All of the good gifts come from the parents.
My sister says that she'd rather her kids believe that they need to stay on HER good side instead of some mythical being's good side.
On the other hand - if you can really get your kids to buy in to Santa KNOWING if they've been bad or good - and this isn't just about not letting Mom and Dad find out that they've been bad - maybe having Santa give the good stuff can work for you.