Sending "small" amounts of money from US to Denmark?

March 4, 2012 5:39 PM

I'm in the US. I have a niece in Denmark with a birthday coming, and I'd like to send her $50. How?

iTunes gift cards only work in the US, and the same seems to be true of AmEx gift cards. I found a site that does international gift cards, but they've got a $25 purchase price and an $89 "activation fee", which seems kind of excessive. Is there any way to do this ?

posted by Runes to Work & Money (13 answers total)

Best answer: paypal her parents the money with instructions to buy a suitable local gift card on your behalf?
posted by modernnomad at 5:51 PM on March 4, 2012

i have also used starbucks gift cards purchased in the UK and US in Canada, so that might be an option.
posted by modernnomad at 5:52 PM on March 4, 2012

I sent a friend in Denmark some money last month, so seconding PayPal. Hassle free.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 6:04 PM on March 4, 2012

Yep, Paypal. If you send as a "gift" there's usually no fee.
posted by vorfeed at 6:09 PM on March 4, 2012

How about putting a $50 bill in a birthday card, and mailing it? First-class postage to Denmark costs 98 cents
posted by BadgerDoctor at 8:18 PM on March 4, 2012

When I lived in Sweden and lost my wallet, my dad sent me emergency cash through ATMCash.com. They FedEx-ed me the card right away, and then my dad told me the PIN code over the phone. The service costs $5, I believe, and can be re-used as often as you need. It was way more convenient than a money transfer, actually (I had not set up a Swedish bank account yet).
posted by halogen at 8:42 PM on March 4, 2012

How about putting a $50 bill in a birthday card, and mailing it?

Because (1) it might get robbed and (2) they don't use dollars in Denmark?
posted by biffa at 1:51 AM on March 5, 2012 [3 favorites]

Only 2 starbucks in DK, and they're both in the airport - so that may not be the best idea. I can deposit foreign currency into my DK bank account without fees so this is still an option as is Paypal.
posted by alchemist at 1:56 AM on March 5, 2012

Best answer: Amazon.co.uk do free postage to Denmark for purchases over £25, so you could get her an Amazon UK gift certificate.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:14 AM on March 5, 2012

Sorry, just to clarify, I meant that you can have the Amazon gift certificate emailed to her, and then she can make a purchase from Amazon with it and not have to pay for postage.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:17 AM on March 5, 2012

Best answer: So you go to the DK iTunes site and buy a gift certificate there?
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:59 AM on March 5, 2012

Best answer: Gavekortet.dk sells and sends gift card for a large number of individual Danish stores, as well as the "accepted everywhere" SuperGavekortet. Cost for a gift card is DKK 29,- (postage included). Their website is not in English, but the offer assistance in English.
posted by iviken at 5:15 AM on March 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sent similar amounts of money to my niece and nephew in Australia. I've used the posting the money in the card method and the Paypal method. I got more response from sending cash as they got to take the cash (or "funny money" as they called it) into the bank themselves and get it changed to Aussie dollars. Check that the banks in Denmark don't charge a fee for foreign currency exchange and send them cash. I also received numerous cash gifts from the UK as a kid and never had problems with them going missing, then or now, and can vouch for how much fun it is to get foreign cash as a kid.

Paypal is great and works fine, but it's not as much fun to unwrap you just see the money going into your bank account.
posted by wwax at 6:56 AM on March 5, 2012