costing £2.30 each)
The Fortnum's Christmas Basket – £85
Contents: Fortnum's Côtes du Rhône (75cl) £9.95, Cognac Butter (195g) £4.95, Christmas Spiced Tea (200g) £15, Marc de Champagne Truffles (125g) £13.95, Christmas Cherry, Strawberry & Orange Peel Preserve (200g) £7.95, Christmas Spiced Biscuits (125g) £5.95, St James Christmas Pudding (454g) £10.95
Total cost to buy contents separately: £68.70
Again, the price won't include the decorative box you get with the hamper.
But shops including The Card Factory and Amazon sell gift boxes for £4 or £5 so you would still save money even when factoring in that cost.
The show also found a £75 M&S Classic Christmas Hamper with Fizz, and an £85 The Fortnum’s Christmas Basket from posh grocer Fortnum & Mason are more expensive than buying the contents separately.
The researchers paid £35 for the exact or similar goodies inside M&S's Christmas hamper – less than half the price of the ready-made gift.
Meanwhile the team paid £68.70 for the exact items inside Fortnum's hamper – a saving of £16.30.
The M&S hamper contains two items that you can only buy in larger sizes in stores.
But researchers found that even when they swapped items for similar versions, it still worked out a lot cheaper to buy the contents of the hamper separately.
A Waitrose spokesman said: "The price – which also includes the wicker hamper – reflects the selection and presentation of products to make a hassle-free, ready-made gift, which is also delivered free of charge.
"For those who'd rather make up a hamper at home we sell 'create your own' gift crates for £7 (or two for £10)."
An Aldi spokesman added: "Aldi’s Christmas Hamper range has been carefully curated to provide customers with a selection of gift options at different price points.
"The pricing of our hampers reflects not only the products inside, but also the hamper itself, as well as the time spent collating, wrapping, packing and delivering the final hampers."
The Sun has asked M&S and Fortnum & Mason for a comment and we'll update this news story as soon as we get one.
Shop Smart Save Money for Christmas airs on Channel 5 every Thursday at 8pm.
Earlier this month, the show revealed that Christmas gift sets aimed at men can cost up to double what shoppers would pay to buy the products separately.
Meanwhile fans of Toby Carvery have slammed the roast dinner specialist for its "rip-off" Christmas Day menu, which costs up to £54.99 – a whopping 275 per cent more than usual.
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