Why don't you get Ripple directly from the exchangers ?
How do you do it? Is there an exchange available that will let me trade in Ripple (with USD) directly. Gatehub possibly does, but I am having a tough time getting validated in Gatehub. I do not know of another direct XRP exchange in US
Bitstamp offers a XRP/USD trading pair. You can even deposit using credit
card from the US. I´m not sure though, whether you can deposit without
verifying your identity. This might take a few days with the current surge of
user registrations.
Nevertheless, I think this is your best option for now, because Coinbase still doesn´t offer
Ripple trading.