Christmas gift for spouse/fiance in the Philippines

[jg121783 3,909]

I would like to get my fiance a christmas gift and I am trying to figure out the best way to approach this. It will be easy for her son because I can just send her money and have her get something for him. I thought about buying something here and sending it via Fedex (which cost $60+) but I am trying to save every penny I can right now for my trip to the Philippines in February. I could just send her some money and tell her to get something she wants but that seems like I am not putting any thought or effort into it. I could also talk to one of her family members and have them go buy something for me. Can anyone who has had past experience with this give me some ideas? I thouht about buying some jewlery (neclace, ear rings, ect.) for her but the shipping would costy almost as much as the gift its self.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Don't send anything too valuable, the tax most times will exceed it's value.

As thoughtless as it seems, using REMITLY or XOOM and sending some money is the better move.

[Doug&Rhea 10]

Buy from an online seller from her country through credit card. Sometimes shipping is free

[jg121783 3,909]

Don't send anything too valuable, the tax most times will exceed it's value.

As thoughtless as it seems, using REMITLY or XOOM and sending some money is the better move.

I will never use Xoom again after the bad experience I had with them when I was in the Philippines. They put a freeze on the money i sent and I had to call them to get it removed only for them to ask me a bunch of personal questions about my trip they had no business asking then they told me I had to send them a copy of an ID to have the money released. After demanding to talk to a suppervisor and explaining I had no means to send a copy of my ID two hours later my money was finally released. By that tme the money pickup location was closed and I had to wait until the next day. Also I paid extra to send it in USD and the pickup location would only give me Pesos. This was money I needed for the last few days of my trip and flight home and it was a major hassle. I use moneygram. Yeah the fees are high and the exchange rate sucks but the money gets to who/where I send it every time with no problems. Maybe I will check out Remitly. Nevertheless your point about sending money is understood.

[Tahoma 2,292]

CA$H is KING...!

[Boiler 45,335]

Also go for buy on line.

[Brassballs 47]

If you want to give Lisa a hard gift she can touch, try lazada.ph or possibly lazada.com.ph.

WU is safe and efficient even if they raised their fee to $7. She can buy a more expensive dress, haha.

l8tr.

[jg121783 3,909]

If you want to give Lisa a hard gift she can touch, try lazada.ph or possibly lazada.com.ph.

WU is safe and efficient even if they raised their fee to $7. She can buy a more expensive dress, haha.

l8tr.

I asked her what she wants and after repeatedly telling me nothing she finally gave in and said she could use some nice clothes. So maybe I will send her some money and tell her to go buy some clothes. Too bad I cant get her a gift card for the mall or something. I also know I can trust her sister and brother in law if I send them money to get her something. They let me stay at their house for almost 2 weeks and refused to take money from me when I offered it. That is another option. Its looking like Fedexing something is a bad idea for multiple reasons.

[jg121783 3,909]

That lazada site looks interesting. Have you ever bought anything from them?

[Hank_ 9,174]

I will never use Xoom again after the bad experience I had with them when I was in the Philippines. They put a freeze on the money i sent and I had to call them to get it removed only for them to ask me a bunch of personal questions about my trip they had no business asking then they told me I had to send them a copy of an ID to have the money released. After demanding to talk to a suppervisor and explaining I had no means to send a copy of my ID two hours later my money was finally released. By that tme the money pickup location was closed and I had to wait until the next day. Also I paid extra to send it in USD and the pickup location would only give me Pesos. This was money I needed for the last few days of my trip and flight home and it was a major hassle. I use moneygram. Yeah the fees are high and the exchange rate sucks but the money gets to who/where I send it every time with no problems. Maybe I will check out Remitly. Nevertheless your point about sending money is understood.

I had the same thing with XOOM, the requirement for all the info came from the state (I looked it up), we now use REMITLY but the had to get info too. We do direct deposit to our bank in the Phils.

[carton025 38]

I am aware of this site from others': http://wowphilippines.com/.

Best of luck!

[delish 29]

Hmm interesting. Is remitly reliable? Am currently using xoom when sending remittance to family back home.

[leisli 15]

hi i would also like suggest buying from group buying sites such as: metrodeal and cashcashpinoy

for my 30th birthday, my fiance bought a massage deal and a dinner deal with my friends (he paid via credit card)

there are also gadgets available in those sites

[Klepley 4]

DO NOT USE FEDEX. My fiance had to pay more to get the gifts that what I could fit in the box.

I have used here for gift baskets:

http://www.giftbasketsoverseas.com/

and here for flowers and cakes:

http://www.flora2000.com/

Not sure your budget, but have found they deliver without a problem.

Note if you order a cake from Flora, your fiance will need to go pick up at the bakery. And she can share this with family and friends!

Another option is if you know someone in the Philippines, have them do for you. Cheapest route as they can do themselves, and you only need to send money via Western Union.

OR

I buy gifts for family members, box and send them over now. My fiance puts them up until Christmas. I have been lucky and have not had anything stolen from any of the packages I have sent. I send to her school and usually put some school supplies in there she can give the kids.

On a side note, she is mad I do that as i she hates that I spend money. I am impractical, and she is practical, so we are a perfect match. It sounds like your fiance is the same way with "I don't want anything", which is pretty nice. For the first Christmas gift when we were apart, I sent her and her family all things Maryland. Crab soup, ####### spice, etc.. Good luck!

[Brassballs 47]

That lazada site looks interesting. Have you ever bought anything from them?

My asawa placed several orders domestically with no issues and timely delivery. I never ordered from this side of the pond though.