How can I use my gift card with family sharing?

Question

Level 1

11 points

How can I use my gift card with family sharing?

I have a very large gift card balance in the iTunes Store.

I also have signed up as the organizer of my family for family sharing, and have a credit card on file. In the past, the credit card was only engaged when my gift card was depleted. (Then I would go buy another one, as I prefer not to have a zillion small charges on my credit card statement.)

I am confused about what is going on now that I have family sharing. I'm seeing lots of charges on my credit card, and I am not sure if my gift card balance is even being used at all now? Is there a way to check purchases absorbed by a gift card vs purchases charged to your credit card? Is there a way to make all the charges use the gift card like used to happen before I signed up for family sharing?

And is there a way for me, as the organizer, to see the detailed activity of my family members? There are charges on my card from "APL * ITUNES.COM/BILL" that aren't in my purchase history within iTunes, so I presume those are my family but I can't even double check them.

Thank you,

Suzy

Posted on Apr 11, 2016 1:27 PM

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Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

62,492 points

Apr 11, 2016 4:36 PM in response to SUZYCRUISY

And is there a way for me, as the organizer, to see the detailed activity of my family members?

Suzy,,If they are under 18 you can enable Ask To Buy:

Request and make purchases with Ask to Buy

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201089

If they are over 18, Ask To Buy does not apply. Then it becomes a matter of trust.

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Answer 2

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,144 points

Apr 12, 2016 2:22 AM in response to SUZYCRUISY

As you are the family organiser the balance on your account won't be used, only your credit card will be charged - family members can use a balance on their own account for their purchases, if they don't have a balance the credit card on your account will be charged (if their purchase exceeds their balance only the excess will be charged to your card).

To will need to log into each family member's account to see who has bought what (none will have used your balance) : See your purchase history in the iTunes Store on a Mac or PC - Apple Support

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Answer 3

SUZYCRUISY Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 12, 2016 1:27 PM in response to King_Penguin

Wow. So, my gift card balance will sit in suspended animation forever then?

Is there a way to transfer it to my family member so when THEY make purchases it can be absorbed?

I do really like the family sharing. Love having the joint calendar and buying music and apps only once.

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Answer 4

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,144 points

Apr 12, 2016 1:45 PM in response to SUZYCRUISY

It will remain on your account whilst you remain as the family organiser in family sharing.

And no, it can't be transferred to another account. If you've only just redeemed the cards onto your account (and not spent any) you could try contacting iTunes Support and see if they can/will transfer or unredeem the cards (if you still have the actual cards) : https://www.apple.com/emea/support/itunes/contact.html

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Answer 5

Dec 6, 2016 1:52 PM in response to King_Penguin

I have tried this feature and it doesn't work. Both me and my kids have itunes money from gift cards, but when we go to buy something it takes it from the credit card associated with family sharing and not our itunes balance. How do we fix this or what step are we missing? I'm not the family organizer either.

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Answer 6

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,144 points

Dec 7, 2016 12:09 AM in response to Hockeymom2810

If you are the gamily organiser then you can't use the balance on your account. For the childrens accounts (assuming that they are using their own account and they have a balance on it), and yours if you aren't the organiser, contact iTunes Support (how items are paid for is automatic, there isn't anything that you can do to change it) : http://reportproblem.apple.com

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Answer 7

chachat

Level 1

20 points

Dec 16, 2016 12:21 AM in response to SUZYCRUISY

Well, I am not sure why this needs to be the case. There are a few frustrating things regarding family sharing and this is one of them. I too have a large balance on my organizer account but it is not the one that we typically use for purchases of movies, tv shows. Not sure how I shall approach this as it becomes difficult to find content scattered across multiple users given that one needs to select each individual account in iTunes or Apple TV to see what has been purchased. It would be fine to have the ability to view each user's purchases but then also have the ability to view the family as a whole.

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