Please turn my dollars into pounds using the magic of the internet

April 4, 2007 6:30 AM

I'm in the US, and I'd like to buy an Amazon gift certificate for someone in the UK...

This is a belated wedding present; they had a wedding registry on amazon.co.uk, but it's been taken down since the wedding happened a month ago.

I've looked through gift card help and rules & regulations as well as help sections on Amazon.com, but I can't determine if I can just go to Amazon.co.uk and purchase a gift card in British pounds using my American Visa debit card. Will that even work? Will my bank (Wachovia) freak out if it gets a charge in pounds? Will they charge me a service fee for converting my bank account's dollars into pounds?

Help and suggestions appreciated. I searched through lots of other threads about buying gift cards for family and friends abroad, but didn't find any specific answers about payment.

posted by junkbox to shopping (15 comments total)

Yes it will work fine. Your bank probably won't freak out.
posted by k8t at 6:36 AM on April 4, 2007

I can't predict what Wachovia will do, never banked with them, but I've bought approximately 50 amazon.co.uk gift cards over the last eight years, both from the US and Canada (birthday presents for the family at home). No problems of course, but the exchange rate your credit card will give you probably will not be all that competitive. But if it's a gift, it'snot really worth getting panicked over.

(You can also buy them an amazon.com giftcard, I once did by accident, but the shipping to the UK will kill 'em).
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:37 AM on April 4, 2007

Will my bank (Wachovia) freak out if it gets a charge in pounds?

Probably not, but some card issuers flag international transactions as suspicious activity, especially if you have no history of making transactions overseas. You can call them and warn them if you want to avoid even this slim possibility. It's prudent to warn your card issuer if you will be going overseas to avoid problems. That said, I have never warned any of my card issuers, nor have I ever had any problems.

Will they charge me a service fee for converting my bank account's dollars into pounds?

Yes. Visa will charge at least 1% over the interbank rate for an international transaction to cover the costs involved. Some card issuers charge an additional amount which is pure profit for them since they incur no additional costs. A good card issuer won't. If you want to find out how much Wachovia charges, call Wachovia.
posted by grouse at 6:56 AM on April 4, 2007

I have used my (Swedish) Visa card to make purchases on amazon.com, .de, .fr, .uk, etc. with no problems.

While it is true that your credit company will take a percentage for the transaction, the exchange rate using a credit card is (I have always heard) as good as you can get. For example see here.

My bank does not charge an additional fee for credit card transactions in foreign countries (they do charge for ATM withdrawals abroad).

What would be a problem, I would think, is that the dollar is so weak right now that buying pounds is a really bad deal (10 dollars = 5 pounds right now, which is about as disadvantageous for dollars as I have noticed in the past 10 years). You might actually get better value for your dollars by spending them on something at home and shipping it (depending on how heavy the something was).
posted by bluebird at 7:09 AM on April 4, 2007

I can't determine if I can just go to Amazon.co.uk and purchase a gift card in British pounds using my American Visa debit card. Will that even work?

Yes. I've done it several times with an ordinary US-bank-issued Visa card. Whether and how much your card issuer might charge you for the transaction is probably best asked of them directly, banks vary.
posted by normy at 7:27 AM on April 4, 2007

Like Bluebird I have also used my card (UK) to purchase from various Amazon sites around the work without a problem.
posted by fire&wings at 7:34 AM on April 4, 2007

You might actually get better value for your dollars by spending them on something at home and shipping it (depending on how heavy the something was).

Don't do this. If the gift (plus the cost of any express shipping) is worth more than £7, the recipient may have to pay customs duty of up to 3.5% and brokerage fees of about £12, and VAT of about 17.5% if it is more than £36. This will considerably lessen the excitement of receiving a gift.
posted by grouse at 7:45 AM on April 4, 2007

I've used my card to purchase gifts on amazon.co.uk for delivery to people in the UK. I don't think the process of buying a gift card for delivery will be any different than buying a book for delivery in the UK. Your bank won't freak out or anything, it'll just be a standard purchase process and you'll see the transaction on your statement with the charge converted into USD.
posted by necessitas at 7:48 AM on April 4, 2007

I used my Washington Mutual ATM card to withdraw money from ATMs in London - I wasn't charged a fee at one, and another charged me $2 USD.
posted by puddleglum at 9:10 AM on April 4, 2007

Junkbox, I have exactly the opposite problem - I'm in the UK and I want to buy a gift for someone in the US. I've found that the only limitation is that the US site won't accept my card (a crappy Maestro one.) Gah!!!!!
posted by Jofus at 9:44 AM on April 4, 2007

the recipient may have to pay customs duty of up to 3.5%

True, that would be really bad, but I believe that packages marked as gifts don't incur these fees.

I recently sent a plane worth several hundred dollars from US to Germany as a gift--the recipient had to pick it up at the customs office but they weren't charged.

Absolutely worth checking out, however.
posted by bluebird at 11:46 AM on April 4, 2007

Why oh why didn't I research before posting? Sorry, my idea about gifts getting special treatment was just wrong.

However, this site does suggest that gifts worth less than 36 pounds get in scot-free.
posted by bluebird at 11:52 AM on April 4, 2007

I believe that packages marked as gifts don't incur these fees.

You are wrong. I posted the exact limits for tax-free gifts to the UK earlier in this thread. If they aren't gifts, then the limits are lower.
posted by grouse at 11:53 AM on April 4, 2007

I have actually purchased books from amazon.co.uk and had them shipped to my address in the United States. I doubt that you'll have any problem.
posted by dagnyscott at 12:14 PM on April 4, 2007

I buy things from amazon.co.uk all the time - books for myself (shipped back to the US), gifts for my family, and a gift certificate for a friend's wedding once too. As others have said, if you are worried then contact your bank to ask what the fees are, and if you should notify them in advance. I wouldn't expect it to be a problem though.
posted by Joh at 3:30 PM on April 4, 2007