Best way to send a gift to the US?

[newlark]

My mil would like to send a gift (possibly perfume) to a friend in the US - we were wondering about ordering on a US site and paying with a UK credit card - does this work so we don't pay international shipping? If we were to use Amazon.com would we just log in using our UK account details and pay local US shipping?

I have used amazon.com for friends in USA. All went fine. Can't really remember but think you set up new account on .com. Also used amazon.ca for Canadians! Saying that those addresses are now in my .co.uk account.
,wanders off after most useful contribution)

Thank you - that is really helpful. I've just tried logging in to amazon.com with my .co.uk login and it recognises me so we can ask mil what she wants to order and see if it works - I guess you just have to make sure you are in the right version of the website to get the right shipping charges.