Advice on sending cash to Australia from the UK

[PrincessFiorimonde]

A friend usually sends $20 in a birthday card to a grandchild in Australia. Normally she buys the dollars from a travel agency, but the agency isn't open at the moment and apparently there are no A$ available at her local post office. And my friend can't order the dollars from the post office as the amount is too small.

How would it work if my friend just puts £20 in the card instead? If the grandchild (or a parent) cashes the UK note at an Australian bank, obviously they would be charged commission. But is it likely that there would also be a minimum charge for changing the note? E.g. if £20 is worth (say) A$30, and (say) there's a 10% commission, that means the grandchild would get A$27. But if the bank charges a flat fee of (say) A$20 for changing any foreign currency, then the £20 would be worth almost nothing.

Any advice would be very welcome.

(Please don't suggest sending the money electronically, as my friend is very keen to send actual cash in her grandchild's card!)

I'd never send cash through the post. Cheque if it's in the UK, or PayPal if not. Just write in the card that they should send you their PayPal details, and you can then send them their money for the present. Much less messing about than changing currencies etc!

good update, OP. That's the idea.

We do money via PayPal or vouchers for a local department store. Otherwise it’s just a lot of processing fees

We just do bank transfers or use PayPal.

@BarbaraofSeville

She might be 'very keen' to send cash but she would also be absolutely bonkers. Tell her to do the sensible thing.

Hate to say it but..... Amazon gift voucher in Oz $? It iTunes voucher? Then they'd get the full value...