It's the fact that she was never a subscriber. From google it seems like f2p accounts can't trade with other players

My friend recently got back into swtor, she and I are both relatively broke all the time but she's worse off than I am. I wanted to surprise her by gifting her the twi'lek unlock (her favorite race) for her birthday but after claiming it to my inventory I saw that I may now be able to gift it to her since she is f2p and was never p2p. Is there a way to trade the unlock despite that? Or can I give her short-term sub/pref status with cartel coins or something? I'll only be able to spend money again at the end of the month (My paycheck is monthly) and I'd much prefer gifting it to her on her birthday. Thanks to anyone willing to answer!