Use this clever Amazon shopping tip when you don’t have someone’s address

There’s nothing more convenient than shipping a gift directly to someone’s house, and no joy more thrilling than making that present a sneaky gift the recipient had no idea was coming. It’s all well and good assuming you already have the mailing address for every person in your life. But what if you don’t? A new Amazon shopping feature for Prime members makes it possible to send a stealthy gift. All you need is a phone number or email address — more below.

We love this idea, especially as the holidays come up and, along with them, opportunities to send along smaller presents to coworkers or family or friends who may have moved and whose address you don’t have on file. Amazon says the new feature should now have rolled out to the majority of Amazon Prime customers, but there are a couple catches you’ll want to know before you start.

Amazon has also kicked off its “Black Friday-worthy” holiday deals. You can take a look at the day’s discounts at the Epic Deals section of Amazon’s website, mobile app — or by asking your Alexa device, like an Echo or the Amazon mobile app, “Alexa, what are my deals?” (Here’s another Amazon trick to save you money before Black Friday.)

Read more: Amazon Prime members will now have to pay for this delivery perk

Is there a catch to sending Amazon gifts without an address?

Yes, here are the puzzle pieces needed to make this convenient shopping hack work. You must:

• Be an Amazon Prime member.
• Have the recipient’s email address or mobile phone number.
• Use the mobile app to send the gift without a specific shipping address. (The new shopping feature won’t work with Amazon.com, only the mobile app.)
• Ship and receive the gift to the continental US — sorry, Hawaii and Alaska.

Important note: Not every gift itself is eligible. For example, we couldn’t send the baby clothes we picked out for our colleague’s newborn this way, but we were able to select a pair of $36 Amazon over-ear headphones to send to a recipient without a physical address on hand.

How does the new Amazon Prime gift option work?

We’ll share more details in the step-by-step below, but in general, as the gift-giver you just have to send a gift receipt and select the new delivery option. The recipient will then be notified to accept the gift by providing their address. If they decide to not accept the gift, they can exchange it for an Amazon gift card. Amazon says it won’t tell the person who picked out the gift if the recipient chooses a gift card instead. 

How to send a gift on Amazon without knowing the recipient’s address

If you just picked out a gift for your family member or friend on Amazon, here’s how you can send it to them through text or email:

1. Add the gift to your cart using Amazon’s mobile app.

2. Tap Add a gift receipt for easy returns and then tap Proceed to checkout.

3. Once at checkout, select the option to Let the recipient provide their address and tap Continue.

4. Enter the recipient’s phone number or email address. This is where you can also add a custom message sent alongside your gift. You can also select gift wrapping at this stage. (Note that this typically costs another $5 for an Amazon gift bag.)

5. Place your order by clicking Continue. The recipient will then be notified and asked to accept the gift.

How to accept an Amazon gift 

If you have been sent a gift through Amazon, here’s how to accept it (or get a gift card instead):

1. Click on the text or email notification from Amazon and tap View and accept your gift.

2. Tap on your present to unwrap it and watch an animation of your gift being revealed.

3. Once you’ve virtually unwrapped your gift, you can choose to Accept and provide an address or Exchange for an Amazon gift card.

4. If you choose to accept the gift, you will be prompted to provide your delivery address. After you enter your address, tap Deliver to this address and then Accept the gift. 

5. Amazon will then ship your gift to you with free Prime shipping. 

For more, check out Amazon grocery delivery services that can save you time and money.