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| Amazon introduces a new gift feature for Prime subscribers |
Amazon introduced a new gift feature that allows Prime subscribers to send gifts to others using just an email address or phone number — no address required.
The donor must be an Amazon Prime member. The program is limited to the continental United States and is currently only available on mobile devices.
Although the company makes certain guarantees, the donor never has access to the recipient's postal address. But this function appears to have been misused.
This feature is very useful when you want to give a gift to someone and you don't know the recipient's postal address. But you have the recipient's email address or phone number.
The donor selects the gift via the Amazon mobile app and selects the "Add Gift Receipt for Easy Return" option at checkout. The "Allow the recipient to provide their address" option appears. Then the provider adds the recipient's email address or mobile phone number.
Gift cards are currently free. But the purchase amount is reserved through his payment card. The recipient will then receive an SMS or email notification that a gift is waiting for them.
If the recipient does not have an Amazon account, they can create one at this point. The recipient must have an Amazon account to receive the gift. But the donor must be a principal member.
Amazon's new features can attract more members
Recipients can click on the company's notification to see what the donor sent and then decide whether to decline the gift, accept the gift but convert it to an Amazon Gift Card - without notifying the donor - or accept the gift as is.
If the recipient accepts the gift, their payment card will be charged. However, if the recipient ignores the gift notification, it will expire in a few days and the donor will be refunded.
There is no mechanism for member companies to opt out of this new service. Amazon's position is that if the recipient doesn't want the gift, they can decline or ignore the notification.
The company said that not all products sold by Amazon are eligible for the new giveaway feature. But millions of projects are eligible. Eligible Products include products sold by the Company and third-party sellers through their platforms.