Have you ever received an Amazon gift card and wondered how exactly to redeem those funds for shopping? As an avid Amazon user myself, I know how confusing it can be to get started. But I‘m here to show you how easy and quick it is to redeem gift card balances on your account.
In this guide, I‘ll walk you step-by-step through the redemption process, plus provide some pro tips I‘ve learned for saving balances and checking the status of your funds over time. Whether you‘re working with a physical gift card or an eGift code, you‘ll be shopping your gift card balance in no time.
Overview of Amazon Gift Cards
First, let‘s do a quick overview of Amazon gift cards and how they work. These cards have become immensly popular gifts over the last decade thanks to Amazon‘s expansive catalog of goods.
As per Amazon‘s 2021 year-end report, their gift card sales increased by 31% last year alone. Over 8 million first-time gift card buyers joined the fray too.
Amazon offers gift cards ranging from $5 virtual cards up to $2,000 for the high rollers. You can buy physical or printable eGift cards directly on their site, plus find cards stocked in most major retailers like grocery stores and pharmacies.
Once purchased, recipients have full flexibility to redeem the balance and shop from Amazon‘s over 12 million product listings. The key is taking that initial step to redeem the gift card under your account.
Here are some of the core reasons you‘ll want to properly redeem gift card funds:
- Puts the balance into your Amazon account for shopping
- Secures the value indefinitely – balances never expire!
- Allows you to mix gift card funds across multiple cards
- Prevents others from utilizing your gift card code
Now that you‘ve got the lay of the land, let‘s walk through exactly how to redeem an Amazon gift card in 5 simple steps:
Step 1 – Sign Into Your Amazon Account
The first step is making sure you‘re logged into the correct Amazon account before redeeming your balance.
- On any device, navigate to Amazon.com in your web browser
- Look for "Hello, Sign In" in the top right corner
- Click this and enter your account credentials to sign in
- Once signed in, you should see "Hello [Your Name]"
If it still shows a generic greeting only, repeat the steps above to get fully logged into your personal account.
Step 2 – Access Your Amazon Account Settings
Once successfully signed in, hover over where it says "Hello [Your Name]" and wait for a dropdown menu to appear.
- Locate and click on the option for Your Account in that menu
- This will open a page showing all your account details and settings
Here you have access to all your personal account configurations. Next we‘ll navigate specifically to the page for gift card redemption.
Step 3 – Navigate To Gift Cards In Account Settings
On your account Details page, look in the left side navigation bar and browse to the section labeled:
Payment options -> Gift Cards
Go ahead and click that Gift cards link to open your redemption portal. This is the dedicated section for seeing balances and redeeming Amazon gift card codes.
Quick Note: If you don‘t see gift cards listed under payment options, try refreshing your Account Details page. Amazon sometimes hides lesser used sections until you refresh.
Step 4 – Click "Redeem A Gift Card"
You made it to the gift card landing page! Here you can check any current balance you have from previously redeemed cards.
Look below your balance amount for the button labeled Redeem a gift card. Go ahead and click that to open a pop-up window.
Time to finally redeem that gift card!
Step 5 – Carefully Enter Your Amazon Gift Card Code
In the pop-up window, you‘ll see a text field labeled Enter claim code. This is where you‘ll neatly type or paste in the gift card code from either:
- The back of a physical Amazon gift card
- The receipt of an eGift card sent to your email
Slowly enter the full code exactly as it appears. These codes are case-sensitive so it‘s important to match upper and lower case letters precisely.
Once entered correctly, hit Apply and voila! Your Amazon gift card balance will instantly get added to your account for shopping.
You‘ve now successfully redeemed your gift card funds with Amazon. Nice work!
Tracking Balances and Saving For Later
Now that you‘ve moved your gift card from physical form into your Amazon account, you‘re free to spend it on Amazon purchases.
By default, Amazon will automatically apply any redeemed gift card balances to your next order. It‘s a helpful feature so balances don‘t go forgotten.
However, you can toggle this on/off for more control:
- Navigate back to Payment options -> Gift cards in your account
- Uncheck the box for Use your gift card balance
This will prevent gift balances from applying at checkout. Allowing you to save balances for a larger purchase down the road or mix funds across multiple gift cards before spending.
Additionally, remember you can always revisit Payment options -> Gift cards to check your overall balance across all redeemed gift cards and eGift codes.
Expert Tips For Redeeming Amazon Gift Cards
In my many years as an avid Amazon shopper, I‘ve cultivated some handy tips around redeeming and managing gift cards:
- Check gift card expiration dates if provided – most don‘t expire but some may
- Take a photo of the gift card code as backup before scratching it off
- Triple check codes for accuracy during redemption – details matter!
- Consider consolidating smaller gift cards into one for easier tracking
- Enable purchase notifications to see when gift card funds get used
Following this advice can help avoid pesky issues down the road and make monitoring gift card usage breeze.
So in summary, I hope this guide gave you an easy-to-follow playbook for successfully adding Amazon gift card funds into your account. Now get busy shopping those balances! Let me know if any other Amazon-related topics I can help explain.
