When is Dhanteras 2026, and why does the date matter for an offer?
Dhanteras is the first of the five days of Diwali. In 2026 it falls on Friday 6 November. Drik Panchang, for Kolkata, shows the Trayodashi tithi starting at 10:30 AM on 6 November and ending at 10:47 AM on 7 November. It lists the Dhanteras puja time as 5:28 PM to 7:26 PM on 6 November.
Shubh Panchang gives the same date and tithi. It adds that Naraka Chaturdashi is on Saturday 7 November and Diwali on Sunday 8 November. Its puja time is for Surat, 6:37 PM to 8:37 PM, so the time changes with the city. Use the time for your own city on your posts.
Why this matters: the puja time is when most families plan to shop, in our view. We have no measured data on footfall. An offer that needs a long form or a phone call is hard to use in a rush, so keep it to one line on a board. Plan the offer, the stock and the staff for that window.
What do people buy on Dhanteras?
CAIT, the Confederation of All India Traders, put out a release for Dhanteras 2025 with preliminary estimates. It says total trade was about ₹1 lakh crore. It puts gold and silver jewellery and coins at ₹60,000 crore, utensils, kitchenware and appliances at ₹15,000 crore, and electronic and electrical goods at ₹10,000 crore. It puts decorative items, lamps and puja materials at ₹3,000 crore. One last group, with dry fruits, sweets, fruits, textiles, vehicles and other items, is ₹12,000 crore.
The release also says Delhi's bullion markets alone saw sales of over ₹10,000 crore, a 25 percent rise on the year before. A traders' body has an interest in big numbers, and these are not audited. We use them only to show which groups matter, not to promise what you will sell.
What to do: look at your own sales from last Dhanteras and from the week before it. Your own records tell you more than any national estimate.
What Dhanteras offers can a shop or brand run?
The right offer depends on what you sell. These are our own ideas. They are not from any report, and we do not say they work for everyone. Test one before you spread across many.
- Jewellers: a lower making charge for the day, a clear gift with a purchase above an amount, or an exchange of old gold at a stated rate. Show the rate and the charge on the board.
- Utensils and homeware: a set at a festival price, a bundle (a lamp with a thali, for example), or a trade-in of old utensils. Name the exact items in the offer.
- Appliances and electronics: a bundle, free delivery on the day, or an exchange. Say what the buyer pays for finance, if any.
- Sweets, dry fruits and gift packs: pre-order gift boxes with a delivery date, and a lower price on a box of a set size.
- Puja items, lamps and decor: a puja kit with everything for the evening, sold ready to carry.
- D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands: a festival bundle, a cut-off date for delivery before Diwali, and one clear code. Say the last day to order for delivery by 8 November.
- Service businesses: a gift voucher for someone's family, with a date until which it can be used.
What to do: choose one main offer, not five. Put it on a board at the door, in your window, on your Google Business Profile and on a short post. If you have a list of customers who agreed to hear from you, send one message. Our guide to the DPDP Act for marketers covers consent for WhatsApp and forms.
Can I call a Dhanteras offer free?
Only if the buyer pays nothing but the unavoidable cost of responding and collecting or paying for delivery. That is clause 7 of the 2022 guidelines on misleading advertisements. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued them in the Gazette of India on 9 June 2022.
The same clause says an advertisement must make clear what the buyer must commit to in order to get a free offer. It says you cannot call an item free if the buyer pays for packing, handling or administration of it. It also says you cannot call an element of a package free if it is already in the package price.
What to do: if you give a coin with a purchase above a set amount, say so in the same line: "coin with purchases above ₹X". Do not write "free" if the price of the main item went up. If you are not sure, say "gift with purchase" and state the rule.
Do I have to say when stock is limited?
Yes, in the sense of the same 2022 guidelines. Clause 5 covers bait advertisements, meaning an advertisement for goods at a low price to attract buyers. It says such an advertisement must not try to attract buyers without a reasonable prospect of selling the goods at the price offered. It says the advertiser must make sure there is enough supply for the demand the advertisement is likely to create.
It also says that if the likely demand is more than the supply, the advertisement must make clear that stock is limited. And it says an advertisement must not hide limits such as a place or an age on who can buy.
A limit is also a good thing to say. "Only 40 sets in this offer" brings people early and does not upset the ones who come late. A hidden limit does the opposite.
What to do: count stock before you advertise. Put the number or "limited stock" on the board and on the post. Remove the post when the stock is gone.
Where should the small print of an offer go?
Clause 11 of the same guidelines covers disclaimers. It says a disclaimer can explain a claim, but must not contradict it or hide important information. It says a disclaimer must be in the same language and the same font as the claim. It must also be clear, prominent and easy to read for a person with normal sight.
What to do: if the offer says "20 percent off", put "on selected items, till 8 November" next to it. Use the same language and size. Do not hide it in tiny text at the end.
Do jewellers need a hallmark on gold sold at Dhanteras?
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) says gold jewellery has carried three marks since 1 July 2021. These are the BIS mark, the purity mark (for example 22K916) and a six-digit alphanumeric code called the HUID. The HUID is unique to each article. The BIS page says a jeweller must be registered with BIS to sell hallmarked jewellery.
The same page lists the carat grades covered (14, 18, 20, 22, 23 and 24). It says mandatory hallmarking started in 256 districts on 23 June 2021. A second phase covered 288 districts from 1 June 2022. The page is dated 20 October 2022, so check BIS for the district list and any later change.
What to do: do not call jewellery hallmarked in an ad or on a board unless the pieces carry the marks. Keep the HUID visible on the item and on the bill.
A worked example: a made-up utensil shop
Say a family utensil shop in a city market wants to run one Dhanteras offer. All names and figures here are made up. They are not results and not prices. See our ecommerce marketing page if a similar offer is for an online shop.
The shop picks a steel dinner set for the offer. It counts stock first. It has 40 sets. Last year on the day it sold about 55 sets of similar kind, by its own bill book. So the likely demand is more than the stock.
| Step | The sum | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Stock of the offer set | Counted in the shop | 40 sets |
| Likely demand | From last year's bills | about 55 sets |
| Is demand above stock? | 55 is more than 40 | Yes, so say stock is limited |
| Board and post wording | Plain | "Steel dinner set, festival price, only 40 sets" |
| Gift with purchase | A lamp with every set | Written as "lamp with each set", not "free" if the set price is higher than usual |
The shop writes "only 40 sets" on the board, the post and the Google profile post. It keeps a tally at the counter. On Saturday it checks how many sets went and how many people asked and left. That count helps it decide how many to stock for Diwali week.
Common mistakes with Dhanteras offers
- Calling something free when the price of the main item went up.
- A low price on the poster and no stock behind it.
- Five offers on one board, so no one can say what the offer is.
- Small print in another language or tiny text.
- Calling gold jewellery hallmarked without the marks on the piece.
- Messaging people who never agreed to hear from you.
- No count after the day, so next year starts from nothing.
For the wider Diwali season, see our Diwali marketing ideas and our read of Diwali 2026 ad trends.
How to prepare for Dhanteras in the days left
Dhanteras is Friday 6 November. If you read this early in the week, you still have time for the steps below. Do the first four first.
