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The ultimate guide to sending gifts overseas from Australia
Sending gifts overseas for Christmas can be a challenge. Here are some amazing present ideas to gift your loved ones, plus some hacks and tips too.
For people who live overseas, Christmas can be challenging. Firstly you may not be spending the day with your family and friends, and secondly the cost of sending gifts to overseas destinations can often cost more than the gift itself! A gift card is always going to be an easy option for sending overseas. However, if you can’t face sending another gift voucher, and writing in the card "get yourself something nice" once again, we have you covered.
Here at Finder, we want to make things easier for you this year. So we've pulled together the best tips and hacks from people right here in the office from our own personal experiences of sending gifts overseas at Christmas from Australia. You actually have more options than you think!
Our favourite Christmas gift ideas for people living overseas
1. Put money into a bank account for someone
It can be very costly for people who live overseas to come home to visit every year or so. Flights, accommodation, trip, cars, spending money – it all adds up. Why not open a bank account for your friend or family member and deposit a certain amount into it every month? Then when they decide to visit, they have a little extra money saved in the account that can be used to help with the cost of coming home. Everyone’s happy!
2. Get something to remind them of Australia
There's no better way to say hello from Australia than by gifting your loved ones something that's made right here! This could work for anyone, no matter what their interests are.
And to help, you can check out our guide on Australian-made shopping. It's where you can find buying guides on things like clothing, leather bags, watches and so much more.
3. Create a box of nostalgic items
Fill a box full of their favourite biscuits, magazines and teabags. This doesn't have to be a heavy gift if you plan it well. Even just their favourite chocolate bar or a top from their most-liked brand. This is a gift that will warm anyone's heart.
4. Sending someone flowers
Flowers are a classic choice to send someone from overseas. Make sure you find a flower store from the country that you wish to send the flowers to. You’ll be able to write a personalised message at no extra cost. Sometimes flower stores also offer delivery of chocolate boxes and other gifts, so make sure to check out their whole site for some extra ideas.
Interflora is a trusted online florist, sending flowers since the early 1900s. Simply select the country you wish to send flowers to and it does the rest! It even uses local florist to source the floral gifts.
5. Magazine subscription
A yearly subscription to their favourite magazine is so easy and it’s a gift that they will receive every month!
6. Skype credit
Skyping overseas can be expensive if you’re chatting a lot. Top up someone’s Skype account with credit so they don’t have to think about it for a while.
7. Buy a hamper online
This is also an easy choice and there are many sites that offer this service. Simply look for a company that operates in the country where your recipient lives and abracadabra, a perfectly gift-wrapped present full of goodies will arrive.
You can also check out our guide on where to buy Christmas hampers online.
8. An experience they won't forget
People love to receive a gift experience, or even a gift voucher for an experience company. Simply search the web for a company that offer gift experiences for the country of the recipient. Easy!
9. Subscription to a monthly box
There are many companies that offer a monthly box of goodies delivered to your house. Beauty junkies can check out our guide on Australian beauty boxes for all the most popular options.
For the foodies out there, there is the GoodnessMe box. This box comes with 6-10 health food products every month and sometimes this box comes with an extra beauty box as a plus. Many of these subscription box companies exist across the world so there's an option no matter where your relatives live.
10. Anything personalised
There are many companies out there creating monogrammed leather goods. Consider a little money purse with their initials on it, or even a passport holder. If you get something lightweight enough, you can easily send it in the post. Make sure you plan this one at least a month before Christmas because sometimes it can take time to produce your personalised masterpiece. Alternatively you could order one from their home country and have it sent straight to them.
11. Gym membership
Offer to buy someone their gym membership for the year. This isn’t going to be a cheap present but if you can afford it, this could be the motivation someone needs to kickstart a healthy lifestyle. Maybe even some personal training sessions could do the trick.
12. A gift voucher
Yes, some say they can be boring but others love the gift of guilt-free shopping. Choose their favourite fashion store or sports shop, or perhaps a gift voucher for a homewares store if they have just moved into a new house. The options are endless with a voucher. There's always something to suit everyone!
Tips and hacks you need to know when it comes to sending gifts overseas
1. Switch the website’s country
This hack should be able to be used on any site that has different domains for each country they trade in. Often when you go to a website, clever geotracking will automatically take you to the Australian version of the brand you're after. Depending on where your gift recipient lives, you can shop on their country's specific site – meaning you save on delivery fees.
Sites that have a UK or US version include Marks & Spencer, ASOS and NET-A-PORTER.
2. Top up credit on site to get free gifts
Moonpig is another site where you can switch countries and send cards from the UK site straight to the UK. Additionally, if you top up your Moonpig account, you get free credit (the amount depends on how much you top up).
3. Use a website that specialises in sending gifts
You can use a website like Overseas Gifts which specialises in sending gifts to people overseas. It's great; you simply choose a gift and choose the country that you want to send it to. They wrap the present for you and send it, without the invoice inside the parcel. Perfect!
4. Buy from a site that offers gift wrapping services
While not all online retailers offer this service, we really recommend using it where possible. Just some of our favourite stores include David Jones, PrettyLittleThing and Amazon.
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