Now Amazon Prime Members Can Send Gifts with Phone Number or Email ID

Amazon is launching today a new gifting feature that will allow subscribers to its Prime service to send gifts to others using just an email address or phone number, without the need for an address.

Gift senders must be Amazon Prime members, the program is limited to the continental US and can only be used on mobile devices at this time. And even though Amazon has built-in some safeguards (the gift giver never has access to the recipient's postal address), this sounds like a bad idea that it's ready for abuse by scammers, stalkers, and those who enjoy the gift online harassment of others.

Here's how the new feature works: The gift wants to surprise the recipient with a gift, but does not know the recipient's postal address. However, the donor has the recipient's email address or phone number. Gift Choose the gift on your Amazon mobile app, select the "add gift receipt for easy returns" options during the checkout process, and you will see an option to "allow the recipient to share their address." The donor then adds the recipient's email address or mobile phone number.

At this point, the gift giver's card is not charged, but their payment card is held for the amount of the purchase. The recipient is then notified, either by text message or by email, that there is a gift from the donor waiting for her. Note that if the recipient does not have an Amazon account, they can create one at this time. The recipient must have an Amazon account to accept the gift, but only the donor must be a Prime member.

The recipient can click on the Amazon notice to reveal what the gift sent, then can decide whether to decline the gift, accept the gift but convert it to an Amazon gift card (the gift giver will not be notified) or, she can accept the gift. If the recipient accepts the gift, the donor's payment card is charged.

If the recipient completely ignores the gift notification, it expires after a few days and the donor gets the money back from it. Not everything Amazon sells is eligible for the new gifting feature, but "millions" of items are, the company said. Eligible items include products sold by Amazon and third-party sellers on their platform.

This is a smart Amazon feature that will theoretically attract more members; remember, you cannot accept a gift through this process without an Amazon account. It is also timely; The holiday shopping season is approaching and we are already hearing warnings about shipping delays and supply shortages.

But the idea of ​​receiving a gift from someone who doesn't have her address is problematic; There may be a very good reason why the gift does not know the recipient's address. If someone spams your phone or inbox with multiple gift alerts, even if you don't accept or decline them, the recipient will need to notify Amazon of the problem. In theory, since Prime members register their names, addresses, and a payment method with Amazon, they wouldn't risk having their account revoked by sending fake gifts. However, this is not a foolproof method of preventing bullying.

Amazon says it will roll out this feature in the coming weeks.