How do I give an item I bought to someone else?

[JamesZue]

I bought an item for a friend I met online, and could not figure out how to give the item to her.

[Rolig Loon]

If you have permission to transfer the item, just find it in your inventory and either drag it from there and drop it on your friend, or drag it from inventory and drop it into an IM to your friend.  Be careful in either case,because once you have let go of the item you cannot get it back again.  If you drop it on the wrong person (or object) or if you send the IM to the wrong person, it's gone. 

So, how do you know whether the item is transferable?  Right click on it the select "Properties" to see the permissions.  If the item has been rezzed in world, you can get the same information by right-clicking, selecting EDIT, and looking on the General page.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Rolig Loon

[Madelaine McMasters]

Many SL items are non-transferrable, so it's possible you won't be able to give your friend the gift. The best way to avoid that problem in the future is to purchase the item as a gift in the SL marketplace. You pay for the item, but it's delivered to your specified recipient. Be careful to spell the name correctly or it'll go to the wrong person. There are some in-world stores that allow you to do the same thing, but that's hit-or-miss. The gifting facility of the SL marketplace is universal.

[Lindal Kidd]

It has to be transferable.  Look up the item in your inventory.  If it says "no transfer" after the name of the item, you are stuck with it!

Assuming it IS transferable, you can send it to the recipient in any of the following ways:

• Drag and drop it onto their avatar, if they are present with you.
• Drag and drop it onto their nametag, if they are present with you.
• Drag and drop it into an open IM window with them (An **IM** window, NOT Nearby Chat!)
• Drag and drop it onto the picture in their Profile.
• Right click the item in your inventory and select Share.  Follow the prompts to select the person you wish to share it with.
• Click the Share button in your inventory window.