Online Gift Shopping for Expats

Christmas presents by heybucketme

Hi Everyone,
Today's post is my way of supporting expats and capitalism. Online present shopping can be a boon for expats. Christmas shopping can be challenging when you’re an expat far from family and friends, who live back in your home country. The years when I go home for Christmas, it is easy to buy gifts to take back with me. I usually buy gifts that are found here, in the Czech Republic. These presents will be the most exotic and different since they are from a foreign country. However, when I spend Christmas in the Czech Republic, I typically shop online for gifts for everyone back home. There are several benefits for expats who shop online for their Christmas gifts:

1. Shopping online saves money on postage. Mailing gifts back to the U.S. is not only costly, but you also have to worry about presents being broken, lost or stolen.

2. Checking “wish lists” makes choosing a gift easier. Wish lists make it easy to find the best gift for your loved ones or friends. Several online stores allow customers to create wish lists, including sites such as Amazon and other online stores.

3. Create one-of-a-kind gifts. You can even create one-of-a-kind gifts by visiting online stores such as Zazzle and Café Press. These shops are known as print-on-demand stores, where you can order a gift, and they will print it up and send it where you specify. You can use a favorite photo, a graphic image you’ve created, and more to create a unique present for family and friends. It’s possible to personalize all of the items available for sale at these stores. Each gift you create will not only be personally selected, but also created by you. If you aren’t artistically gifted, you can find many items that can be personalized to make wonderful gifts. One more note, Zazzle and Café Press allow you to offer your unique creations for sale to the public. This is a great way to earn some extra money to add to your expat budget and/or to use for holiday shopping.

4. Digital gifts are popular. Other gift options include digital gifts you can give via iTunes and Amazon, among other online shops. You can gift digital versions of music, movies, books and more through these shops. Another gift option is to make a present of a gift certificate for your giftee. You can specify the amount to be credited to the gift certificate. Many major online stores allow you to send real gift certificates via mail or virtual (digital) gift certificates via email. Digital gifts are wonderful for people who have e-readers, such as the Kindle or Nook, or who use tablet computers, such as the iPad or Kindle Fire. Digital gifts are also great for family and friends who have iPhones, Android mobile phones and iPod Touches. Digital gifts are easily downloaded onto the devices and computers of your giftees.

5. Several different payment options. Ordering presents online gives you various payment options. You can pay for online gifts using debit/credit cards, PayPal, electronic checks and even bank transfers.

Some people believe online shopping is too impersonal and that it doesn’t take much effort to choose or send a gift. I tend to disagree. Online shopping takes real time and effort, for by the time you take to check “wish lists,” read reviews and compare prices, you will have spent as much time shopping for the right gift as if you had been to several stores. And you may have to visit several online stores before finding the right present. Online shopping is a wonderful way to find personalized gifts for your family and friends.

Gift-giving can be challenging when you’re living in a foreign country. However, with all of these online and digital options, you’re sure to find gifts to please your family and friends back home. Online shopping is convenient when done from your own home and offers several types of payment options. Following “wish lists” and/or sending physical or digital gifts or gift certificates ensures you’ll find just the perfect gift to send back home. I personally have used each of these methods, and will do so this Christmas. These are just a few ideas to help you with shopping for Christmas gifts for family and friends back home.

Have a great day!

God bless,

Sher :0)

PS You can find unique Christmas gifts by following the links to my online shops in this post and below! You can find books about the Czech  Republic and Prague, along with travel gear and gizmos. You can also find unique gifts such as t-shirts and more made with photos and images I have created. 


If you use these links to make a purchase at Amazon or Zazzle, I will earn a small percentage from each sale. These programs are part of my freelance work online.

Have a great day!

God bless,
Sher

Czech Off the Beaten Path Website

Czech Off the Beaten Path T-shirts & More

Sher’s Stuff
Sher's Holiday Inspirations


Note:  Sher Vacik is a participant in the Amazon services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees and linking to Amazon.com.


Sher Vacik creates designs and images to sell on her Zazzle shops. Sher is also a Zazzle Inc. affiliate.  

© 2011 by Sher Vacik. All rights reserved.

Sher has a New Zazzle Store

Hi Everyone,
Things have been up and down here at our house the past few weeks. I was sick when I got back from the trip home at Christmas, then improved a bit, and got sick again...or maybe the first stuff never went away. It's hard to tell! Our weather's also been playing havoc with my asthma and allergies, but the doctor seems to be getting me straightened out...which is a good feeling.

Even so, with being sick, I've been trying to get caught up with everything. That's not been so easy, but even baby steps are some sign of progress. Sometimes we have to be thankful we're even able to take those baby steps! One of the projects I've been working on is a new Zazzle store, called Sher's Stuff. I've been working (last night and today) on creating images to use on different items for sale on Zazzle. I've had fun creating these images, though I'm nowhere near as good as my daughter--never will be, either! But, I've been experimenting with GIMP (a wonderful, free software very similar to Photoshop--and the latest version is 2.6). Right now, there are about 59 or 60 items for sale in my new shop, but by tomorrow evening there will be 100. That's my goal, at least. We'll see how it goes...but I should manage it OK. Tonight I've been working on uploading the other images I created and they are ready and waiting to be used. That will be tomorrow's work. Anyway, it's been fun trying to create images to use--some are strange, and some I really like. It's been said that people will buy even strange things...we'll see.

Other projects I'm getting back up to speed on are about my friend, Anne, from Menlo Park and her journey with the Infant Jesus of Prague. This is a work in progress...and will hopefully be ready for Valentine's Day. I also have stories to write about trips Jiri and I took this fall, in the Czech Republic. Along with these stories, I'm working on other writing...so things will busy...but that's a good thing.

Well, that's all for now...I just wanted to say hi and give you an update about things here in Prague--and tell you about my new Zazzle store, Sher's Stuff! By the way, even if you don't want to purchase anything directly from my store, be sure to shop around on Zazzle...if you go through my link and make a purchase, I will still earn a commission on whatever you buy. That would sure help me out and I'd be ever so thankful! Zazzle has some great artists and creative people selling everything from mouse pads to posters and more! Beka's used Zazzle a few times to print out her own creations, and she (my artiste daughter) says Zazzle does very high quality work with their products. Be sure and check them out...and my store, too!

Have a great weekend!

God bless,
Sher :0)

Czech Off the Beaten Path Website
Czech Off the Beaten Path T-shirts & More
Sher's Stuff on Zazzle
(c) 2010 by czechoffthebeatenpath