Gift cards are very useful. I was one of the first overseas shoppers, and later I became a full-time shopper in this field. I am also a senior person in the industry.

Amazon's private ecology

Speaking of the role of gift cards, we must first talk about the private ecology behind Amazon as an e-commerce platform, just like there is a hidden ecology of fake orders and wool-pulling behind Taobao, and Amazon is the same. Overseas Amazon almost monopolizes most of the traffic of overseas shopping, so there are many purchasing agents, buyers, and resellers who rely on this platform.

The purchasing agents on Amazon who do well basically do not charge customers extra money. For example, if a product is worth $100, they will charge customers $100. So how do they make money?

The role of gift cards

A purchasing agent can use a $100 gift card to pay for a $100 product. The key point is, how much did he buy this $100 gift card with? The high-end ones are around 80 dollars, and the average ones are 90 or 95 dollars. That is to say, the difference in the purchase of gift cards can be directly used as part of the income of the purchasing agents.

Where do low-priced gift cards come from?

Gift cards come from many sources. If you want to know more, you can read my previous answer.

The significance of gift cards to Amazon itself

As the originator of e-commerce and the overlord of overseas markets, Amazon’s gift cards themselves have strong monetary attributes. For example, gift cards can be selected as the way to receive tax refunds in the United States. As long as they have some monetary attributes, the gift card itself has strong value, and the funds for purchasing gift cards will be deposited in large quantities. Moreover, according to the understanding of my overseas shopping friends around me, many people bought gift cards and forgot to use them, and there are endless problems such as the balance not being used up, hehe.

If you can play gift cards well, you can beat 90% of office workers!