iTunes Gift Certificates from Canada
Posted May 19th, 2006 @ 04:32pm by Erik J. Barzeski
I did something nice for someone today, and he offered to pay me. It wasn't that big a deal - I had to spend 30 minutes looking for something, that's all - so I said that if he still wanted to give me something, he could give me an iTunes gift certificate.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice that he lived in Canada. His iTunes Music Store gift certificate is unusable by me here in the US. I'm not sure what to do at this point except to give him the certificate code right back so that he can use it…
I realize that $10 Canadian != $10 US, but c'mon Apple, figure out something here!
Donate Life
Posted 19 May 2006 at 4:52pm #
The problem is not the currency, the problem is the licensing of the music. The prices and the licensing are negotiated and agreed upon on a per-country basis. For the same reason, you cannot shop in the Canadian store.
I'm having basically the same problem because I would love to buy some US content (SNL etc.) but I cannot buy in the US store and a lot of content is not available in the German store. Basically you'd need a Canadian Apple ID in order to redeem the gift certificate and shop in the Canadian store or the other guy has to get a US certificate somehow. It seems that probably Apple cannot offer a solution for this because of the per-country licensing and the fact that they have to make sure that you can only acces the content that is "meant for you". Sometimes it sucks.
Posted 19 May 2006 at 4:57pm #
Fair enough Ralph. But as I see it, the guy sent me currency, not the right to license x number of songs. Know what I mean? Even if it's currency I can only spend in a certain place (iTMS), it's still currency. He didn't send me a song coupon.
Posted 19 May 2006 at 4:59pm #
yeah, Erik's right. It's not like the guy tried to send him a song, he sent him a gift certificate. Apple has to do the currency conversion, but they should be able to handle that..
Posted 19 May 2006 at 5:22pm #
I had a similar problem when purchasing a cert. as a gift for a family member the other side of the border. I called Apple and they were able to do work a "phone order" out for me (I was able to print it and mail it to him) ... not all the techs/sales people know about it ... had to move up a couple levels and get passed a couple times ... but you can buy for across the border.
With that being the case - I would imagine that you could "exchange" a canadian cert. for an american cert. -- give Apple a should see what they can do.
But I agree ... this should not be that hard ... it should be "order for person living in ____". It was very frustrating ... I almost activated my credit card for an address north of the border to get around the whole mess ... and that is ridiculous.
Posted 19 May 2006 at 5:38pm #
I agree that it's probably just a bug in the system, but the strict per-country scheme that is required by the licensors seems to lead to other effects as well. I remember reading about a guy who moved from the US to Canada and also had quite some problems with the content he had already bought.
Currency conversion according to the iTMS has always been a funny thing because in the world according to Apple (or the record labels?)
0.99 USD == 0.99 EUR and the Brits pay even more...
Posted 21 May 2006 at 11:41am #
Can't you redeem the certificate on the Canadian store, without an account? I remember your comment on your Design Contest post:
Have rules changed since then?
Posted 21 May 2006 at 11:54am #
Apparently they have. I did send gift certificates, but it may have also been that these folks were using "fake" US accounts, too. Check the dates for when the respective stores opened and when I posted that…
Posted 23 May 2006 at 3:05pm #
I share your frustration, as a canadian resident who got an iTMS cert for the US store. Argh. As it turns out, it is possible to create an account in iTunes without a CC# or paypal account. It's not really worth all of the trouble however, as you have to repeatedly attempt to create an account, something like seven times in a row... eventually it signs you up sans credit card number.
Posted 06 Nov 2006 at 11:20pm #
I have been able to 'aquire' an iTunes redeemable code but when I enter in the code, it says that I need to have an American iTunes account. If anybody knows how to create an account without the cc# or a paypal account, could you please tell me?
Posted 17 Jan 2007 at 6:03pm #
What you need is to have an american address. That is the only thing that will be required and an american iTgift certificate. So if you have a friend in the US who you can borrow his address you can do it. Just go directly to REDEEM, and let them ask the info. However, once you finish your credit you will need another american iTgift certificate (obvious) and so on. I tried to buy an online one but you even have to live in the States to buy an electronic one. So in conclusion, get a friend in the US.
Posted 15 Jan 2008 at 1:49am #
Ok I found out how to do it 😀
1.Go to itunes,then click "Itunes Store"
2.Then Scroll to the bottom then choose the country that the gift card is in.
3.Then go to "redeem on the top right corner under Quick Links
4.Put in your gift card number then it will tell you that u need a account. Just agree then type in ur info, when it goes to credit card just go to the tab "store" and click sign in.
Keep doing step 4 over and over, about 5 times, then it will give u the option to have no payment. Then, when u need info such as street or postal code, just use google :p AKA google Nevada Postal Code etc. (u can use a fake street name)
Hope it helps the people that were stuck like me :p
Posted 29 Feb 2008 at 3:29pm #
Posted 26 Oct 2008 at 10:42pm #
thanks you ozone! 😉
Posted 19 Aug 2009 at 10:46pm #
Thanks for the tips. They have a space for your GC number now, so just put in the number, fill in an address and hit continue! Super easy. Thanks again.
Posted 17 Mar 2011 at 8:13pm #
Worked for me today, actually used a friends address in Toronto, only had to do it once (not 4 times though), nice Ozone!