Saturday 27 September 2014

Sending gifts anonymously from Amazon

So sometimes we have a need to send a gift anonymously, out of our charitable heart or for whatever reasons. (I sincerely hope it's not related to stalking! :D)

Amazon requires you to key in your billing address to authenticate with your credit card company. This address will be displayed on your invoice which in turn is sent to your gift recipient, which is not really helpful.

In order to get around this:-
1) Buy a similar valued Amazon Gift Card - Email  and send it to your OWN e-mail.

2) Wait for 5 minutes and you will receive a gift redemption code from Amazon. This will be the second e-mail from Amazon as the first e-mail will actually be your order confirmation.
3) Use this gift redemption code when your check out.
Note: Amazon still requires you to select a payment method just in case your gift code can't fully pay for the item. So fully make sure that the gift redemption code is of similar value to the item you want to purchase so that your credit card won't be charged.
4) For the billing address, select the shipping address. That way your recipient will not be able to guess who send it! (Duh! :)) Billing address will not form part of the authentication process as your credit card is not charged so your order will be CONFIRMED!
Caution: If you select payment by credit card, the last 4 digit of your card might be displayed in the invoice sent to your recipient. So as long as you don't reveal your last 4 digit to them, they will never know.
Hope this helps!
Do you know that you can send flowers through Amazon?
If you decide to send flowers through Amazon anonymously, you can read my next blog:-
Do you know that you can send flowers through Amazon?  

Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. shoppingguideformen.blogspot.com.au makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

45 comments:

  1. This looks like a good option, but I'm afraid that the recipient might disregard the gift card email from Amazon if they think it might be a fraudulent email. I may just purchase an e-gift and then mail the paper in a card from a nearby town so the recipient can't figure it out. (If I lived in a bigger city, that wouldn't be necessary, but sending from my home would narrow down the list of possible senders significantly!)

    Thanks for the post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Stuart for clarifying! :)

      How did it go?

      Delete
    2. Clearly, someone didn't read the instructions very well. LOL

      Delete
    3. Can you not just make the billing address the same as the shipping address?

      Delete
    4. No because the billing address is tied to your credit card info and your credit card wouldn’t verify the purchase

      Delete
  2. thank you for this! i've been wanting to send a gift anonymously. i'm going to give it a shot---

    ReplyDelete
  3. i think it worked! thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. just for anyone who wants to know, it did indeed work! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. hello when it asks me to put a billing address should I put mine? because I can't use theirs since it's private

    thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As the article says, use the address you are shipping the gift to.

      Delete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello. When you say that the billing address will be displayed on the invoice, do you mean a separate paper inside the package? I always order prime eligible stuff, and I've never seen an invoice inside the package. It could be that you simply are referring to the shipping label, in which case I've also never seen the billing address but only the shipping and return addresses. Maybe this whole thing doesn't apply to prime(non-3rd party) shipping? Also, when selecting the gift card balance payment option, there doesn't seem (maybe I'm missing it) to be a way of even selecting let alone changing the billing address. In sum, it looks like this is an issue that is present only with 3rd party amazon orders where an invoice might be included inside the box. Am I wrong? Please tell me. I want to be very sure. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  8. This sounds good, but will they get an invoice with the price?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If the item allows, you can check "This is a gift." box. Amazon says that the price won't be shown on the packing slip (the paper that goes with the gift when sent). See below.

      https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200706310

      You can use Gift Options to offer gift-wrapping, gift messaging, or both to buyers. These services can help increase your sales conversion rates by offering an enhanced buying experience.

      Gift Options allows buyers to indicate an order is a gift. You can enable options that allow buyers to add gift messages, gift-wrap, or both. By default, when buyers indicate that an order is a gift, the product prices will not appear on the packing slip. However, customers can elect to include prices. The buyer's choices will be reflected on the packing slip available in the Manage Orders page. If you create your own packing slips, you will need to manage the messaging and product price display.

      By default, neither gift messaging nor gift-wrap options are enabled. To allow your customers to access your gift-wrap and gift messaging options, you must enable Gift Options in your seller account and add fields to your inventory file to indicate whether gift-wrap, gift messaging, or both are available for each product in your inventory.

      Note:
      Gift Options are not available for Books, Music, Video, and DVD (BMVD) products.
      Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) offers gift-wrap services for eligible items, at no extra cost to sellers.
      Gift-wrapping is charged on a per item basis. You cannot charge a flat fee for gift-wrapping a buyer's entire order.

      Delete
  9. Hello. When you say that the billing address will be displayed on the invoice, do you mean a separate paper inside the package? I always order prime eligible stuff, and I've never seen an invoice inside the package. It could be that you simply are referring to the shipping label, in which case I've also never seen the billing address but only the shipping and return addresses. Maybe this whole thing doesn't apply to prime(non-3rd party) shipping? Also, when selecting the gift card balance payment option, there doesn't seem (maybe I'm missing it) to be a way of even selecting let alone changing the billing address. In sum, it looks like this is an issue that is present only with 3rd party amazon orders where an invoice might be included inside the box. Am I wrong? Please tell me. I want to be very sure. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing your experience. The separate paper is called packing slip. I think I should call it packing slip. The link below can help you more I think.

      https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200706310

      You can use Gift Options to offer gift-wrapping, gift messaging, or both to buyers. These services can help increase your sales conversion rates by offering an enhanced buying experience.

      Gift Options allows buyers to indicate an order is a gift. You can enable options that allow buyers to add gift messages, gift-wrap, or both. By default, when buyers indicate that an order is a gift, the product prices will not appear on the packing slip. However, customers can elect to include prices. The buyer's choices will be reflected on the packing slip available in the Manage Orders page. If you create your own packing slips, you will need to manage the messaging and product price display.

      By default, neither gift messaging nor gift-wrap options are enabled. To allow your customers to access your gift-wrap and gift messaging options, you must enable Gift Options in your seller account and add fields to your inventory file to indicate whether gift-wrap, gift messaging, or both are available for each product in your inventory.

      Note:
      Gift Options are not available for Books, Music, Video, and DVD (BMVD) products.
      Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) offers gift-wrap services for eligible items, at no extra cost to sellers.
      Gift-wrapping is charged on a per item basis. You cannot charge a flat fee for gift-wrapping a buyer's entire order.

      Delete
  10. What I mean is, is there any way the person receiving the gift will know the price?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Will it show the invoice even if i send the e-gift card ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't understand. Can you elaborate further? You are not sending the e-gift card. You are using the e-gift card to buy an anonymous present.

      Delete
  12. good work,Keep sharing more informative posts like that,..I always visit your blog for nice article...

    Hni Calls Tips

    ReplyDelete
  13. I keep on reading your blog post.. This was still amazing. Thanks a lot for sharing this unique informative post with us.. I really enjoyed by reading your blog post
    amazon store

    ReplyDelete
  14. I keep on reading your blog post.. This was still amazing. Thanks a lot for sharing this unique informative post with us.Must visit Indiangiftgallery very nice online site for shopping.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Really , thanks a lot for sharing the guideline on how to sale products on Amazon and I have seen a lot of people now a days who are selling their products online !!

    Fruit Basket Delivery Kuala Lumpur
    Fruit Basket Delivery

    Cake Delivery Kuala Lumpur
    Cake Delivery

    ReplyDelete
  16. So does this still work. Say I buy an item for someone off their wish list, send it to their shipping address, mark it as a gift, then pay with my gift card credit will my name show up on the packing slip anywhere?

    ReplyDelete
  17. I don't think it will be a smart idea to gift someone who is in overseas through a flight courier. You may be doubling the cost unnecessarily for transportation charges. And that too if you are in a last minute hurry to hardly choose a gift and fill a custom form for care package services. Its not practical..

    And there is an alternative for this,
    please check with this link

    https://goo.gl/cgMU4k

    ReplyDelete
  18. It's really so nice and interesting blog about the online shopping thailand it's so nice.
    Online Birthday gift delivery in Pakistan

    ReplyDelete
  19. There are many online gift stores offer a wide selection of inexpensive products to choose from Send gift to Pakistan .

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is really good share about gifts i really like it
    send gifts to Pakistan

    ReplyDelete
  21. Superb! I like Your New Ideas About Gifting, Thanks For Sharing it. Send flowers to Kuwait

    ReplyDelete
  22. How long is the gift card valid?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Amazon has separate retail sites for the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, China, India, Mexico, Singapore, and Turkey..
    amazon reviews
    amazon listing
    amazon seller account from Pakistan
    amazon fba

    ReplyDelete
  24. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Fake Site You shouldn't be fool with these this is actually the a good one I examined it
    Free Amazon Gift Cards

    ReplyDelete
  26. whats up! pleasant say! Please have sufficient allocation an opinion us previously i will see a observe taking place! Read more for ultimate amazon course

    ReplyDelete
  27. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  28. They no longer allow you to use your gift card balance to send visa or mastercard gift cards FYI... :(

    ReplyDelete
  29. I think this is an informative post and it is very beneficial and knowledgeable. Therefore, I would like to thank you for the endeavors that you have made in writing this article. All the content is absolutely well-researched. Thanks... eyeskady.com/

    ReplyDelete
  30. Don't think I've ever seen a blog comment section spammed as hard as this one.

    ReplyDelete
  31. if you start using Fulfillment by Amazon you don't have to have everything fulfilled by Amazon. You can use it for some products and not others. click over here

    ReplyDelete
  32. Appricate your very informative post you can follow related article How to Get a $1000 Visa Card? Or
    All Gift Card Giveaway

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  33. There are many online gift stores offer an Affordable price gifts to choose from Lifestyle present ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  34. good work, thanks for sharing
    if want to send Valentine's Day Gifts for Her Online then Interflora is the best premium website in India.
    visit now: https://www.interflora.in/valentines-day-gifts-for-her

    ReplyDelete