Using Amazon gift cards in Nigeria

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Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday January 3, 2014 at 9:39:50:

One of the ways through which Amazon accepts payment for goods purchased on their websites is by the use of gift cards. Amazon sells gift cards to shoppers who can buy it for themselves or for others. With a gift card, anyone can shop and make payment without having to pay with any other means such as credit card or bank payment.

One good thing about Amazon's gift card is that it is available to most international shoppers even from Nigeria. I've been able to mae several payments with gift cards apart from my debit card and it works really well.

Another good thing about gift cards is that they don't expire meaning that as long as Amazon you have an unused gift card, it will always be accepted by Amazon as a valid means of payment. Gift cards are like a credit to one's account and after your shopping activity and Amazon sees that you still have some balance in our account, you will be able to settle your bills with the gift card.
Also, since the gift cards are denominated in US dollars, it is a better store of value of your money than if you were storing it in Naira or a Nigerian bank account. We know that the CBN stores Nigeria's reserve in foreign currency for a reason. The US dollar is a good currency for storing money for the long term at least for now and so gift cards denominated in US Dollars is a smart way to go.

Credit and debit cards can expire after say 1 or 2 years but gift cards will last as long as the company remain in business.

Amazon gift cards also allow people to choose what gifts they actually want. At times people buy gifts for others even though it may not be what the receivers are expecting or would love to have. Giving a gift card to another person gives him the liberty to choose from a wider variety of gifts available on Amazon. You can use gift cards to buy anything you want from the Amazon store.

Another thing about Amazon gift cards is that it is sold at a flat rate meaning that there are no extra fees involved. So, if you want a $100 gift card, you can get it for only $100. This is good for international shoppers too and it helps in reducing or eliminating the fees associated with using a credit or debit card online. In Nigeria for instance, using debit cards on global sites like Amazon may come with some additional fees which are different from the shopping expense. With a gift card, one can minimize those fees since he would only pay a single transaction fee when buying a single gift card and avoid paying multiple fees since he can then use that gift card for multiple transactions. If using a credit or debit card online at Amazon, there could be multiple transaction fees involved if one were buying multiple items.

I've used Amazon gift cards to buy stuff from Amazon such as laptops, software, mp3, videos, computer gadgets, clothing and so on. It covers both the shopping cost and shipping cost and you don't need to pay with a debit card as long as your gift card balance is sufficient to foot the bill.

Get a $100 gift card from Amazon today

Comments:
Re: Using Amazon gift cards in Nigeria Posted by Izu Mou on Wednesday January 8, 2014 at 6:35:13:

Thanks for the information but I think some Amazon gift cards expires after some time. I am posting this because someone has sent the card to me and I failed to use it in amazon.co.uk, it expired after 1 year.
Thanks.

Re: Using Amazon gift cards in Nigeria Posted by Felix Okoli on Wednesday January 8, 2014 at 6:35:13:

When I read your comment, I was surprised that you said gift cards actually expired. I then did a research and found out that the one offered by Amazon US never expires but the one offered by Amazon UK does after 10 years. Well, my focus is on the one offered by the Amazon US store.

Comments:
Re: Using Amazon gift cards in Nigeria Posted by Azeez Ramon on Tuesday January 13, 2015 at 7:15:35:

Hi,

Can I use the amazon voucher to my thing to Nigeria?

Someone want to give me the voucher, so I want to know before accepting it.

Also, is there any online store that accept amazon voucher in Nigeria or any other company that has gift voucher like amazon in Nigeria?

Re: Using Amazon gift cards in Nigeria Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday January 13, 2015 at 7:15:35:

Online stores in Nigeria don't accept Amazon gift cards as they have their own gift vouchers. You can only use it for shopping on Amazon.