We’ve all been there. You’re scrolling through the Apex Legends item shop after a long night of ranked wins, and you spot that perfect legendary Pathfinder skin your roommate has been begging for since it first leaked. You have a few extra Apex Coins burning a hole in your virtual pocket, so the first question that pops into your head is can you gift items in Apex Legends? Respawn added the gifting feature back in 2022, but a lot of players still don’t know all the hidden rules, restrictions, and common pitfalls that come with sending presents to your squadmates. We’ve put together every detail you need to know to send gifts without running into issues, whether you’re celebrating a friend’s first Apex Predator rank or just want to surprise them with a new battle pass.
Can You Gift Items in Apex Legends? Eligibility Rules for Senders and Receivers
The short answer is yes, gifting is fully supported across most platforms, but you have to meet a strict set of eligibility requirements before you can send or receive any items. Respawn put these rules in place to cut down on fraud, account hacking, and unauthorized purchases, so don’t be surprised if you can’t gift an item right after adding a new friend. You can only gift items using Apex Coins, not Crafting Metals or Legend Tokens, so you’ll need to spend real money to buy Apex Coins if you don’t have enough saved up from battle pass rewards. To make sure you qualify to send gifts, check these core requirements first:
I ran into this 14-day friend rule last year when I tried to gift a new player on my squad a battle pass right after they joined. We added each other on EA the same day we met, so I had to wait two full weeks before I could send it, which meant they missed out on the first week of battle pass challenges. If you know you want to gift someone something for an upcoming event, add them as an EA friend as early as possible to avoid that wait.
What Items Can You Gift to Other Apex Legends Players?
Not every item in the Apex Legends store is eligible for gifting, so it’s important to check if the item you want to send is marked as giftable before you load up on Apex Coins. Respawn updates the eligible item list regularly, but there are consistent rules for what you can and can’t send. Allowed items usually include any cosmetic item that is available for direct purchase in the in-game store, including legendary and epic character skins, weapon skins, weapon charms, banner frames, and finishers. You can also gift full battle passes for the current season, individual battle pass levels, and standard Apex Packs, as long as they are available for direct purchase. Event-exclusive items that are sold in the store during limited-time events are almost always eligible for gifting, too, as long as they are not locked behind challenge rewards.
Heirloom shards and prestige skin fragments cannot be gifted under any circumstances, even if they are available as part of a paid store bundle. Heirlooms are tied exclusively to the account that earns or purchases them, so you can’t send a full heirloom set or individual shards to another player. You also can’t gift items you already own in your inventory, even if you have duplicates. All gifts have to be purchased directly from the store at the time of sending, so you can’t stockpile skins to send to friends later. If an item is marked as “account bound” in the store description, it won’t have a gifting option, so you’ll know right away if you can send it. Some region-locked items also can’t be gifted, so if you’re in the US and your friend is in a region where that item isn’t available, the gifting option will be greyed out even if you meet all other eligibility requirements.
How to Send a Gift in Apex Legends, Step-by-Step
Sending a gift is a straightforward process once you meet all the eligibility requirements, but it’s easy to miss a step if you’ve never done it before. First, open the in-game store and navigate to the item you want to gift. You can browse the featured store, the event store, or the character-specific cosmetic pages to find the item. When you click on the item, you’ll see two options: “Buy for Me” and “Gift to Friend”. Select the “Gift to Friend” option to pull up your EA friends list. Only friends who meet the gifting eligibility requirements will show up on this list, so if your friend’s name is missing, you’ll know you either haven’t been friends for 14 days, one of you is under level 10, or the item isn’t available in their region.
Once you select the right friend, you can add an optional 100-character custom message to go with the gift. This is a fun way to add a personal touch, like congratulating them on a big win or wishing them a happy birthday. After you add your message, you’ll see a confirmation screen that shows the item cost, the recipient’s name, and your remaining Apex Coins after purchase. Once you send a gift, there are no refunds, even if the recipient already owns the item, so double check that they don’t already have the skin or item you’re sending. I learned this the hard way last holiday season when I sent my best friend a Wraith skin that she’d already bought for herself a week earlier. I couldn’t get a refund, and I wasted 1,800 Apex Coins on a gift she couldn’t even use. If you’re not sure if they have the item, just ask them first to avoid wasting your coins.
After you confirm the purchase, the gift will be delivered to the recipient’s in-game notification inbox within a few minutes. They’ll get a pop-up when they log in that shows your message and the item, and it will automatically be added to their inventory once they accept it. Cross-platform gifting works seamlessly, so you can send a gift from your PC account to a friend who plays on PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch as long as you’re EA friends. You don’t have to do any extra steps for cross-platform sends, just select their name from the friends list like you would for a friend on the same platform.
Common Apex Legends Gifting Issues and How to Fix Them
Even if you follow all the steps perfectly, you might run into occasional issues with gifting. Most of these problems have simple fixes, so you don’t have to panic if the gifting option is greyed out or your friend doesn’t receive their gift right away. The most common issue is the gifting option being completely greyed out for an eligible item. This almost always means you don’t meet one of the eligibility requirements, so first check that you and the recipient are both over level 10, have been EA friends for at least 14 days, and neither of you has an active account ban. If all those are true, the item might not be available for gifting, or it might be region-locked for the recipient.
If your friend doesn’t receive their gift within 24 hours of you sending it, first ask them to check their in-game notification inbox, and make sure they’re logged into the correct EA account. If it’s still not there, you can submit a support ticket to EA with your transaction ID, and they’ll either resend the gift or refund your Apex Coins. You can't reverse a gift if you sent it to the wrong player, so always verify the recipient's full EA ID before hitting confirm. A lot of players have similar usernames, so double check the number tag at the end of their ID to make sure you’re sending it to the right person.
Another common question players have is whether gifted items count towards event challenges or battle pass progress for the sender. Gifted items do not count towards your own battle pass challenges or event progress, even if you spend a lot of coins on gifts. All progress from purchases is tied exclusively to the recipient’s account, so don’t buy gifts to try to finish your own battle pass faster. If you hit a daily gifting limit, just wait until the next daily reset to send more gifts. The reset time is tied to your region’s store reset, so you can check the in-game store countdown to see when the limit will refresh.
At the end of the day, gifting is one of the most fun underrated features in Apex Legends, and it’s a great way to show appreciation for your squad after a long season of grinding ranked or messing around in mixtape modes. Now that you know the answer to can you gift items in Apex Legends, you can plan ahead for birthdays, rank up celebrations, or new season drops without running into unexpected restrictions. Just remember to add your friends as EA friends well before you want to send a gift, double check that they don’t already own the item you’re buying, and confirm the recipient’s ID before you finalize the purchase, and you’ll have no trouble sending perfect gifts every time. If you’re still running into issues after following all these tips, you can always reach out to EA support for help with specific transaction problems.