can you use paypal on amazon

Can You Use PayPal on Amazon? Everything You Need to Know

insights |  | 5 min read

Two industry giants, PayPal and Amazon, seem to operate in the same harmony and you may think you can use them synchronously, BUT IS IT POSSIBLE?

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Highlights

  • Can you use PayPal to pay on Amazon?
  • Why Amazon doesn’t accept PayPal directly?
  • Use of PayPal cash card on Amazon
  • Purchase of Amazon gift card using PayPal
  • Use of PayPal Key on Amazon
  • Use of PayPal Credit on Amazon

The main question about using PayPal on Amazon is not easy to answer. If you ask, can you use it? Then the answer is NO. However, if your question is how can you use PayPal on Amazon? Then there are ways in which it can be used. To better understand this, let's get into the details.

 

Can You Use PayPal to Pay on Amazon?

Simply NO. Amazon clearly states that it doesn’t accept PayPal as its payment method. So, if you have credit in your PayPal account that you want to spend on Amazon, you need to be creative. Although Amazon doesn’t let you pay with your PayPal account directly, it allows you to use a credit or debit card which means you can use your PayPal Cash Card to pay for your Amazon purchases.

What you can or can’t do with your PayPal account on Amazon include:

  • You can’t pay directly on Amazon with your PayPal account.
  • You can use a PayPal cash card for your Amazon purchases.
  • You can’t use PayPal credit on Amazon.
  • You can use PayPal credit to buy Amazon gift cards from various websites and can use that to pay for your Amazon shopping.

 

Why Doesn’t Amazon Accept PayPal directly?

It's hard to give a concrete answer about why Amazon doesn’t support PayPal. There could be many possibilities but maybe it is because PayPal was a part of eBay that is a rival of Amazon. So, supporting PayPal means accrediting eBay as Amazon’s chief competitor. 

Another reason could be that; Amazon is growing in the online payment sector and as Amazon Pay is still progressing, PayPal seems to be its biggest competitor. 

 

Use of PayPal Cash Card on Amazon

PayPal issues its cash cards to US citizens. It is like any other bank debit card. As Amazon allows debit cards to be used to pay for purchases, you can use PayPal Cash Card for your purchases. The only drawback is you have to remember the details for one more card and carry it around with you.  

One more thing that you need to mind while using a PayPal Cash Card is your inability to earn credit points. Unlike some of the best credit cards for Amazon purchases, you can’t have cash back, travel rewards, and credit points while you shop,

Thus, you need to see different card options if you want to earn credit card rewards. 

Purchase of Amazon Gift Card Using PayPal

Another pathway to use your PayPal credit to shop on Amazon is purchasing Amazon Gift Cards from a third-party service provider that accepts PayPal like eBay, Gyft, eGifter, RewardsPay, etc. These channels allow you to use your PayPal credit line to pay for your Amazon shopping. The only thing you need to do is purchase a gift card first.

can you use paypal to pay on amazon

 

Using a gift card can earn you points that you can later use in discounts, sales, or other purchases where you can benefit from those credit points. 

However, depending on your needs and circumstances you can adopt which payment method suits you best- PayPal Cash Card or Amazon Gift Card. To help you make the right decision, we have aligned some pros and cons of both methods.

 

Use of PayPal Key on Amazon

An alternate method that you can use to pay on Amazon is PayPal Key. It is a virtual card that lets you pay just like a Master card from any other bank. As it is virtual, it just allows you the freedom to carry a piece of plastic in the name of a card.

To use a PayPal Key on Amazon, all you need to do is fill in your 16-digit PayPal Key along with the expiry date and security code and you are good to go. One good thing about PayPal Key is it can be linked with any credit or debit card. It is not limited to PayPal account credit. So, you can use this key to get benefits from Amazon lightning deals or shop on any other online platform even if it is linked with any other credit line.

 

Use of PayPal Credit on Amazon

Can you use PayPal Credit on Amazon? Well, you can’t. PayPal Credit is the option that lets you use the PayPal account to shop online on credit, just as you purchase something from your credit card.  If you want to purchase using PayPal Credit on Amazon then you need to use alternate methods like shopping Amazon gift cards on credit from PayPal-approved sites.

However, it’s just a trouble. It would be better to purchase on Amazon with your own money in your PayPal account. Using PayPal credit to purchase on Amazon is just so much hassle that it’s simply not worth it.

 

The Key Takeaway

You can’t use PayPal on Amazon directly. However, there are alternatives that you can use. PayPal offers both a debit card and a virtual card that you can use wherever a master card is accepted. So, using these you can pay for Amazon purchases easily. Moreover, you can use PayPal to pay for Amazon cards that you can use later for your Amazon shopping.

 

FAQ

What are some other payment methods accepted on Amazon?

9 major payment methods that you can use on Amazon are:

  1. All major credit cards
  2. China Union Pay credit cards
  3. Visa, Master, or gift cards
  4. Amazon secure cards
  5. Amazon store cards
  6. Venmo
  7. STAR
  8. JCB
  9. NYCE

 

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