Can't Purchase Gift Card For Some Reason

[Scribe Scales]

I really hate asking for help on this because it feels like a problem that should be simple to solve, yet it's been going on for days now and I'm trying to help get it down before Christmas comes and goes for a good friend of mine. After doing the usual thing for picking gift cards, I try picking the PayPal option (since that's the usual (and honestly only viable) option for me to pick from since I don't have a credit or debit card at this time, I click Continue, and...

There seems to have been an error initializing or updating your transaction. Please wait a minute and try again or contact support for assistance.

I try the My PayPal Account option thinking maybe it wanted that instead, but no, it's the same thing. I don't even get a little PayPal window showing up for either option when it comes to gift cards! This doesn't feel like such a major issue when it comes to purchasing video games or DLC here on my end. I don't know what's going on there, but I'm really hoping to either find out what's causing this problem on my end or see if someone on Steam can fix something on their end with purchasing a single gift card here.

[ReBoot]

1. Do literally what it tells you to do
2. Try a different payment method
3. If everything else fails, there's physical gift cards to send to people

[Scribe Scales]

1, I literally have. And yet, it keeps giving me the error message anyway.
2. Can't do that since I don't have a credit/debit card, like I said earlier.
3. I can't send it physically since my friend lives elsewhere in the world.

[Lilim]

Originally posted by Scribe Scales:

I literally have.

Did you contact support for assistance?

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Scribe Scales:

1, I literally have. And yet, it keeps giving me the error message anyway.
2. Can't do that since I don't have a credit/debit card, like I said earlier.
3. I can't send it physically since my friend lives elsewhere in the world.

So if you have, what answer did you get from Steam support?

[Scribe Scales]

I have looked through the typical Steam support options, but none of the options there look to have what I'm looking for with my problem, which is continuously getting that initializing error with the transaction in mind. They have stuff for video games and DLC I bought and stuff for actual gift cards bought in the real world, but nothing (as far as I could see) from Steam on my problem with ordering a Steam gift card directly from their website. It's like the most obtuse situation for something so simple that I've seen here.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Now, try using a browser and post your results.

[Scribe Scales]

Same thing with multiple web browsers. Firefox, Edge, Opera GX, Vivaldi, and Google Chrome (with or without Chromium). They all do the same thing.

[Ogami]

Does your friend live in Turkey or Argentina?
Both countries are restricted from receiving Steam Digital Gift cards.
This has been in place for over a year and has not been lifted with the recent switch to US Dollars for those regions.

[Cathulhu]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

So if you have, what answer did you get from Steam support?

What did Steam Support say when you contacted them? I mean it is literally what you should do according to the error message.

[Scribe Scales]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Does your friend live in Turkey or Argentina?
Both countries are restricted from receiving Steam Digital Gift cards.
This has been in place for over a year and has not been lifted with the recent switch to US Dollars for those regions.

Oh my God, that actually is the problem! Turkey!!!