Get $15 From Amazon for Uploading Photos (New Users Only)

There are plenty of ways to earn free in-store credit on Amazon. They’re called Amazon promotional credits or promo credits, and using them on your next purchase can save you big money. There are almost a dozen ways to earn them, including buying certain items, choosing No-Rush Shipping, and offering your receipts back to Amazon.

Don’t forget to check out our deals on Amazon bestsellers, especially if you have Amazon promotional credit to use. And be sure to check out our tips on how you can get free stuff on Amazon.

For more smart shopping tips and savings hacks, download the KCL app or text HACKS to 57299.

Take Advantage of These Amazon Promos:

$15 Credit When You Add Photos to Amazon Photos (New Users Only)

This offer is in conjunction with Amazon's upcoming Prime Big Deal Days event. It's only for new Amazon Photo app users who are also Prime members and runs until Oct. 3 at 11:59 p.m. PT (the credit expires Oct. 9 at 11:59 p.m.).

The Amazon Photos app is a way to store your photos and videos (Prime members get unlimited photo storage and 5GB of video storage). If it's your first time ever using the Amazon Photos app, here's how to get the credit:

• Download the Amazon Photos app.

• Make sure you're signed in to your Prime account.

• Upload some photos.

• You'll get your $15 credit within four days automatically in your Amazon account.

$5 Prime Video Credit for Taking a Quiz

This promo credit offer gets you a $5 credit to use on Prime Video (rentals and purchases). It took me about five minutes start to finish. Since plenty of rentals are $4.99 or less on Prime video, you can look at this as a free rental. (This offer is advertised "as supplies last," and I successfully claimed it on Sept. 19).

1. Ask Alexa to “Start the La-Z-Boy streaming quiz.” Or open up the Alexa app on your phone, hit the blue Alexa button and say the same thing.

2. Take the quiz. It’s five questions long, and it’ll give you a recommendation on which show to watch next on Prime Video (we got “Daisy Jones and the Six”). 

3. At the end of the quiz, Alexa will ask for your phone number and will then send you a personalized link to activate your $5.

4. That $5 will go straight into your Prime Video account. As you browse Prime Video, you’ll see it applied automatically to the titles as you view them. You can use the credit to buy/rent any movie. All you have to do is hit “Rent movie” or “Buy movie,” and your credit will automatically go toward your purchase.

We don't know how long this promo will be offered. But once you get it, your $5 credit will last until Dec. 1.

Limited-Time Promo: Get $5 When You Add a Payment Card

With this promo, you can add a new payment card to your Amazon Wallet and get $5 to spend on your next Amazon purchase. However, it's available only to certain Amazon users (you'll know you qualify if an advertisement for the this promo pops up in your account). Follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Amazon account.

2. See an advertisement that says "Get $5 when you add a backup card?" Click it. Then add a credit card or debit card as a payment option in your Amazon account.

3. You'll get the $5 promo credit instantly. Use any of your Amazon Wallet cards to make an eligible purchase, and the credit will be applied.

What are Amazon promotional credits?

Amazon promo credits are basically rewards that you can get in the form of codes, gift cards, or credit. You get these rewards through a special timely offer, and the rewards get fed into your promotional balance on your Amazon account. The next time you make a purchase, you can apply your credits to your order.

This makes promo credits different from other Amazon discounts (like Amazon Subscribe & Save offers), which apply immediately to your current order.

How do I check my Amazon promo credit balance?

You can view your Amazon promo credit balance in your account on Amazon's site or in the app under "Payments." Or, just go to this rewards balance page, to go straight to your balance when logged in to your Amazon account.

There's a specific No-Rush Reward Balance section you’ll want to check out too.

When will I get my Amazon promo credit?

It depends on the offer.

Credits you earn won't appear until after the item has shipped. In some cases, it will take 30 days after your item has shipped for the credit to appear in your account. If you're making a digital purchase or completing a specific action to earn a credit, you might see your credit in minutes. You'll also get an email stating the amount of promotional credit and its expiration date. Some credits expire within 30 days, some expire within 14 days, and credit earned in the form of an Amazon digital gift card never expires, per Amazon's gift card policy.

Ways to earn promotional credits on Amazon

Some promotional credit offers run year-round. Plus, Amazon likes to add extra ways to rack up promotional credits throughout the year.

Use these tactics to find them:

Choose “No Rush” shipping to get an Amazon digital credit.

Not in a huge hurry? (Sometimes this tactic can take up to six days.) You can earn Amazon credits for selecting No-Rush Shipping. These credits sit in your Amazon account, waiting to be applied to your next purchase.

Keep in mind that certain promotional credit offers apply only to digital purchases like eBooks, music, videos, and apps. But I’ve also seen No-Rush credit go straight to my Amazon account to be used on any Amazon Warehouse purchases too. Double-check the type of credit you’re getting by clicking the Details button when choosing No-Rush or Amazon Day Delivery.

KCL TIP: Amazon sometimes offers promotional credit for Day Delivery too. It just means you’ll receive all your Amazon orders on a Tuesday every week — or whatever day you choose that's best for you. It works when you’re heading out of town or trying to collect the packages yourself all at once instead of being surprised by a new pile of boxes outside your door every day.

Look for the Amazon P&G promo credit offer (there's often one running).

The Amazon P&G promo credit usually comes in the form of a stock-up-and-save offer that gives you $20 in Amazon credit when you spend $80 on P&G products.

P&G offers a wide range of brands you use every day (Cascade, Tide, Bounty, Olay and more), so this credit shouldn't be too much of a reach, if you need to stock up.

The P&G promo credit appears pretty regularly, and it tends to not have an end date on it (usually Amazon just advertises it as a "limited-time" offer). The $20 credit you earn, however, will have an expiration date, so be sure to check your email when you get the credit.

Use the Alexa app to get Alexa rebates.

You can configure your Alexa app to show you manufacturer rebate offers (on groceries and necessities in particular). Once you set up Alexa rebates, you'll activate the offers, go shopping, and scan your receipt. Then you'll receive the rebates in the form of Amazon promotional credits.

Trade in old tech

Using Amazon Trade-In is a great way to get Amazon promo credits in the form of gift cards. Of course, these gift cards are digital, so they’re basically free credits that will go toward whatever you purchase next on Amazon.

The amount of your gift card depends on your item. You’ll sometimes also get access to a promo code (20% off) on whatever type of device you sent in. For example, I sent in an Echo and got a code for 20% off a new Echo. Here are some examples of common trade-in values:

• Echo Show: 1st Generation Black, $30 Amazon gift card

• Ring Video Doorbell 2 with HD Video, $15 Amazon gift card

• All Amazon Fire TV devices and Fire TV Sticks, $0.99 Amazon gift card (even in bad condition with no accessories)

• Echo (3rd Gen), $25 Amazon gift card

• Echo Dot (2nd Gen), $5 Amazon gift card

Join the Amazon Shopper Panel.

The Amazon Shopper Panel is a voluntary program where you submit non-Amazon receipts per month in exchange for a maximum of $10 in Amazon credit. You can earn even more by completing surveys. (So far, the surveys have been one question long, and each is worth $0.50.)

The panel is invite-only, but you can join the waitlist (and I only had to wait a day to be approved). Download the Amazon Shopper Panel app (iOS / Android) to get started.

Related: Here's How to Earn an Extra $10 a Month With Amazon Shopper Panel.

Reload your Amazon balance.

Have you ever reloaded an Amazon Balance before? If not, consider timing your reload with a promo credit offer.

Usually, the promo (assuming one is running) works like this: If you’re a first-timer, reload your Amazon balance with at least $100 and they’ll give you a $10 credit. This is a one-and-done, so it works only the first time you use Amazon Reload.

Watch for free $3 - $5 Kindle credits when you buy a qualifying Kindle book.

This isn’t a sure thing, because it’s by invitation only and you never really know when it’s coming. But every now and then, you might stumble upon free Amazon credits when you buy certain Kindle books. I bought a Kindle book, and six weeks later, I received an email informing me I had a $5 Kindle credit to spend.

These credits apply only to another Kindle purchase (minimum price of $10), usually by the same author. Since I bought a William Faulkner book, I was able to choose from six Faulkner titles when I tapped “Shop Now.”

RELATED: Here’s How You Can Get Free eBooks on Stuff Your Kindle Day.

Look for Prime Day promo credit offers.

Many of these deals are limited to Prime members. It’s worth noting that in a few cases, these promotional credits can be used only during Prime Day or other major shopping events. If you’re looking to save more during Prime Day specifically, be sure to check out our article on Prime Day credits.

Here's an offer we saw during the most recent Prime Day for new Amazon Photos users:

Use the Shopkick app.

Shopkick is a rebate app that offers “kicks” (or points) when you take certain actions either at a store or from home. Actions include walking into stores, scanning items, making select purchases and then scanning the receipt.

Once you earn enough kicks, you can redeem them for Amazon gift cards, which you can then load to your Amazon account to use on a future order.

Get more details about how Shopkick works.

Look for limited-time special promo credit offers.

Amazon tends to offer many opportunities to earn promotional credit throughout the year, to encourage people to sign up for its services and buy certain items. The tricky part is that Amazon doesn't list this all in one place, so you need to keep an eye out. Our team is always on the lookout, so check our Amazon deals section for the latest finds.

Recent examples we've spotted:

• $5 in promo credit when purchasing $20 or $50 in select merchandise (specifics vary).

• $10 in credit for signing up for a Prime for Young Adults membership (last spotted during back-to-school shopping season in August 2024).

Earn promo credits when you purchase an Amazon gift card.

Of course, you should send the gift cards to yourself! Clearly.

Amazon tends to run this deal around Prime Day, but we’ve seen it make a surprise reappearance at other times of the year too. (Only select accounts are eligible.) The terms are usually the same each time: buy at least $50 in Amazon gift cards and make sure you select a digital delivery method during checkout to receive the promo credits. This offer doesn’t typically apply to physical gift cards.

Get an Amazon credit card promo.

This tactic is recommended only if you have need a new credit card (and the Amazon Prime Visa in particular). Yes, you need to have a Prime membership to get the card.

The card generally comes with a sign-up bonus of a digital Amazon gift card that will be added to your account if your card application is approved. Around Prime Day, Amazon has been known to boost that offer (we saw $200 in digital Amazon gift cards during Prime Day 2024).

Amazon Promotional Credit Restrictions

Buy only items you plan to keep when redeeming a promotional credit.

You won’t get promotional credit back if you return whatever you purchased with it, according to Amazon's coupon policy.

So use your promotional credit to purchase items you know you’ll want to keep, like household staples. Skip clothing, shoes, or anything else that might not work.

KCL TIP: I've chatted with Amazon customer service reps to retrieve my promotional credit back after I had to return an item I purchased using credit. I’m not saying this will work every time, but they were kind enough to put it back on my account when I contacted Amazon and asked nicely.

Gifting Amazon promotional credit isn’t allowed.

Promotional credit applies to your account and your account only. You can’t transfer it.

You also can’t use promotional credit to purchase gift cards, so don’t expect any loopholes on this one.

KCL TIP: The only way to use your credit as a gift would be to purchase an item on Amazon using credit and have Amazon ship it straight to your recipient's address.