My niece moved to Australia last year. Normally, I get her a gift card for Christmas but last year I sent her a necklace via her parents who went to visit her Christmas. This year I’d like to get a gift card to avoid the cost of shipping something else, but I don’t know how I can buy one she can use with my American dollars. If anyone has experience in this area, I’d be grateful for your help. Should I be looking into prepaid debit cards? Can I buy a gift card from Amazon? What are some good websites for this? I really don’t even know where to start.
Amazon has an Australian presence; I’m pretty sure you could buy one and send or email it to her. I’d think, though, a prepaid debit card would be more versatile.
Note, however, that this year mail is taking a long time to get from the States to Australia. About the least time it’s taken for me to get a card from the States has been 7 weeks, via regular first-class international post.
In cases like this I’ve always bought gift cards that are local to the recipient, and just allow the CC company to handle the conversion. It shouldn’t be that difficult to find a store local to her that accepts overseas orders. And they can ship the physical card to her - or just give a digital card.
As @Telemark noted, the weak link in the chain is getting the card to the recipient, not the currency conversion.
Apply google fu on “buy Australia gift card online” and you’ll get a score of options. You can pick the issuer be it a bank, retailer, shopping centre etc
This. Back in the day, when my sister was living in Australia, I’d get a Christmas catalogue from Myer (a department store much like JC Penney), choose something from it, and pick up the phone, and call Myer (not always at a time convenient to me, but during their business hours). They would accept my Canadian Visa card over the phone, gift-wrap my selection, and deliver. Of course, the currency was Australian dollars, but Visa handled the conversion.
Nowadays, I see that Myer has gift cards that you can order online, including e-gift cards that don’t require a physical card. I’m unsure of the details, but you could probably arrange to send one to your niece:
Not a plug for Myer, but it’s an Australian retailer that I’ve done business with before. And they will take your American credit card, and issue a gift card in Australian dollars, that your niece can easily use. Undoubtedly, there are other Australian retailers who could do the same.
… Myer is not just a great Australian retailer, it’s a dying physical retailer like Marshall Fields. She’d probably prefer an Amazon card …
Thanks, all. Now I’m thinking I’ll buy a gift card from the Australian Amazon site and have it emailed to her. That should work, right?
Yes, that should work. They can also send her a physical gift card in nice packaging, for no additional cost.
Awesome, thanks! Now that you mention it, a physical gift card might be nicer.
Not just from the States either. My dad’s birthday card to his brother (UK -> Sydney) also took about 7 weeks. I posted a card to a friend no more than 10k away … that was on the 12th and it still hasn’t got there. Mail’s appalling right now.