Big or small, gifts are an excellent way to show your friends and the people you care about how much you love and appreciate them. Whether it’s something simple or an item that’s supposed to leave them in complete awe, gits can carry a lot of different meanings.
However, if the person you want to surprise lives in another country, things can get a little tricky. Not only do you need to be aware of everything that can go wrong, the prices and the laws, but also of all the potential risks involved with sending a package abroad. The good news is that there’s no need to worry, as with a bit of research, you should nail the whole process.
To make things easier for yourself, make sure to read the article below. You can use it as an outline for the best practices you can follow when sending a gift to friends in other countries, such as buying the gifts online and sending them directly to the recipient, doing the courier comparison, or paying extra for important and valuable packages. Read on!
Send It Directly to the Recipient
If you’re buying the gift online, you can save yourself a lot of hassle by sending it directly to the person who’s supposed to receive it. This way, you won’t have to go through the process of buying the gift, waiting for the package to arrive at your doorstep, packaging it, finding the mailing company and comparing courier, so you get the best price, meeting all their requirements and then finally sending the package. That’s a lot of steps to take.
Luckily, plenty of retailers such as Amazon send packages abroad and can even package them nicely for you if it’s a gift for someone special. To make things even simpler, you don’t have to buy a physical item – instead, you can consider sending your friend a digital gift, such as a Netflix subscription or Airbnb gift card. The options are endless, and the choice is entirely up to you.
Be Patient
When sending a gift to someone who lives in a different country, you’ll need to have a lot of patience. Timing such packages can be quite tricky and unpredictable. For instance, if your friend’s birthday is coming up, but it is a major holiday in your or your friend’s country, you may encounter a situation where it will be hard to ensure that the package will be delivered before their birthday.
The same is also true if you decide to send a package to someone who lives far away. If you’re in the UK and your friend is in Australia, the package will have to travel a long distance. That’s why you shouldn’t get too caught up in trying to time everything perfectly, as it can only lead to unnecessary stress or frustration. Instead, try to send the package early and let the company that’s handling it do their job.
Pay Extra if It’s an Important Package
When sending a gift that’s especially important to you or simply valuable, don’t hesitate to pay extra for a tracking service. It will show you the package’s location and the approximate route that it travels, including dates and time stamps. You will be able to follow the delivery process and have peace of mind.
If possible, you can also consider paying for shipping insurance, which is a service that will protect you as a shipper against lost, stolen, or damaged packages. If the insured package fails to reach the destination or it gets delivered but turns out to be damaged, you will be eligible for reimbursement that, depending on the company you shipped it with, should the declared value of the items in the package.
Remember to read the terms and conditions if you decide to pay extra for the tracking service or the shipping insurance.
Double-Check the Address
If you don’t want to end up wasting all the time you’ve put towards picking the perfect gift, you should always keep in mind that it’s essential to check the address format. That’s because different countries have different ways to format the addresses, and what’s perfectly acceptable for the UK won’t work for the US.
You might make a simple mistake or even, out of habit, write the address in the format you’re used to in your own country. If you send it without double or even triple-checking, the package may not get delivered. With that being said, next time you send anything to a different country, check the address format you wrote so you can be sure that your gift will arrive at its destination and won’t get lost in the system.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, sending a gift to that special person in your life who happens to live in another country is a great way to remind them how much they mean to you. Imagine sending them a kitchen cabinet with all the food that they need when they feel low. However, to ensure that the package you want to send reaches the right person and doesn’t get lost along the way, you need to make sure that you’re doing everything correctly.
For instance, to simplify things, you can buy the gift online through a retailer that can send it straight to your international friend. If the package is valuable or really important and you have some extra money, consider paying extra for shipping insurance or a tracking service. Before sending anything out, always make sure to double-check if you wrote the correct address format and, above all, remember to be patient and time things correctly so your gift arrives at its destination at the intended time. Good luck!
