When it comes to travel and Travel Hacking, one of the most useful sites out there for the accessories you need while travelling is Amazon.ca. I use it almost exclusively to get all my handy travel gadgets like battery packs, neck pillows, and great things like cooling towels.
For those that shop Amazon, you’ll know that they sometimes come up with new promotions to feature new payment systems and they’ve done it again with Amazon Cash.
What is Amazon Cash?
Amazon Cash is a new payment method with Amazon that allows you to pay with cash, debit or credit card in a brick and mortar store.
The main gist of it is that you print off a barcode or verify your phone number on your Amazon account and then go to a participating retailer (currently only Canada Post Offices). Show them your barcode or give them your phone number and pay. That’s it. The credit immediately shows up on your Amazon account for you to use.
The Deal
Between July 9th and July 17th, if you add $100 or more to your Amazon Cash account, you will automatically receive a $25 credit with Amazon.
From what people have told me, the $25 credit shows up within 20 minutes of you loading the $100 on your Amazon Cash account, so as long as you are close to a Canada Post location, you’re golden.
The Small Print
There are a few caveats to keep in mind and I would encourage you to read the Terms and Conditions but here are the highlights:
- Amazon Cash transaction must occur between 12:01 am (PT) on July 9, 2018 and 11:59 pm (PT) July 17, 2018.
- Offer limited to the first-time a customer uses Amazon Cash.
- Offer only applies to products sold by Amazon.ca (look for “sold by Amazon.ca” on the product detail page). Products sold by third-party sellers or other Amazon entities will not qualify for this offer, even if “fulfilled by Amazon.ca” or “Prime Eligible”.
- Offer limited to one per customer and account
- The maximum benefit you may receive from this offer is CAD$ 25.00 off products sold by Amazon.ca.
- Promotional code expires at 11:59 p.m. (PT) August 31, 2018.
The big takeaway here is that the $25 credit expires on August 31st, 2018 so be sure to make your Amazon purchase prior. Also remember that in order to use your $25 credit, you will need to find an item sold by Amazon, like in the picture below.
The Double Dip
Sure, this is a good deal but wanna make it a better deal? Thought so.
Until the end of the year, Great Canadian Rebates is offering up to 4.5% cash back on Amazon purchases. This means you can earn up to 4.5% cash back while still receiving your $25 credit from Amazon.
Not sure what Great Canadian Rebates is? Check out our post on How to Use Cashback Sites.
The Math
Let’s say you load $100 through Amazon Cash. You would receive a $25 credit. If you then used GCR to make your purchase, you would receive up to 4.5% cash back, so …
$125 purchase for $100 out of pocket and you would receive up to $5.63 cash back.
This means your $125 purchase cost you $94.37, a savings of $30.63, which is 24.5% off!
That’s a good deal in my books.
Also, you can keep using GCR for the rest of the year and receive up to 4.5% cash back on every purchase!
Conclusion
If you use Amazon … and realistically who doesn’t? This is a great opportunity to save some real money and with Amazon Prime Days coming up, it’s a great time to have some extra credit with your favourite online retailer. Hurry up. You have to load your Amazon Cash by July 17th!
I just went to a Canada Post Outlet to deposit $100 for Amazon Cash, and I could only use a debit card or cash. The manager phoned to check that I couldn’t use a credit card, and sadly, it was only debit card or cash. Still, a great deal! Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for this article, Brian. Much appreciated.
I was planning to make a few Prime Day purchases but after reading this I ducked down to Canada Post first.
Just used the $25 Amazon Cash credit, plus got 5xAeroplan points for using their e-store to access Amazon. Happy days!