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Why use an Amazon gift card balance?
In today’s day and age, online shopping is becoming increasingly popular. What used to be sort of a novelty has become something that pretty much everyone does. And Amazon is arguably the most popular online shopping destination. From tech to books to groceries, more and more people are turning to Amazon to purchase things that they might usually purchase in a brick-and-mortar store. As online shopping gains popularity, it’s only natural that Amazon wants to become more and more accessible to the masses. And so, we have Amazon gift cards.
One of the biggest arguments that I remember hearing about online shopping was that it would be too difficult to pay for your stuff. Back before everyone had a PayPal account (and back before you had multiple PayPal alternatives to choose from), it was hard to figure how you would pay for all of this stuff. To this day, Amazon gift cards remain one of the most steadfast forms of Internet currency. Everyone buys things off of Amazon, and Amazon sells pretty much everything that anyone would ever need. Amazon gift credit can be used just like real money, and it’s arguably easier to use than your standard credit/debit card. Although Amazon doesn’t accept PayPal as payment (since PayPal has always been championed by eBay, Amazon’s greatest competitor) I think that you could argue that Amazon gift credit narrows that gap. It doesn’t expire, it doesn’t come with any fees, it’s easy to get your hands on, and it’s really, really easy to spend.
So, Amazon gift cards are great, but what do you do when you run out? Just like any other form of money, it’s kind of surprising how quickly someone can burn hundreds of dollars in gift cards on this website. In this article, I’m going to talk about how someone can go about reloading their Amazon gift card balance. Without further ado, let’s get right into it.
1. Log in to Amazon
Perhaps the most obvious step. First, you need to sign in to your Amazon account, be sure to click this link to login. If you don’t already have one, this means registering. Amazon’s registration process isn’t too difficult — it involves providing basic information like a name, email address, and password. Make sure that you log in to the Amazon account that you want to apply the gift card balance to. This is a very important thing to remember. As of this writing, it isn’t possible to transfer gift card balance from one account to another. Once you have a balance somewhere, you can’t move it. So, this step is a little more important than you may think it to be.
2. Navigate to the gift card reloading page
Next, you need to find the page that enables you to view and load your gift card balance. To go directly there you can just click this link. After clicking the link the page will load several different boxes, which are broken up into different categories. From here, you need to look at the second ‘Amazon Wallet’ box, and look at the ‘Gift Cards’ section in the right-hand column of that box. Next, click “Reload your Gift Card Balance”, which should be located in the very middle of that column. Amazon’s user interface has improved a lot over the years, but this particular section is still kind of confusing, so I’ve included a picture of exactly where you need to go for reference.
3. Select the amount you want to reload
Now, we’re at the part where it’s time to start spending money. The next page that pops up should display your Amazon balance, and it should display a little field that lets you choose how much you want to load onto your balance. You can also set up an Auto-Reload schedule on this page, but that’s a little more complicated than what we’re looking to do here, which is just a single deposit. Amazon allows you to choose different incremented amounts to deposit, but you’re also obviously able to manually input a custom amount if they don’t have it listed. Once you have selected or entered the amount of money that you want to deposit, click the yellow ‘Continue’ button to continue your transaction.
4. Fill out your payment information, check out
When you reload your Amazon gift card balance, you follow the same steps that you would follow to purchase any other thing on Amazon. When you click ‘Continue’, you may be asked to sign in again for verification purposes. Then, you would select your payment method (or input a new one, if you would like) and click ‘Continue’. Then, you’re greeted by Amazon’s standard checkout screen. The left side of the screen should tell you how much you’ve chosen to put into your gift balance, as well as the payment method and billing address that you’ve specified. On the right side of the screen, you can see the payment breakdown, and of course the ‘Place your order’ button. Once you click that button, your order is finalized, and you’ve done everything that you need to do.
5. Enjoy your new Amazon gift card balance!
Now, all you have to do is kick back and wait! Amazon is generally pretty fast about digital gift card delivery, but it’s possible that you have to wait a little while before your balance updates. Once you get this credit, you’re free to spend it however you want on one of the Internet’s largest and most popular shopping websites. You don’t ever have to worry about your balance expiring or being charged or anything like that. You could abandon your account for years and come back to your old balance. You’re able to reap all of the benefits, without really having to deal with any drawbacks. Do spend it all in one place!
