According to "Billboard", "Santa Baby" was the best-selling Christmas song of 1953, mostly due to the controversy surrounding it. RCA Victor, Kitt's label at the time, referered to the single as "far more than a seasonal success [...] but a further tribute to Eartha's art – for, as each of us desires, she can make every day of the year seem like Christmas". On the "Billboard" Hot 100, then titled the Best Selling Singles chart, in the United States, "Santa Baby" debuted at number 16 before rising to number ten the following week. On November 21, 1953, "Billboard" reported that the single had sold 200,000 copies, which the magazine called surprising: "Unlike many other Christmas tunes it has broken the deejays' 'We won't play Christmas records in November' sound barrier, and has been getting loads of airtime."