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Anyone know how/if I can send an e-gift card for a European store from the Uk?

20 replies

Charlieradioalphapapa · 22/02/2024 20:18

I’ve googled, gone on the company’s site but still can’t work this out. I want to send a gift card to SIL in Germany . It’s for a chain beauty/perfume place with lots of branches she can get to. In the past I’ve tried to send her cards from UK shops she loves but since Brexit they’re not doing them, which I why I’m trying to get one for a store over there. Anyone know if I can pay in pounds and how I go about buying the card from the uk. This is probably a really stupid thing not to know but I can’t find the answer

OP posts:
Leafbuds · 22/02/2024 20:22

This kind of thing depends hugely on the store involved. I've tried to buy gift cards for people in North America, and sometimes succeed, and sometimes not.

If the website itself has a gift card option that lets you select her address for delivery, and then lets you put in yours for payment, that is a good start, but unfortunately, many times the payment address also has to be from that country or in that format. It's really frustrating, because there's often no reason why they can't accept a card from abroad, other than their website isn't set up for that.

So sometimes I get around it by using PayPal, which doesn't always require entering a billing address in the company's web form.

Other times, I have had to email the company separately and ask, and sometimes they can do it by email/phone, or can send an invoice by email.

Even big companies like Starbucks and Apple make this sort of thing much more difficult than it needs to be, especially when they sometimes have country-specific web pages that are difficult to get out of when you want to buy something on one from another country.

Charlieradioalphapapa · 22/02/2024 20:28

It’s reassuring it’s not just me being dense. I’ve checked the site and can’t seem to even find an e-gift card option yet I’ve seen SIL with a plastic credit card type gift card for the same store that a friend in Germany gave her . Might have to just give in and do a bank transfer to be on the safe side but not very ‘gifty’.

OP posts:
Melassa · 22/02/2024 20:35

I buy gift cards for people in the U.K. from Europe. Not all retailers allow this, when I put my billing address outside the U.K. they then don’t accept my credit card. This doesn’t happen when I buy gift cards in other European countries and seems to have got worse since Brexit. I’m not sure if it happens the other way around as well?

Anyhow, there are retailers who accept it happily and I pay in pounds (there is never a function for currency conversion for gift cards).

For Europe, you just go on the country site directly if it will let you (some insist on pulling you back to your local site) but you will be paying in euros, which your credit card will manage and your bank will convert automatically when it hits your account. Only Amazon do the direct conversion, or give you the option, at least in my experience, but it’s not always advantageous.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Melassa · 22/02/2024 20:39

Charlieradioalphapapa · 22/02/2024 20:28

It’s reassuring it’s not just me being dense. I’ve checked the site and can’t seem to even find an e-gift card option yet I’ve seen SIL with a plastic credit card type gift card for the same store that a friend in Germany gave her . Might have to just give in and do a bank transfer to be on the safe side but not very ‘gifty’.

Is it Douglas? They do an electronic card sent via email I think.

Melassa · 22/02/2024 20:44

or even physical ones

reluctantbrit · 22/02/2024 20:44

I know it is possible on Amazon, just set up an account with your UK address, buy the gift card and choose a sender's address, email or physical.

I have a German Amazon account and regularly ship presents to my mum or my niece.

We tried to order photos printed and sent to my mum via a chain like Boots and they wouldn't allow a UK address. Some other stores aren't working as well, so it may be trial and error to find one which works for you.

Leafbuds · 22/02/2024 20:47

Also sometimes there are 'gift card sites' that sell physical gift cards and can post them to the recipient. But you'd have to check into those carefully as they aren't sold by the retailer themselves, so could be easy to fall for a scam. But some are reputable.

Charlieradioalphapapa · 22/02/2024 20:49

Melassa. Yes it is Douglas. Thank you so much. So if I just click on how many € I want to spend do you know if the bank will charge a big exchange fee?

OP posts:
Noodledoodledoo · 22/02/2024 20:55

Another option but I have used it for Australia is I have found a card company like moonpig that offers local companies gift cards. Not sure if there is something in Germany that is similar. The company I use is called Cardly.

Charlieradioalphapapa · 22/02/2024 20:59

Thanks Noodle. Still having problems on Douglas website despite Melassas help. I’ve just had a flash of inspiration and ask my DB to buy the card and send him a bank transfer 🤦🏽‍♀️

OP posts:
Gulbekian · 22/02/2024 21:02

You'd be better paying with credit card, OP.
If you need help with the site, you're welcome to PM me. I live in Germany.

TheSquareMile · 24/02/2024 14:31

Charlieradioalphapapa · 22/02/2024 20:18

I’ve googled, gone on the company’s site but still can’t work this out. I want to send a gift card to SIL in Germany . It’s for a chain beauty/perfume place with lots of branches she can get to. In the past I’ve tried to send her cards from UK shops she loves but since Brexit they’re not doing them, which I why I’m trying to get one for a store over there. Anyone know if I can pay in pounds and how I go about buying the card from the uk. This is probably a really stupid thing not to know but I can’t find the answer

@Charlieradioalphapapa

Does the website allow you to choose from this list, add it to the Warenkorb (zum Warenkorb hinzufuegen) and then pay?

First link is for the physical card, second link is for buying the card for delivery by e-mail.

https://www.douglas.de/de/p/3001001433

https://www.douglas.de/de/p/3000044612

Charlieradioalphapapa · 24/02/2024 17:03

TheSquareMile. Thanks so much. They won’t accept a billing address in the UK. Ireland is fine. Another of the wonderful benefits of Brexit

OP posts:
TheSquareMile · 24/02/2024 17:51

Charlieradioalphapapa · 24/02/2024 17:03

TheSquareMile. Thanks so much. They won’t accept a billing address in the UK. Ireland is fine. Another of the wonderful benefits of Brexit

@Charlieradioalphapapa

That is so frustrating. It must be something which applies to certain companies and not others, as I send flowers to my friend in the Netherlands using a Dutch company and paying with my UK credit/debit card.

Re the gift card you would like to buy, does the same problem kick in if you try to buy a multi-shop card from the Wunschgutschein website? That can be used in Douglas shops, I think.

https://www.wunschgutschein.de/collections/all

Geschenkkarte für +500 Shops* kaufen ✔️ Schenke Freude

Jetzt Geschenkkarte kaufen | Einlösbar in über 500 Onlineshops* » Amazon ✓ H&M ✓ Thalia ✓ Douglas ✓ Mediamarkt u.v.m!

https://www.wunschgutschein.de/collections/all

Charlieradioalphapapa · 24/02/2024 21:41

TheSquareMile. Yes the same problem . But your help is really a
preciares

OP posts:
TheSquareMile · 24/02/2024 21:50

@Charlieradioalphapapa

Could you transfer the sum you want to spend to your brother (who lives in Germany, I assume) and ask him to buy a digital Douglas gift card with his German registered credit card, adding a message from you on the form he fills in?

It would be sent to his e-mail address, meaning that he could forward the e-mail to you. You could print out the gift card pages and pop them into a pretty card which can then be sent in the post to her.

TheSquareMile · 24/02/2024 21:54

PS The only other suggestion I had was buying the gift card via Amazon DE but the same problem may happen.

https://www.amazon.de/s?k=Wunschgutschein&rh=n%3A1571256031&language=en

Leafbuds · 24/02/2024 22:10

have you checked if you can use PayPal on any of the sites? That's been my most successful way of doing this. It might be that you have to email them to ask for a paypal invoice if it's not offered on the website.

Charlieradioalphapapa · 24/02/2024 23:07

TheSquareMile yes I’m going to ask DB to buy the card and send him a bank transfer. There been so many stores that SIL loves over here and where they live but after Brexit it seems really hard to find places. I’ve tried Amazon de. All generally goes ok till I get to the billing address which isn’t accepted.,

OP posts:
Leafbuds · 24/02/2024 23:16

That's where PayPal - or ApplePay, actually, now that I think about it - comes into its own; you often don't then need to enter the billing address. I'd forgotten about Apple Pay - so if you have a phone with that (or whatever the Android version is ), maybe try it from the shop website on there?

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