Buying presents for family living abroad

If you want to send books The Book Depository has free delivery all over the world. Huge range of books.
John Lewis deliver abroad for £20. In the first lockdown I ordered from JL for a couple of birthdays and they arrived in Adelaide very quickly. It seemed amazing that I could send birthday presents in the middle of a pandemic. The only drawback is that I don’t see the actual items and can’t wrap them so it can feel a bit impersonal.

Sue Domin, Parcels2go will actually pick up from your house. I live in France and regularly use P2G for presents. They have an excellent service. Just last week daughter who lives in Scotland sent a parcel, picked up Monday at 10a.m. and arrived at my house on Wednesday 3.p.m. Also a package from Surrey picked up Tuesday afternoon, arrived at my house on Friday morning. Also I had 2 parcels picked up from my home on Tuesday afternoon and delivered to the above addresses by Friday.

Family in Canada so now send vouchers via email. Amazon , not on the high street. M&S also so international delivery.
If all fails credit to daughter’s account and she buys locally.

There are often expat services which import items and can then ship them inland. For example here in Germany there are a couple of shops. I use one based in Cologne, especially at Christmas. I can get biscuits, sweets, crisps, Branston pickle, Dettol, Marmite, Christmas puddings, brandy butter, Christmas crackers etc, all with inland delivery prices. These things are otherwise virtually unknown in Germany and not available in supermarkets.

I have heard that there is this sort of thing in the US so no doubt there is one in Australia, too. Not sure if they do wrapped presents., though.

I use amazon canada to send gifts just the same as amazon here and like ours its free delivery if you spend over £20.It also means you don't have to worry about time taken in post.

I send to America and Australia. I go on Amazon us or au, choose a gift and give the us or au address for delivery. Saves a fortune in postage and hassle. M&S online used to offer a service where you chose and paid and they delivered it to Australia- not sure if they still do.

I try to order from local stores in the recipient's area. Just last week sent 2 doz cookies from a (registered) home bakery "in the sticks" in America to my son who was at a cabin nearby.

Most small businesses are happy to help - and many big businesses now take international orders. I do send actual gifts from the UK sometimes though as everyone acknowledges, this is increasingly expensive.
I keep the sizes and weights that are most economical in mind when I buy though, I have to admit.

I used to love wrapping and sending gifts to family in Oz but they all had to go surface mail in September!
Now that surface is no longer available, we have all come to the agreement that the presents have had to stop, sadly.
If you can't send money direct to a bank account, you could always use and send a prepaid travel card that you can either get via the Post Office or Fair FX is one that I have used. It can be used like a debit card, so can be used in shops or cash from a cash point , so you set up a PiN number for it. Once the initial money is spent , it can be topped up online and also they give usually the best exchange rates too.

Oh, and Fortnum and Mason do an international delivery service - my daughter sent a hamper for a special birthday a couple of years ago.

We used the KMart Australia site, then paid by PayPal, for a gift to a new baby (but they have a huge range of stuff). PayPal must take their cut for currency exchange (I hope a bit less than UK banks) but prices were very reasonable.

Order from a store in Oz or get some currency from the bank and send that . If Amazon functions in Oz you could do evouchers

I have a son in Canada who loves different coffees! Each Christmas, I send him a delivery of coffee from Northern Coffee who only deliver to Canadian addresses. He has no idea what he's getting, so it's always a surprise! The only problem was I had to have a Canadian address. I emailed them, and was told to set up an account at his address!!
I usually send him a small package of things you can only get easily in the UK like Marmite!! Postage for that is often more than the value of the contents!!

I find stores which deliver in their areas and order on their websites and pay safely by credit card.

We sent parcels to family in the Middle East one year. They had to go somewhere (with passports) to collect. The official, (with great glee), then opened the parcel in front of them, tore off the Christmas wrapping and opened the presents in front of them ruining their Christmas surprises.

I have family in Germany and friends in the US. I have opened an Amazon account in Germany and in the US and then gifts directly from there, so postage is very small.
I also used ebay from Germany and the US to send gift but there you have more of an issue if anything goes wrong.
Amazon has always been the best way for me and you get nearly everything on Amazon.

My daughter and family live 500 miles from us which I know it's not Australia but still tricky to send presents in the post. I have bought them an 'Experience'. It is flight simulator experience and they each get to sit in the cockpit and get to fly the plane virtually. They all get to see each other having their turn and apparently you learn a lot and have fun too. Could you look for an Experience in Australia near to where they live. I have in the past seen similar things there.

My grandchildren are in America and having spent a small fortune posting things to them I started to use to Amazon. If I google Amazon USA it asks if I want to pay in sterling or dollars and it has proved a convenient way to make sure they receive gifts. I don’t like to use Amazon in the U.K. as it annoys me they don’t pay taxes but it’s a case of needs must ....

Use amazon or eBay.com.au or search for local stores . You can order online and have them delivered . The postal service from the UK is very bad at the moment . Takes over a month for an airmail letter. The bonus is they can be returned if unsuitable !

I am not an advocate of Amazon as I like to shop local but you're right, overseas postage costs a fortune. I go on to the Amazon.com site not the Amazon.co.uk sit and if you become an amazon prime member I think you get free postage. However, I do wish the postal costs were cheaper as, not only do I like to support our local business and postal services but also I like to see and touch what I am buying and get the joy of wrapping it.

I usually buy presents through Australian sites like Amazon.com.au, large stores like BigW. A bit trial and error
as not all of them accept foreign credit cards. Saves loads on postage!

Thank you everyone for all your comments and suggestions. My family live in Melbourne so I will try local websites, or Amazon if all else fails.

This was me up until last year when my dd and family returned to the U.K. from Australia. I used book depository they are world wide with free delivery. I also went onto Australian websites ( google them) and purchased from them as they were local, delivery was free or very cheap. I got my dd a spa day a pasta making cookery lesson. She gave me links to kids websites for toys. Or I transferred money to her account and she purchased them for me and wrapped them. Hope this helps as I was paying up to £70 sometimes depending on items.

Hi, I wonder if anyone can offer any advise to my ‘Christmas parcel’ issue. My Daughter and 12year old grandson live in Luxembourg. I want to send a homemade ‘food/chocolate ‘ hamper. I have been looking for cheaper postage. I think UPS seems ok but am unsure if they pick up from me and deliver direct to my daughters house. Any help for Luxembourg I’d be so great full.

Ellianne I did this one year only for us to have a right old giggle as all the special days ie Mother’s Day etc are completely different dates in Oz, and Aztec day wasn’t on there either.I did say are well you won’t be able to forget the special days now.

Jaylucy, surface mail still available but now called Economy up to 2kg half the price of standard, I use it all the time to send to Australia and Canada takes a while but sometimes they send by air which is a bonus !