You're sitting there with fifty bucks in digital credit. Maybe it was a birthday gift from your aunt, or perhaps you finally cashed out some rewards points from a side hustle. You want to turn that specific Amazon balance into something else—maybe a Starbucks card for your morning latte or a PlayStation Store voucher for that new DLC. It seems like a no-brainer. After all, money is money, right?
Well, not exactly.
If you try to buy gift cards on amazon with amazon gift card credit, you’re going to hit a wall pretty fast. It’s frustrating. You click "buy," go to the checkout, and suddenly your gift card balance is grayed out. It’s a common headache that leaves people scouring Reddit threads and help pages at 2:00 AM. The short answer is: No, Amazon generally doesn't let you use their house currency to buy other currencies.
But the "why" and the "how to get around it" are where things get interesting.
The Rulebook: Why Amazon Locked the Gate
Amazon is a business, and they are particularly obsessed with two things: preventing fraud and keeping you inside their ecosystem. Their Terms and Conditions—the stuff nobody reads—explicitly state that gift card balances cannot be used to purchase other gift cards.
Why so strict?
Money laundering is the big one. Scammers love gift cards. If a "bad actor" gets hold of a stolen credit card, they can buy an Amazon gift card, then use that to buy a Visa prepaid card, then use that to buy something else. It creates a trail that is incredibly hard for banks to follow. By cutting off the ability to buy gift cards on amazon with amazon gift card funds, Amazon basically pulls the plug on that specific laundering cycle.
Then there’s the merchant fee issue. When you buy a $50 Apple gift card on Amazon, Apple takes a cut, and the payment processor takes a cut. If Amazon lets you buy that with a balance you already have, they’re essentially losing money on the transaction fees while helping you leave their store to spend money at a competitor.
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Honestly, it’s a bit of a bummer for the average person who just wants to swap a gift they won't use for one they will.
The "Third-Party" Myth and Reality
You’ll see people online claiming you can find "loopholes" by looking for third-party sellers. Years ago, you might have found a random vendor selling physical plastic cards who didn't have the restrictions properly flagged in their SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) data.
Those days are mostly gone.
Amazon’s automated systems are incredibly fast now. The moment a product is categorized as a "Gift Card," the checkout system automatically restricts the "Use Gift Card Balance" checkbox. This applies to:
- Digital codes (Email delivery)
- Physical plastic cards sent by mail
- Prepaid "Open Loop" cards like Visa, Mastercard, or American Express
- Store-specific cards like Best Buy, Airbnb, or Uber
If you’re trying to buy gift cards on amazon with amazon gift card balance today, you’re going to find that even the "specialty" cards are blocked. It doesn't matter if it's a physical card for a local steakhouse or a digital code for a Nintendo Switch game. The system treats them all the same.
What About the "Add to Cart" Trick?
There was a time when you could add a gift card to your cart along with a "real" item—like a pack of socks or a book—and the system would get confused. You’d apply your balance to the whole order and it would occasionally slip through.
Don't count on it.
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I’ve tested this recently. Amazon’s payment split-logic is now very precise. If your total is $60 ($50 for a gift card and $10 for socks), the system will only allow your gift card balance to cover the $10 for the socks. You’ll be forced to put the remaining $50 for the gift card on a credit card or debit card. There isn't a "glitch" left that reliably bypasses this for the average user.
Real Alternatives: Turning Your Balance Into What You Actually Want
So, you’re stuck with $100 in Amazon credit and you desperately want a DoorDash gift card. What do you do? You have to get creative, but stay within the rules so you don't get your account banned. Amazon is notoriously "ban-happy" if they suspect you are trying to manipulate their financial systems.
1. The "Gift for a Friend" Strategy (The Manual Swap)
This is the most honest way. Find a friend who was about to buy something on Amazon anyway. Offer to buy the item for them using your balance and have it shipped to their house. In exchange, have them buy you the gift card you actually want from a grocery store or another site. It’s a 1:1 trade, no fees, no risk.
2. Buying "Gift-Like" Items
If you wanted a gift card because you needed a specific product from another store, check if Amazon sells that product directly. This sounds simple, but people often forget. You can’t buy a Best Buy gift card to get a certain set of headphones, but Amazon likely has those same headphones. Use the balance directly on the end product.
3. The Household Method
If you are part of an Amazon Household, you can sometimes share benefits, but remember that gift card balances are tied to the specific account that redeemed them. You can't just "send" balance to your spouse. However, you can use your balance to buy household essentials that your spouse would have bought with "real" money, then have them use that saved cash to buy the gift card you wanted.
Beware of Scams and "Exchange" Sites
If you search for "how to buy gift cards on amazon with amazon gift card," you will inevitably find shady websites claiming they can "exchange" your balance for a small fee.
Be extremely careful.
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Many of these sites are designed to harvest your Amazon login credentials. They ask you to "log in" to verify your balance, and boom—your account is gone. Others are "P2P" (Peer-to-Peer) marketplaces. While sites like Paxful or CardCash are real businesses, they are often crawling with people trying to offload "dirty" cards. If you trade your legitimate Amazon balance for a "discounted" Apple card on one of these sites, there is a high chance the Apple card was bought with a stolen credit card and will be deactivated by the time you try to use it.
The Regulatory Pressure: Why This Might Never Change
In the last few years, the FTC and international regulators have put a massive amount of pressure on retailers to curb gift card scams. Scammers often coerce elderly victims into buying thousands of dollars in Amazon cards to "pay back taxes" or "bail out a relative."
If Amazon made it easy to convert these cards into other cards (like untraceable Visa gift cards), they would be facilitating a massive criminal pipeline. By keeping the money "locked" inside their own store, they have a better chance of spotting suspicious patterns and potentially refunding victims before the value is gone forever.
It’s an inconvenience for us, but it’s a security feature for the broader ecosystem.
Is There ANY Exception?
Occasionally, you might see "promotional" credits—like the $5 you get for choosing "No-Rush Shipping"—behaving differently than "gift card" credit. Even then, these promotional credits are usually restricted to "items sold and shipped by Amazon.com" and almost always exclude gift cards.
The only real "loophole" that ever existed was using an Amazon-branded credit card (the Prime Visa). When you use that card, you earn 5% back in points. Those points can be used at checkout. Because those points are technically a "reward" and not a "gift card balance," the system sometimes treats them with more flexibility. However, even this is becoming more restricted as Amazon tightens its payment logic.
Actionable Steps for Your Balance
If you’re currently staring at a balance you don't want, here is exactly what you should do next:
- Check your "Subscribe & Save" items. If you have recurring orders for paper towels, coffee, or pet food, Amazon will pull from your gift card balance first. This frees up the "real" money in your bank account that you would have spent on these items.
- Use the "Regift" approach. Don't redeem the card to your account if you haven't yet. If the code is still "live" (meaning you haven't typed it into your account), you can simply give the code to someone else or sell it safely on a reputable site like Raise. Once it’s redeemed to your specific Amazon account, it’s basically "married" to you.
- Look for "Physical" utility. If you wanted a gift card for a gas station, see if that gas station brand sells a "physical" item on Amazon that you can use. Some brands sell car accessories or oil change kits that might bridge the gap.
- Wait for Prime Day or Black Friday. If you’re trying to maximize value, hold that balance until a major sale. Even if you can't swap the card, you can get 20-30% more "value" out of your balance by waiting for deep discounts on things you actually need.
Trying to buy gift cards on amazon with amazon gift card is a battle against a multi-billion dollar algorithm. It's designed to keep you within the walls of the Amazon jungle. The most effective way to "convert" that money is to use it for your boring, everyday purchases and use the cash you saved to buy the gift card you actually wanted from a local grocery store. It’s not as "cool" as a digital swap, but it’s the only way that works every single time without risking an account ban.