# How to cash out Amazon gift card balance? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-cash-out-amazon-gift-card-balance/994188 "2023-12-06T17:41:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-cash-out-amazon-gift-card-balance/994188/1 "2023-12-06T17:41:31Z")
I’ve acquired several hundred dollars in my Amazon gift card balance, but don’t want to spend it buying stuff from Amazon because I also have an Amazon Rewards credit card, and I earn three percent for Amazon purchases. So now I’m wondering if it’s possible to cash out the Amazon gift card balance and transfer it to my bank account. I Googled and various sites suggested various processes, none of which seemed to work. Another option; can I buy Amazon gift cards with my Amazon gift card balance? Because then I could just give gift cards to my brother’s children for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-cash-out-amazon-gift-card-balance/994188/2 "2023-12-06T20:09:39Z")
Amazon’s [customer service page](https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GNG9PXYZUMQT72QK) says gift card balance can’t be transferred or used to buy gift cards, which is probably a good way to combat fraud and phishing - and to keep the money in their ecosystem where it might not be spend at all. You could always make cute little custom cards for the children that say something like “Good for one toy up to X dollars” and let them tell you what they want. On the other hand, spending three hundred bucks in reward balance rather than on your card means you’re missing out on nine dollars in rewards. Doesn’t seem like a super reason to not just go ahead and spend it like cash. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-cash-out-amazon-gift-card-balance/994188/3 "2023-12-06T20:32:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ve acquired several hundred dollars in my Amazon gift card balance, but don’t want to spend it buying stuff from Amazon because I also have an Amazon Rewards credit card, and I earn three percent for Amazon purchases. So now I’m wondering if it’s possible to cash out the Amazon gift card balance and transfer it to my bank account. I Googled and various sites suggested various processes, none of which seemed to work. Another option; can I buy Amazon gift cards with my Amazon gift card balance? Because then I could just give gift cards to my brother’s children for Christmas. 3%? My Amazon card gives me 5% on all purchases made at Amazon. But I don’t understand why you don’t want to simply use up the balance first. You won’t get 5% back but you’re also not _paying_ anything, so everything you buy will be free. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-cash-out-amazon-gift-card-balance/994188/4 "2023-12-06T20:47:01Z")
There are two Amazon credit cards; mine is the non-Prime card. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-cash-out-amazon-gift-card-balance/994188/5 "2023-12-06T21:04:53Z")
Will they let you use it to buy other gift cards? If they do, you could buy gift cards for stores you’ll use it at. You could also get a generic Visa gift card, but they charge a flat fee for that and I don’t think you’d come out ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-cash-out-amazon-gift-card-balance/994188/6 "2023-12-06T22:55:51Z")
I think it is impossible to do this - precisely because of the objective you are aiming for. If you return something that you have bought for $1 on a CC, you have two refund options. (1) Refund to your CC. If you do this, the 3% rebate on the refunded amount is recaptured because you have reduced your spend on the CC. You paid 97c, you are refunded 97c. (2) Have the refund put on a gift card balance, like “store credit”. In this case, the 3% CC rebate is not recaptured - you get the full $1, but you can only spend the $1 store credit on Amazon. If they allowed you to cash out the gift card balance, you would be keeping a 3% CC rebate on goods that you had returned for a full cash refund - so Amazon would be refunding you $1 in cash when they had only charged you 97c. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-cash-out-amazon-gift-card-balance/994188/7 "2023-12-07T04:49:03Z")
Seems like a lot of work for a few bucks.