Hope this is the right place to post.
In my case I’d like to buy small gifts for my elderly mother who’s in a care facility back in the U.S.
I live here and have a Visa debit card.
I’ve never done any online shopping besides just showing my son on Shoppee what I need and having him order items from Taiwan.
So would Amazon be best for buying my mother small gifts back home?
If so; then should I use the Amazon app or just their site with an account?
Would delivery to her be reliable as far as Amazon goes? I assume they’d take it to the facility office and they’d sign for it and take it to my mother’s room.
Does Amazon provide any info/tracking on how deliveries are received in case something gets “lost”?
Any tips or advice very appreciated.
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I ship from Amazon to friends and family all over the US and Europe, often so they can hold on to it until I visit or as gifts for them. Your Amazon address book can hold multiple addresses for you to store your mother’s address and those of other family and friends. Just try to fit in as much information or instructions there as you can – whatever you would normally out in a regular mailing envelope is enough
The Amazon app and website work seamlessly together. So anything you out in your shopping cart when shopping using one will show up in the other provided they are both logged into your same account. Use them interchangeably.
Tracking is usually offered but it isn’t as comprehensive or detailed as other logistics services
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I used Amazon during Covid to ship gifts. I couldn’t visit. Obviously, tracking was available… but I’m not sure all the gifts arrived properly. Still my mom did get many things. Do a lower value test purchase or two. Don’t send valuables, though. They might go missing.
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For what it’s worth, I’ve never been able to use Amazon to ship to any address apart from the billing address of my credit card. This billing address is in Taiwan. I would be glad to know how to overcome this limitation.
My work around is to buy things through eBay. eBay can allow you to change addresses without any issues. The only possible consideration is that if the parcel is insured/requires a signature, your family might have to have a good relationship with local post office, or trust that the carriers don’t require identification upon delivery.
P.S. I like to buy vintage items for my parents, so eBay is the natural choice. There’s also a lot of new items available, but you need to be careful of the shipping costs.
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This is very odd.
I purchase and ship to family all the time.
Ive even had things shipped to a hotel.
Zero problems.
Your shipping address does not need to be your billing address.
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Thank you!
I’ve tried again (after a few years), based on your advice, and it does seem to Amazon is able to deliver to an address in North America. Even a PO box. Apparently doesn’t need to be the address of the credit card.
I’ll need to confirm that delivery was successful before promoting this approach. However, I appreciate this update!
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It will be successful unless the package is stolen 
I have to say, I thought this was common knowledge, but you never know what you might not know I guess.
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Thanks for all the input everyone.
I will give Amazon a try soon then.
Thanks.
Although it’ll just be cheap items like candy and snacks…I do wonder about it.
My mother told me twice someone stole tweezers of all things! A nurse told her it happens a lot in those places.
I guess I’ll just see how they receive and deliver to people who live in the care facility.