KOBO GIFT CARDS in UK????

[ilikebookywooky]

Hi everyone!

Does anyone know where I can find Kobo Gift Cards in UK stores? in and around London please? I've tried EVERYWHERE but all the stores that used to stock them don't anymore!

[paola]

Originally Posted by ilikebookywooky

Hi everyone!

Does anyone know where I can find Kobo Gift Cards in UK stores? in and around London please? I've tried EVERYWHERE but all the stores that used to stock them don't anymore!

you can buy e-gift cards online:
http://www.kobo.com/egiftcards?style=onestore
they are finally back again on the UK website, too!

[Josieb1]

I also spotted them on WHSmith on Friday, they say they can be used on Kobo or WHSmith.

[simond]

You can buy vouchers online from Smiths for kobo too.

[ilikebookywooky]

Thank Paola!

I tried the e-gift card section on their page and they ask me to log in and when I do they say a big Sorry! e-gift cards are not available at this time. I want to send some out as christmas presents overseas but am not having any luck finding just the Kobo gift cards. I could get them in Asda before but they are either sold out or don't stock them anymore as I haven't seen any in over a month

Thanks Josieb1 and simond. I tried the WHsmith reloadable Kobo gift cards but you can't use those overseas unfortunately. They are only valid in the UK store for UK users so if I send them out to my family overseas they can't use them in their country stores.

I shall go shopping again today and hope I have better luck finding them somewhere! Fingers crossed for me!…. and toes!

[paola]

Originally Posted by ilikebookywooky

I tried the e-gift card section on their page and they ask me to log in and when I do they say a big Sorry! e-gift cards are not available at this time. I want to send some out as christmas presents overseas but am not having any luck finding just the Kobo gift cards. I could get them in Asda before but they are either sold out or don't stock them anymore as I haven't seen any in over a month

strange, because before giving you the link I did try it out, and I could log in and buy one (though I stopped at entering my credit card details) - I wonder whether it has anything to do with their site being currently offline? Maybe you could try again in a little while, to see if it works.

EDIT: from the (cached) Kobo site

If you send a Kobo gift card or an eGift card to someone in a different area of the world, the Kobo Store will apply an exchange rate when your recipient claims your gift.

For example, if you bought an eGift card for $50 Canadian dollars and sent it to someone in Switzerland, they would get an equivalent value in Swiss Francs. The exact amount will vary depending on the exchange rate on the day they claim or use the Kobo gift or eGift card.

so it looks like with their e-gift cards there is no problem in sending them to people outside the UK.

[Crusader]

Originally Posted by paola

...so it looks like with their e-gift cards there is no problem in sending them to people outside the UK.

Although you have to keep in mind that the exchange rate Kobo offers isn't as good as the exchange rate on the day. If I recall correctly the previous time I had one converted from USD to my local currency it was around far less than the actual exchange rate would've been. At that time I got 6.6:1 instead of 8.6:1 (the exchange rate of the day).

Unless they changed it, it's also a cumbersome process. The currencies aren't automatically converted. You have to contact customer support and they'll do a manual conversion.

Keep in mind this was using the system before it was removed, it might have improved since. Would be interesting if someone could give it a try and provide feedback.

[paola]

Originally Posted by Crusader

Although you have to keep in mind that the exchange rate Kobo offers isn't as good as the exchange rate on the day. If I recall correctly the previous time I had one converted from USD to my local currency it was around far less than the actual exchange rate would've been. At that time I got 6.6:1 instead of 8.6:1 (the exchange rate of the day).

sadly, I am not surprised - the best would be if one could buy an e-gift card from the country where it is going to, in which case the exchange rate would be charged by one's own credit card issuer; however many countries don't have the e-gift card, at least I could not find it e.g. on the Italian site.

[ilikebookywooky]

Thanks everyone!

I couldn't find the Kobo only Gift cards anywhere in the stores I checked out in London, they are either out of stock or Kobo aren't doing them anymore. So I am opting for the WHsmith Kobo reload gift card option and am going to try and buy an "e-gift" with that to send overseas as gifts! Fingers crossed for me!

[simond]

Originally Posted by ilikebookywooky

Thanks everyone!

I couldn't find the Kobo only Gift cards anywhere in the stores I checked out in London, they are either out of stock or Kobo aren't doing them anymore. So I am opting for the WHsmith Kobo reload gift card option and am going to try and buy an "e-gift" with that to send overseas as gifts! Fingers crossed for me!

I have seen Sainsburys selling them, though I haven't looked for quite a while

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Crusader

Although you have to keep in mind that the exchange rate Kobo offers isn't as good as the exchange rate on the day. If I recall correctly the previous time I had one converted from USD to my local currency it was around far less than the actual exchange rate would've been. At that time I got 6.6:1 instead of 8.6:1 (the exchange rate of the day).

Unless they changed it, it's also a cumbersome process. The currencies aren't automatically converted. You have to contact customer support and they'll do a manual conversion.

Keep in mind this was using the system before it was removed, it might have improved since. Would be interesting if someone could give it a try and provide feedback.

I just tried this today: I bought an eGift card for myself in NZ dollars, and bought a cartload of books in the UK shop. Kobo's conversion rate was very good at 0.5157, not quite as good as my bank at 0.5245 (after fees), but much better than PayPal at 0.4813.

[Crusader]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I just tried this today: I bought an eGift card for myself in NZ dollars, and bought a cartload of books in the UK shop. Kobo's conversion rate was very good at 0.5157, not quite as good as my bank at 0.5245 (after fees), but much better than PayPal at 0.4813.

That's much better than I got. Perhaps they figured a better way to do things which saved on costs. Was the currency automatically converted?

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Crusader

That's much better than I got. Perhaps they figured a better way to do things which saved on costs. Was the currency automatically converted?

Yes it was all automatic, although my store credit balance stayed in NZ dollars and the checkout didn't show what exchange rate was actually being used, just the total cart price in pounds, so I had to calculate the rate myself. It would be a bit different if you send a gift card to someone in another country as I guess the card balance would be converted to their local currency when they accepted the gift, rather than when they spent it.