An Amazon gift card may look unassuming when you first find it in a celebratory greeting card instead of a present.
However, with an Amazon gift card, you have received the gift of possibility.
To make the best use of your gift, you need to know where you can use it.
Here are 10 places (some obvious and some shocking) where you can use your Amazon Gift Card and how to load your gift card to your account.
Where Can I Use An Amazon Gift Card?
1. Score Items At Amazon.Com
Naturally, you get to use your Amazon gift card to buy millions of items on Amazon.com and Amazon Marketplace (their third-party retailer platform).
Amazon delivery drivers will deliver your item to your home based on availability and your preferences.
Amazon Prime members get the greatest delivery speeds and prices, drastically affecting the budget of someone who enjoys shopping online for the better.
If your Amazon delivery order takes longer than anticipated, learn more to ensure appropriate expectations in the future.
2. Pay Your Amazon Prime Subscription
Amazon Prime provides excellent deals for members on delivery as well as a plethora of little-known benefits and features that undoubtedly make Amazon Prime worth the monthly fee.
You can use your Amazon gift card to pay for your Amazon Prime subscription either monthly ($12.99/month) or annually ($119/year).
Your primary card will be charged automatically on the due date after you have used up your gift card, so keep track of when your services end if you don’t want to continue paying for Prime out of pocket (although we recommend it).
3. Read Books On Kindle
Kindle offers seemingly countless books to enjoy.
You can choose from tabloid magazines, comic books, historical biographies, science textbooks, and everything in between.
No matter what reading material you choose, you will probably stimulate your brain more than looking at the same batch of memes for the third time.
While you can purchase books on Kindle using your gift card, you cannot directly use your gift card toward Audible.
4. Stream Media Through Amazon Video
If you regularly enjoy the Amazon Video service provided to you with your Amazon Prime membership, you have probably noticed that Amazon gives you the unique ability to buy and rent shows not included in their service (unlike Netflix and Hulu).
You can use your gift card balance toward digital rentals and purchases.
If you purchase the item, you can access it digitally on any smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer.
You can also access it on your smart television.
Just don’t expect Amazon to make it easy to use their gift card to pay for Hulu or Netflix, as they are the competition.
Not in the mood for movies or television?
Use your gift card toward Amazon Music or Amazon Gaming products, too!
Pro Tip: Watch Coming to America 2.
It’s currently free for Amazon Prime subscribers, and Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are hilarious!
5. Get Groceries Delivered Through Amazon Fresh And Amazon Whole Foods Market
Amazon Fresh brings groceries and everyday essentials to your home quickly.
In many cases, you can get free delivery the same day as long as you purchase more than $35 worth of items.
You simply shop in the Amazon Fresh category and then select the delivery window when you check out.
You can also use the gift card to make purchases through Amazon Whole Foods Market.
Whole Foods only sells organic, eco-conscious products.
Similar to Amazon Fresh, you can get the food delivered to you the same day.
Amazon Fresh and Amazon Whole Foods Market are different services, and they have unique processes and locations.
You cannot combine your order.
You cannot use your gift card toward tips for the delivery driver, so have cash available or use a different method of paying to make things fair for the delivery driver.
6. Buy Products At Amazon Physical Stores
Amazon dominates online shopping, and they seem to want to take it to the streets as well.
In many large metropolitan areas, Amazon is setting up physical store locations with their favorite products.
People won’t have to wait in line.
They will simply grab what they want and go.
Their account will get charged as appropriate.
There are three types of stores that sell different items:
- Amazon Books: books, electronics, toys, and knick-knacks
- Amazon 4-Star: items with 4-star ratings or higher in all categories (includes some home and apparel)
- Amazon Go: quick grab-and-go snacks and drinks
Both physical and digital gift cards can be used at all physical Amazon locations.
See if there’s a physical Amazon store near you!
7. Limited Online Retailers
While you shouldn’t expect to use your Amazon gift card to make an online purchase outside of Amazon’s website without verifying that you can, there are a couple of stores that accept Amazon gift cards.
Some online retailers that accept Amazon gift cards include:
- 1800PETSUPPLIES.COM
- ADAMANDEVE.COM
- BODYBUILDING.COM
- iHOME.COM
- CARPARTS.COM
When you buy items from these websites, select the correct payment method (Amazon gift card) and have your claim code ready.
8. Sell Your Amazon Gift Card Online
Some people prefer cold, hard cash to gift cards.
Well, you always have the option to sell your Amazon gift card for money online.
With some platforms, you can see the cash in your account in just one or two days.
Some of the most popular places to sell your gift cards include eBay and Facebook Marketplace, but dozens of platforms are available.
Do your due diligence before doing business with unknown companies online, especially considering people trying to perform gift card scams.
Read reviews and research the company online.
If you notice multiple reports of people getting scammed or no information about the company online, it’s best to try a different option.
Expect to receive slightly less than the value of the gift card since a reduced price is what encourages people to buy them.
However, reputable companies usually give you a reasonable return on your gift card while simultaneously providing the buyer with a deal.
9. Buy Cryptocurrency With Your Amazon Gift Card
People don’t rely on the stability of the American dollar like they used to, influencing many to turn toward cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin.
If you want to turn your gift card into the gift of investment and future financial stability, trade your Amazon gift card for cryptocurrency at the following sites:
- Paxful
- Purse
- Local BitCoins
Remember that just because BitCoin is the most popular doesn’t mean it will generate the most money.
Compare with other options before blinding making your expenditure.
10. Regift To Someone Else
If you really don’t have a need for your Amazon gift card and feel a generous spirit encouraging you to do good, you can use the gift card as a gift for someone else who will make more use out of it (or when you forgot to get something for the office gift exchange).
Also, we’ve looked into it.
The purchaser can’t learn who redeemed the Amazon gift card or when.
You don’t have to worry about anyone learning about the regift.
Exclusions (Places You Can’t Use Your Amazon Gift Card)
While limited, there are a couple of exclusions to Amazon gift cards.
Be advised that there are ways around some of these exclusions, so don’t give up hope right away.
1. In-Store Purchases (Including Whole Foods)
You can’t use your gift card at other retailers.
However, it may not be an awful idea to have Walmart and Amazon join forces.
Surprisingly, this includes Whole Foods which works very closely with Amazon.
You can still use the gift card to purchase items from Whole Foods online.
Also, physical Amazon stores may carry some Whole Foods products, and they accept Amazon gift cards.
2. Amazon Pharmacy
Unfortunately, you cannot use your gift card for Amazon Pharmacy purchases, such as medication, for safety and security reasons.
You will need to use your debit card or credit card on file (not a bank account).
3. Subscription Services
Subscription services, even Audible, don’t allow you to use your Amazon gift card balance.
However, with that being said, you can buy a Google Play gift card and then use that to pay for subscription services such as Hulu or Netflix.
4. Tips
Delivery drivers work hard and must pay for car maintenance, which is why they deserve a tip for making our lives more convenient.
However, as Amazon gift cards can only go toward Amazon products and not outside of their bubble, you can’t use a gift card to tip your Amazon Fresh or Amazon Whole Foods Market delivery driver.
You won’t even get the option.
Please have cash on hand in these cases.
How To Load Your Gift Card On Amazon.Com
It’s best to load your gift card to your account balance in advance to make shopping as quick and enjoyable as possible.
Use these detailed instructions to load your Amazon gift card onto your account online:
Step One: Sign In To Your Amazon Account
You can log into your Amazon account on your desktop or laptop by visiting www.amazon.com in your favorite browser and clicking where it says “Hello, Sign In” on the website’s primary horizontal menu bar at the top of the page.
To sign in to your Amazon account on a tablet or smartphone, open your “Amazon Shopping app”.
In most cases, you will already be logged in.
If not, you will have the option to sign in prominently displayed on the introductory screen.
Enter your username and password if you remember it.
Since we all have so many passwords for different sites and subscriptions these days, you should allow your secure computer to remember the password for you (not recommended on public computers or when connected to a public WiFi).
You can also save the username and password in your notes on your phone or in a physical notebook you keep by your computer for this purpose.
Step Two: Click On “Your Account”
Once you have successfully logged into your Amazon account, find your account.
On the website, you will find it under the dropdown menu that pops up when you hover over your name.
On the app, you will see “Your Account” as one of four options.
Step Three: Go To Your Gift Cards
While you are at your account page, find the option that discusses gift cards.
On Amazon.com, it will appear as an easy-to-read button labeled “Gift Cards”.
On the Amazon Shopping App, you will find the selection “Manage Gift Card Balance” under “Payments”.
Keep in mind that you will need to scroll down a bit before you find the link.
Step Four: Click “Redeem Another Gift Card”
Once you arrive at the gift card page, you will see your current balance in large print at the top of the screen.
Unless you had a very blessed celebration, it will probably read a balance of $0.00 at this point.
Click on “Redeem Another Gift Card” directly underneath the balance.
Keep in mind that “Reload Your Balance” is slightly different as it requires you to add funds from a bank account or card connected to your Amazon account to load money onto an existing gift card.
Since the buttons are next to each other, be mindful that you select the right one.
Step Five: Enter Claim Code
Now, you will enter the claim code in the box provided.
The claim code is 14 or 15 characters long and usually contains both letters and numbers in the following example format:
AS25-NJZ1JX-CZCP5
(This is an example and will not work. We already tried.)
You do NOT need to use dashes when you enter your claim code.
You also do not need to use capital letters, but it can be helpful since you will be referencing capital letters.
There are two types of Amazon gift cards with different places to find the claim code:
- Physical plastic card: find the code on the back of the card under a protective seal on the bottom that you must scratch (do not accept a card with a previously scratched protective seal).
- Email: at the bottom of the email.
Both physical and virtual cards can be used anywhere Amazon gift cards are accepted.
Step Six: Double Check Your Claim Code And Hit “Apply To Your Balance”
We cannot stress this enough:
Always double-check your claim code!
If you type in the wrong code and get an error message, you may mistakenly think the card is a dud when in actuality, you just made a typing error, as we all do at times.
See below for the error code we received when we entered an invalid code:
Once you verify the code, hit “Apply to Your Balance”
Step Seven: Verify Funds
At this time, you should see a success screen with your new gift card balance.
Ensure that the balance matches the gift card balance.
Step Eight: Shop And Pay
Now for the fun part: shopping and spending your gift card!
With the holidays coming, you can buy a gift for your family or your pet.
Of course, you deserve a gift, too.
Step Nine: Pay
Once you make your purchase selections, go to checkout as normal.
However, pay special attention to the payment method.
Unless you want to pay for your gift out of your own pocket, double-check that you are using the gift card balance as your primary payment method.
It should automatically default to the gift card balance first, but you always want to make sure before you finalize a purchase.
Keep in mind that you can add the gift card code at the checkout page as well.
Step Ten: Say Thank You
Don’t forget to tell the person who gave you the gift card what you bought and thank them.
Online shopping may be simple, but don’t let it be so simple that you forget your manners.
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Abdul says
Can i used my amazon gift balance to buy iTunes gift card on amazon?