When it comes to saving money online, Amazon is already one of the best marketplaces to turn to. Its sheer scale makes its prices hard to compete with. Factor in its wide product variety, membership perks from Amazon Prime, and the Subscribe and Save feature, and it’s easy to see why people love shopping at this e-commerce giant.
However, despite competitive prices and programs like Amazon Prime, shopping on Amazon can still be expensive. If you aren’t careful, an online shopping binge or two will seriously hurt your bank account.
Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to earn free gift cards to put a dent in your Amazon spending.
Ways to Earn Free Amazon Gift Cards
If you want to save more money each month without giving up the joys of shopping on Amazon, the following methods of earning Amazon gift cards for free are your best options.
1. Take Surveys Through Survey Websites
Answering surveys for money is not a high-paying online job. In fact, survey websites are one of the lowest-paying side gigs around.
However, survey websites provide a way to make extra money in your spare time. Many popular survey websites also let users redeem their account balance for free Amazon gift cards.
It bears repeating that survey websites don’t pay a high hourly rate. Disqualifications, running out of surveys, and offers randomly not crediting are also obstacles. However, in terms of earning free Amazon gift cards, survey sites are a viable option that doesn’t require much effort or any upfront cost.
If you have some spare time and don’t mind repetitive survey work, there are several legitimate survey websites that make it easy to earn free Amazon gift cards.
Survey Junkie
Many survey websites let users make money with features like download offers or cash-back rewards alongside paid surveys. Survey Junkie only offers surveys. Once you sign up for Survey Junkie and complete a welcome questionnaire, you can answer surveys for points whenever they’re available.
Survey Junkie only requires $5 worth of points to cash out, and U.S. members can redeem for a variety of free gift cards, including for Amazon. Canadian and Australian members can cash out through PayPal and then buy Amazon gift cards electronically.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is an incredibly popular survey website and has been paying members since 2008. Members earn points by answering surveys, shopping online, downloading apps, watching videos, and searching the web through Swagbucks Search.
Swagbucks offers plenty of reward options, including free Amazon gift cards. Additionally, many gift cards are available for only $1 worth of Swagbucks points, which is a low cash-out threshold for a survey website.
Pinecone Research
As a Pinecone Research member, you can earn free gift cards and PayPal cash for sharing your opinion. Nielsen, a leading data and market research company, owns Pinecone Research, and they’re willing to pay members for answering surveys.
Once you sign up, you receive survey invitations through email, and each survey pays $3. This is significantly higher than most paid survey websites. Plus, since you receive survey invitations that match your demographic information, getting disqualified halfway through a survey is unlikely.
You can redeem Amazon gift cards and other rewards once you earn 300 points, which is equal to $3. This means that a single survey is enough to benefit from being a Pinecone Research member.
2. Use the Amazon Trade-In Program
One of the simplest ways to earn free Amazon gift cards is to use the Amazon Trade-In Program. This program lets you trade in unwanted products in exchange for Amazon gift cards.
There are thousands of eligible products in the trade-in program, and categories include:
- Tablets
- Smartphones
- Streaming devices
- Kindle readers
- Headphones, Bluetooth speakers, and Amazon Echo devices
- Textbooks
- Gaming consoles, controllers, and video games
- Home security systems
This program is free and straightforward. You can search the trade-in store to check if the item you want to trade in is eligible for the program.
Amazon states that trade-in items “must match the exact version displayed in the Trade-In search results or on the product page on Amazon.com.” If it qualifies, you’re ready to earn some free Amazon gift cards.
Trading in an item takes four steps:
- Select item condition. Amazon’s Condition Criteria page explains the condition requirements for each category.
- Choose return options. If Amazon deems your trade-in as being in worse condition than your application stated, you have two options. Amazon can return the item for free or proceed with the trade-in for a lower reward amount. You choose your preference on your trade-in application.
- Prepare to ship. Enter your shipping address and package your item. Amazon Trade-In lets you print a prepaid UPS shipping label for free shipping.
- Ship your item. Your submission form includes a date by which you must ship your item. Note that you must unlock or deregister any smartphone or home security system you send via the trade-in program.
Trade-ins generally take up to 10 business days to arrive at an Amazon facility and finish processing. You receive an email confirmation within the next two business days if Amazon accepts or rejects your trade-in, as well as the trade-in value.
Amazon pays for trade-ins by depositing the gift card value right into your Amazon account. Amazon Trade-In is only available in the United States. Additionally, you must ship items from a U.S. address or Amazon will return them.
Trade-in value varies depending on your item’s condition and value. For example, the newest Kindle reader grants up to $20 in Amazon gift cards, whereas an Xbox One can earn more than $60. These values are subject to change with demand and other factors, but it’s clear there’s real money to be made here.
So the next time you do some spring cleaning, put unused devices and textbooks aside and check if they’re eligible for the Amazon Trade-In program to potentially score some free Amazon gift cards.
3. Earn Amazon Cash & Reload Bonuses
Amazon rewards shoppers for their loyalty, and if you frequently shop at Amazon, there are ways to earn gift cards for your spending.
The first way to make the most out of your Amazon shopping is to become an Amazon Prime member and sign up for Prime Reload. This program pays Prime members an additional 2% bonus (at least) when they reload their Amazon gift card balance. Amazon frequently offers even better deals for this program, so keep an eye out.
Using Prime Reload is simple. If you have a U.S. bank account and driver’s license number, you just need to add that information and connect a debit card to Prime Reload. When you reload your Amazon gift card balance with your debit card with Prime Reload, you earn a 2% bonus (again, at least) on your gift card balance.
This is a simple way to earn additional credit on your Amazon gift card balance, and if you’re already a Prime member, there’s no downside to using this program.
Another way to earn free Amazon credits is to use Amazon Cash for the first time. Amazon Cash lets people shop at Amazon without having to use a debit or credit card to shop.
To get started, visit a physical Amazon Cash location, use your phone number or Amazon app account barcode to verify your account, and transfer cash into your Amazon account balance. Users can only add between $5 and $500 at a time with Amazon Cash.
In the recent past, Amazon Cash has given new members a $5 Amazon credit for adding $20 to their Amazon account balance through this program. Western Union, CVS, 7-Eleven, Allpoint, Rite Aid, and GameStop are some popular retailers that partner with Amazon Cash.
If you have an upcoming Amazon shopping trip, using Prime Reload and Amazon Cash are easy ways to earn a bonus on your Amazon gift card balance and to save money.
4. Use Shopping Reward Apps
Mobile coupon apps and shopping browser extensions are effective ways to find online deals and to save money. Many popular shopping platforms also let shoppers earn cash back and free Amazon gift cards.
These shopping apps probably won’t earn you hundreds of dollars a year in free Amazon gift cards. However, in aggregate, they’re a free and simple way to reduce your online shopping expenses without much effort.
You can earn free Amazon gift cards if you diligently use the following apps.
Fetch Rewards
The Fetch Rewards app lets members earn cash back for shopping for dozens of partner brands. Unlike other apps that are store-specific, Fetch Rewards only requires that you buy products from their list of partner brands.
Once you upload an eligible receipt through the Fetch Rewards app, you earn points. Members can cash out at 3,000 Fetch Reward points, which is equivalent to $3. Members can redeem free gift cards to Amazon through Fetch Rewards alongside dozens of other gift card options.
Honey
Honey is a free browser extension best known for automatically applying coupons at checkout to save shoppers money. Honey also has a cash-back component called Honey Gold. Honey Gold lets users earn Gold by shopping at more than 4,000 retailers.
Free Amazon gift cards are available once you reach $10 in Gold, as well as gift cards to stores like Walmart, Macy’s, and Target.
Ibotta
Ibotta is a popular rebate app that pays users for shopping for sponsored offers and uploading their receipts. Members earn cash back by buying specific products in-store at Ibotta partners or by shopping online through the Ibotta app.
You can cash out through PayPal or for a variety of gift cards once you earn $20 in rebates. Ibotta partners with more than 1,500 brands and retailers, so there are plenty of opportunities to save. And for a limited time, you can get a $10 bonus when you spend at least $30 at participating retailers.
Drop
Drop is another free cash-back app that pays users for shopping at their favorite stores and for in-app offers. New Drop members select five stores to automatically earn cash back from, making this app fairly passive to use.
Available businesses include Walmart, Uber, Starbucks, and Target. The Drop app also has a rotating list of sponsored offers and sign-up bonuses that reward bonus Drop points for shopping through the app.
Drop points are redeemable for a variety of free gift cards, including for Amazon. The cash-out requirement is relatively high though; you may need at least 25,000 points ($25 value) to get your first gift card.
Final Word
There are plenty of ways to save money on Amazon. Competitive deals, Amazon Prime discounts, and Subscribe and Save are a few ways Amazon shoppers can cut down on spending by shopping online. The above methods can help you take your Amazon savings one step further by earning free Amazon gift cards.
These methods won’t make anyone rich. However, earning free gift cards is never a bad thing for your wallet. Hopefully, you’ll have a nice amount of free money in your gift card balance the next time you shop on Amazon.
