How to Pay With a Vanilla Gift Card on Amazon

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Purchase items on Amazon with your Vanilla gift card balance

Co-authored by Cory Stillman Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: March 20, 2024 Fact Checked

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Amazon.com

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Using a Vanilla gift card can be complicated on certain sites, but Amazon makes it easy. This wikiHow guide will show you how to pay with a Vanilla gift card on the Amazon app or website.

Things You Should Know

Be sure to activate your Vanilla gift card before attempting to use it on Amazon.
We recommend adding your Vanilla gift card to your Amazon Gift Card balance, allowing you to use your funds to purchase items whose price might exceed your Vanilla balance.
To add the Vanilla gift card online, navigate to Account & Lists > Account > Gift Cards > Reload Your Balance .

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

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Before you can spend your Vanilla Visa/Mastercard gift card on Amazon, you must activate the card. This wikiHow article can help you do so.
Open the app if you have not already, then find the ☰ icon along the bottom of your screen.

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Tap Gifting & Registry . It is one of the first tiles atop the page, under Shop by category .
- This tutorial will show you how to add some or all of your Vanilla gift card balance to your Amazon balance , as opposed to adding the gift card as a separate payment method.
  - Turning your Vanilla gift card balance into an Amazon gift card balance is the best option, as you cannot purchase items exceeding your Vanilla balance if you use it as a separate payment method.
It is located atop the list.
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Scroll down and tap View your balance .
This will open an Amazon shopping page through which you can add funds to your Amazon Gift Card balance.
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Enter the amount you want to add. Amazon provides options of $25, $50, or $100, but you may want to select Other and enter your gift card's exact balance. ^{[1]
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Research source} When ready, tap Buy Now .
- You can also enter a lower amount to preserve some of your gift card's balance for use elsewhere.
Tap Add a credit or debit card and enter your Vanilla gift card's details. This will save the card as a payment method on Amazon, while also using the balance to purchase an Amazon gift card. From there you can shop freely on Amazon and use your gift card balance to check out.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Amazon.com

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Before you can spend your Vanilla Visa/Mastercard gift card on Amazon, you must activate the card. This wikiHow article can help you do so.
From the Amazon homepage, hover your mouse over Account & Lists (you will see your name here as well) and click Account .
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Select Gift Cards . It should be located in the second row of the second column.
- This tutorial will show you how to add some or all of your Vanilla gift card balance to your Amazon balance , as opposed to adding the gift card as a separate payment method.
  - Turning your Vanilla gift card balance into an Amazon gift card balance is the best option, as you cannot purchase items exceeding your Vanilla balance if you use it as a separate payment method.
This will open an Amazon shopping page through which you can add funds to your Amazon Gift Card balance.
5
Enter the amount you want to add. Amazon provides options of $25, $50, or $100, but you may want to select Other and enter your gift card's exact balance. When ready, tap Buy Now .
- You can also enter a lower amount to preserve some of your gift card's balance for use elsewhere.
Tap Add a credit or debit card and enter your Vanilla gift card's details. This will save the card as a payment method on Amazon, while also using the balance to purchase an Amazon gift card. From there you can shop freely on Amazon and use your gift card balance to check out.