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What Amazon Gift Cards Are and How They Work

Amazon Gift Cards are prepaid cards that hold a dollar amount you can use to purchase items on Amazon.com. They function like a digital wallet loaded with money specifically for Amazon shopping. When you use a Gift Card, the balance is deducted from your purchase total, and any remaining funds stay in your account for future purchases.

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Amazon offers Gift Cards in several formats. Physical Gift Cards come as actual cards you can hold and give to someone. Digital Gift Cards arrive via email and can be redeemed immediately. There are also specialized options like AWS Gift Cards for cloud computing services and greeting card Gift Cards with designs printed on them.

The value of a Gift Card never expires once purchased, though Amazon periodically updates their terms. You can check your current Gift Card balance by logging into your Amazon account and visiting the Gift Cards section. If you receive a Gift Card code, you enter it into your account to add the funds.

Gift Cards purchased or received may have specific terms. Some are sent by Amazon as promotional offers. Others come from retailers or third-party sellers. Understanding the source and terms helps you know what you're working with. For instance, promotional Gift Cards may come with specific restrictions about what products you can purchase.

Practical takeaway: Before sending or using a Gift Card, check whether it has any restrictions on product categories or expiration terms. Visit your Account Settings on Amazon to view all Gift Cards associated with your account and their balances.

Methods for Sending Amazon Gift Cards to Others

Amazon provides multiple ways to send Gift Cards, each suited to different situations. Email delivery is the fastest method—you can send a Digital Gift Card to someone's email address, and they receive it within minutes. This works well for birthdays, holidays, or last-minute gifts. The recipient gets an email with a redemption code they can use immediately.

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Physical Gift Cards can be mailed through standard postal service. You purchase them and receive them at your address, then mail them to the recipient yourself. This takes longer but provides a tangible card the recipient can hold and open. Physical cards often come with decorative designs or custom messages.

When sending via email, you typically provide the recipient's email address, choose a delivery date, and add a custom message. The email template from Amazon includes space for personal greetings. You can schedule delivery for a specific date, which is useful for planning ahead for special occasions.

For business or organizational purposes, Amazon offers bulk Gift Card options. You can purchase multiple Gift Cards at once for employee rewards, customer incentives, or promotional giveaways. Corporate accounts have their own dashboard for managing these bulk purchases and tracking redemptions.

Some Gift Cards can be sent through Amazon's app, which offers convenience if you're on a mobile device. The process remains similar—you specify the amount, recipient, and delivery method. Physical mailing addresses and email addresses both work depending on your chosen method.

Practical takeaway: If you need to send a gift today, use email delivery. If you want a physical card to present in person, order a physical card with enough time for postal delivery. Check current delivery timeframes on Amazon's Gift Card page before purchasing.

Understanding Gift Card Amounts and Pricing Options

Amazon Gift Cards come in various denominations to suit different budgets. You can purchase fixed amounts like $10, $25, $50, or $100. These preset options make selection straightforward. Many people choose these standard amounts because they're easy to remember and commonly used.

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For more flexibility, Amazon also allows custom amounts. You can typically send any amount between $1 and $2,000 per transaction. This means you're not limited to preset options—you can send exactly $35.47 if that's the amount you want to give. Custom amounts are particularly useful when you have a specific budget in mind.

Promotional pricing sometimes appears around holidays and special events. During certain times, Amazon may offer bonus Gift Cards—for example, buy a $100 Gift Card and receive a $10 bonus. These promotions appear on the Gift Card purchase page when active. Checking the Gift Card section periodically helps you catch these offers.

The recipient can use their Gift Card on almost anything Amazon sells, from books and electronics to household items and groceries (through Amazon Fresh, where available). The only restrictions are typically on certain digital content or services. Gift Cards cannot be used for physical Amazon devices like Kindles if those devices are being purchased as part of another promotion with restrictions.

When calculating how much to send, consider what the recipient might want. A $25 card might cover a popular book or a couple of items. A $50 card gives more options. A $100 card provides substantial purchasing power for larger items like tech accessories or multiple smaller purchases.

Practical takeaway: Start by thinking about what the recipient enjoys on Amazon. Browse their potential purchase options to gauge a reasonable amount. Remember you can choose custom amounts rather than preset denominations if you want precision.

Step-by-Step Process for Purchasing and Sending Gift Cards

To send an Amazon Gift Card, start by visiting Amazon.com and locating the Gift Cards section. This is typically found in the shopping categories or through a direct search. Once you're on the Gift Cards page, you'll see options for email delivery, physical cards, or other formats.

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For email delivery, select the email option and choose your desired amount. You can enter a custom amount or select a preset denomination. Next, you'll enter the recipient's email address—double-check this to ensure the email reaches the right person. A typo in the email address means the gift won't arrive as intended.

Add a personal message in the space provided. This message appears in the email the recipient receives. You can write a birthday greeting, holiday message, or any personal note you'd like to include. The message box typically allows several hundred characters, giving you room for a meaningful note.

Choose a delivery date. You can send immediately, or schedule delivery for a future date. Scheduling is helpful for remembering to send a gift on a specific date without doing it manually at that moment. Amazon will send it automatically on the date you select.

Review your order details before confirming. Check the recipient's email address, the amount, your personal message, and the delivery date. Once everything looks correct, proceed with payment. Amazon accepts various payment methods including credit cards, debit cards, and account balances from previous Gift Card redemptions.

After purchase, you'll see a confirmation. For email deliveries, the system sends the email to the recipient at the scheduled time. Physical cards require you to wait for postal delivery, then you mail the card to the recipient's address. Keep your order confirmation number for reference.

Practical takeaway: Take 30 seconds to verify the recipient's email address character-by-character before submitting. This single step prevents gifts from going to the wrong person. Save your confirmation number until you know the recipient has received and redeemed the card.

What to Know About Gift Card Terms and Conditions

Amazon Gift Cards have specific terms that govern their use. The balance never expires once you add it to your account, but this doesn't mean Gift Cards purchased but not yet redeemed have no time limit. Check the terms on the card or in your confirmation email for any details about when you need to redeem purchased but unactivated cards.

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Gift Cards can be used only on Amazon.com and related Amazon services in the same country of issue. A U.S. Gift Card, for example, cannot be used on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.ca. This matters if you're sending to someone in a different country—you need to purchase a Gift Card in that country's Amazon site.

Certain products have restrictions. Some third-party items, digital content, or services may not be purchasable with Gift Cards. Additionally, Gift Cards cannot typically be used to purchase other Gift Cards. If something says it can't be bought with a Gift Card, the system will prevent that purchase at checkout.

If a Gift Card is lost, stolen, or the code is compromised, Amazon has policies for reporting and replacing cards. You should keep your confirmation email or physical card in a safe place. If someone gains unauthorized access to a Gift Card code, report it to Amazon's customer service as soon as possible.

Refunds and returns work normally with Gift Card purchases. If you buy an item using Gift Card funds and return it, the refund goes back to your Gift Card balance, not as a separate refund. This means your Gift Card balance increases by