UK gift cards: the widest shelf we stock

The United Kingdom is the deepest shelf we carry. If a brand sells gift cards at all, there's a decent chance we have the British version of it.

All three consoles, which is unusual

PlayStation Store runs £10 up to £200. Xbox comes in eight sizes, £10 through £50, and Game Pass in four, from £22.99 to £68.99. Nintendo is £15 to £100, with Switch Online at £6.99 and £17.99.

Very few regions give you all of that at once. South Africa has PlayStation but no Xbox. Canada has Xbox and Nintendo but no PlayStation. The UK gaming shelf has the lot.

Wallets, apps and games

Roblox at £10, £25, £50, £75 and £100. Google Play up to £75. Apple from £5 to £100. Amazon in every size from £5 to £1,000, which is the biggest card on this shelf by a wide margin.

The high street

This is where the UK pulls away from everywhere else: Primark, Ikea, Nike, Adidas, Asos, H&M, Zalando, Decathlon, Foot Locker, Mango, Home Sense, Starbucks at £8 and £25, Deliveroo and Uber Eats from £15, Ticketmaster from £5, and an Arsenal card if that's the house you support.

The travel shelf carries Airbnb at £50 and £100, plus Lastminute.com, Hotels Gift, Tours Gift and airline vouchers.

Why a UK account is so common

Plenty of accounts across southern Africa were registered in Britain because it was the nearest store that worked with whatever card someone had at the time. If you've never actually checked:

• Find the country on your Microsoft account. Do this one carefully. Changing a Microsoft account's country empties the wallet balance first.
• Find your PlayStation account region. A PSN country can't be changed after the account is made.
• Check which country your Steam wallet uses.

Pounds in, dollars out

The pound figure is the card's face value, which is what lands in the wallet. The dollar figure next to it is what you pay, and nothing gets added at the end. Balances stack, so two £25 cards fill the same wallet as one £50.

British shop prices are quoted before tax in some places and after it in others, so if you're topping up for something specific, aim a little above the shelf price rather than exactly at it. Pre-ordering a game when your bank card won't work abroad goes into that properly.

When a British card is discounted it turns up on deals first, usually without warning.