Buying presents for family living abroad

Annefozzie have a look at parcelcompare.com - you can put in the weight, dimensions and destination of your parcel and get quotes from lots of different companies, most of which collect from your home.

Thanks for your comment, Frenchie, I was beginning to think my post was invisible! There was some reason why I didn’t do the pick-up-from-home option last year, though I forget what it was.

Anyway, it’s nice to see someone else recommending www.parcel2go.com/. I don’t have shares in them, honest!

I have a credit card that charges no transaction fee for purchases in foreign currencies. The exchange rate is the same so worth it.

I use it when abroad too as most charge a fee whether it's a small transaction or a huge one.
It's a Halifax one (can't remember the name) but I found out about it on the "Money Saving Expert" website.

Just a word of warning - there was a letter in the Sunday Times yesterday from someone who's package went astray and they weren't able to claim compensation because, although the sender wasn't aware of this, it was on the prohibited items list. This made me check the prohibited items with some carriers I have been looking at.
dpd's list is absolutely amazing! It includes glass, china, jewellery, clothing, confectionery, perfume, - basically anything you are likely to want to send! So be careful, because if any of your items are on the list none of your package is insured.

I transfer money via paypal to my son in Canada. I also use Amazon CA and that works well.

This year I also decided to post things very early surface mail. A box of gifts weighing 2.5kg was £12 which I thought reasonable. It can take 6 weeks to get there so you do need to do this early.

How do you access that surface mail service CassieJ? When I looked at the post office website it said the maximum weight was 2kg.

Based on my experience of sending stuff to the US, I would say:

Never use the Royal Mail. Much too expensive.

Use sites which find the best deals amongst the various carriers. We preferred ones with drop-off points rather than waiting for our parcel to be collected, because sometimes they didn't turn up.

Even if you use something like Parcel2go, it is always expensive.

Be aware that couriers have different rules and these aren't always clear. For example, our family misses British tea and chocolate, so we have tried to include that in our parcels. Some couriers won't accept it. One did and then returned the parcel to us as it contained "forbidden items." Eventually we found that UPS were the best bet. Even so, there's a strong possibility that the parcel will be opened by US Customs.

Give up, sign up to Amazon in their country and get your stuff from there. We now buy them vouchers and let them choose their own stuff.

I send parcels early..by surface mail...so much cheaper

When my son was in Canada I used Amazon Canada to send gift vouchers, also very light weight parcel via the post just so there would have something to unwrap on the day.

Open a Moneycorp account and convert the deposited money to $AUD then buy online there and have items delivered direct to them. I bought a tree for someone that way, worked very well

I have always sent packages to my grandsons in AUS x but now use amazon AUS or K Mart

For my relatives in Australia and USA I always use The Book Depository. Masses of choice and NO POSTAGE COSTS.
www.bookdepository.com

I buy throughout the year for my son and his family in Canberra. If I see something which is suitable, small and light I buy in advance. I send my son and his partner one present each and several for my grandchildren to unwrap. I also send them aussie dollars and various sweets and chocolate that they don't get there. I sent a parcel yesterday which was 7kg and cost £64.50. I always use what used to be ipost parcels and is now DHL. I don't mind paying that much for postage as it arrives within a week and they are far more reliable than Royal mail or parcel force.

We live overseas (Far East), and have family/friends in various countries, so we were often having to send gifts at great expense ... until I discovered that Selfridges have a fantastic deal!

For only 40 pounds a year, you can sign up online for their SELFRIDGES + GLOBAL deal. You can send as many orders as you like, worldwide, regardless of weight, or size, for a whole year, and they remind you to renew when your 12 months is nearly up. There are no other delivery charges once you've paid the one-off fee for the GLOBAL deal.

There's something for everyone ... great toys/books, beauty products, and everything else you'd expect from Selfridges!
Their service is fantastic, everything is well packaged, and all are courier deliveries which arrive very quickly, often within a days ... even to remote locations in SE Asia!

In the past, we've ordered for ourselves things such as a dinner service, heavy cast iron casseroles, pots & pans, etc., which would all be way too heavy, and expensive, to send over here.

The deal has been worth every penny, and we've had far more than our monies worth with just one order!

Claretjan my daughter and family live in Grovedale, VIC, about an hour from Melbourne. I’ve used:-

www.giftsaustralia.com.au/

a few times. They particularly enjoyed:-

www.giftsaustralia.com.au/buy/mornington-peninsula-hot-springs-day-trip-from-mel/5325BHSBH

and have requested it again this year. Hope that helps.

This is the sort of thing I meant in my post above. They are based in Joondaloop, WA and have British goods in store for sending within Australia. Which means you can add a pressie for the Christmas barbie practically at the last minute.

This is not a personal recommendation as I have no relies there to try it out on. Scuse the lingo, but reading the website has made me start thinking in Strine.

bestofbritish.com.au/

... Have no rellies..... ?

I corrected that twice!

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Anyone have any recommendations for online presents for our family in Singapore?The postage for there is also expensive. We have resorted to transferring money but it isn’t the same as receiving a gift.

I’ve ordered Australian garden centre vouchers online or Bunnings vouchers Or you can buy toys from online shops

PhilippaA

For my relatives in Australia and USA I always use The Book Depository. Masses of choice and NO POSTAGE COSTS.
www.bookdepository.com

Oh yes, I’ve used them many times.

I guess there are many options- chocolates or just cards!

When my American niece was in her teens or still a student, I used to send $$$, concealed in a small, light gift, e.g, a purse or slim paperback, or wrapped around a small box of After 8s (she loved those). I would declare the gift on the label but obviously not the cash. Never had a problem.

I still send parcels to Canada, Germany, Ireland and Scotland and the postage is getting ridiculous. I must do something about it.
But how to broach the subject?

After Brexit you need to be aware that gifts sent to EU countries may land the recipient with a customs bill.

There are some stores that include the customs duties in the price of goods and will organise customs clearance