[4ad]

> You can buy US gift cards via [0], at least it works for me.

Unfortunately it requires a credit card with a US billing address[1].

> Also you can switch to Canada region without any payment method(while switching to US region requires a US credit card).

The US store also does not require a credit card[2][3]. It does require entering a US address, but the address is not validated in any way.

Edit: apparently you can't always chose "none" as a payment method when changing regions[4]. I can't remember what I did, I might have created the account while being in the US, or perhaps I used ssh port forwarding with an US server, but, as you can see it works for me.

[1] https://i.imgur.com/dvT9M1J.png

[2] https://i.imgur.com/5ZQ0Lih.png

[3] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204034

[4] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203905

[avcdsuia]

I have no problems with my visa card which is issued by a Chinese bank and a US freight forwarder address(apparently not my actual address) for billing. Since I set my credit line to 0, I dont bother with risk of frauds.

[4ad]

Yeah, faking the billing address sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't work, depending on the issuing bank and all kinds of other factors. Believe me, as I am often in the US, I try this all the time.

Some systems don't check anything, most systems only check the numeric characters written in the address, but some systems also check the country and/or zip code.

I can't use my Austrian CC to buy from your Apple link, but I could use it at Lowe's with some US address (I used my Austrian address street but with country US).

Btw, I could not order a Macbook Pro from apple.com (online), even when I was in the US, and the online system allowed entering an Austrian billing address. The payment went through, but the order was cancelled a few days later with no explanation (and no money back either!). I had to plead with Apple support that I am not, in fact, some kind of scammer, and they made me come in person to an Apple store and only after I presented them with two separate types of government ID they returned me the money (and allowed me to place a new order there, in person).

Life sucks if you are not a US person.

[avcdsuia]

Thanks for sharing your anecdotes, it seems Apple's online store is a lot trickier to deal with that I originally thought. Given the fact that there are almost none posts about having troubles with ordering US gift cards in the Chinese social media, I wonder if they are offering Chinese people some special care(like lowering credit card validation standards? We don't apply for a CC to make domestic payments). Life is strange, without ever been to the US, I have the account you've always wanted for years.