Does Walmart Actually Sell Amazon Gift Cards? (And Which Other Third-Party Gift Cards You Can Buy There)
Yes, most Walmart stores carry Amazon gift cards in the gift card mall, but there are real caveats about activation, online orders, and which brands actually show up. Here's the full picture before you drive over.
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You're standing in the Walmart gift card aisle, you need a present for someone who lives on Amazon, and the obvious question hits you: does Walmart even sell Amazon gift cards, or is this a wasted trip? Short answer: yes, most Walmart stores carry them in the physical gift card mall, but there are a few real catches about buying them online and about which other brands actually show up on those racks. We've walked this aisle plenty of times, so here's the honest rundown before you commit.
The Short Answer: In Stores, Yes. Online, No.
Walmart sells Amazon gift cards at the physical gift card display inside most stores. You'll find them near the front end, usually on a freestanding rack or an endcap near the registers, sometimes in electronics. They come in fixed denominations like $25, $50, and $100, and there's often a variable-load option where you can put anywhere from $5 up to $500 on the card.
What Walmart does not do is sell third-party gift cards on walmart.com. You can buy a Walmart gift card online, but the Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, and restaurant cards you see in stores are almost always in-store only. So if you were hoping to order one for curbside pickup or delivery, that's the first thing to know: plan a store trip, not an online order.
Why the Online Limitation Exists
Third-party gift cards are a fraud magnet. Retailers keep them in physical stores so the card can be activated at the register in front of a cashier, which is a lot harder to fake than an online order shipped to a random address. That's also why you won't usually find deep discounts or promos on them the way you might on a Walmart gift card around the holidays. The upside for you as a buyer is that in-store activation is the safety mechanism. The downside is you have to actually go in.
What the Gift Card Mall at Walmart Actually Looks Like
The display is usually organized by category rather than alphabetically, which is why people miss the card they're looking for. You'll typically see sections for:
- Streaming and entertainment: Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo eShop, Roblox, Google Play
- Restaurants and coffee: Starbucks, Olive Garden, Chili's, Domino's, Panera, Chipotle
- Retail and department stores: Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sephora, Old Navy
- Travel and gas: Airbnb, Southwest, Uber, DoorDash, and various fuel brands
- Prepaid financial cards: Visa, Mastercard, and Amex gift cards, usually on a separate peg
If you want a fuller breakdown of what's actually on those racks and how the fees shake out by brand, our Gift Cards at Walmart: The Complete List of Brands, Fees & Where to Buy (2026) guide covers the whole lineup. The main thing to know walking in is that the selection varies by store size. A Supercenter will carry far more brands than a Neighborhood Market, and the smaller format stores sometimes carry only a handful of the most popular cards.
Which Other Third-Party Cards You'll Find (and Which You Won't)
The Amazon card is the one people ask about most, but the rack is deep. Here's roughly how the third-party selection breaks down by category, with the caveat that stock swings by location and season.
Entertainment and Gaming
Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Spotify, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Roblox, and Google Play are near-universal. These are the easiest to find and often the most useful for teenagers and anyone who pays for a streaming subscription. Discord Nitro cards show up less consistently.
Food and Coffee
Starbucks, Dunkin', Panera, Chipotle, Domino's, and Olive Garden are almost always there. If you're gift-wrapping a restaurant card with a little something extra, remember to check the balance before you hand it over, since restaurant cards are the ones people most often get as regifts with a few dollars left on them. Our guide to checking an Olive Garden gift card balance walks through the process in about a minute.
Retail and Big Box
Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sephora, and Old Navy are standard. If you're shopping for a hobbyist and the gift card is a placeholder while you decide, our gardening gift guide is a better backup than a Home Depot card for someone who actually wants a hori hori knife. Gift cards are great when you know the store, less great when you're guessing.
What You Usually Won't Find
Amazon gift cards are the big "yes" people are surprised by, but there are a few "no" answers worth knowing. Walmart generally does not stock gift cards for other competing general-merchandise chains in the same way, and you won't find niche brands like a specialty record store or a local restaurant group. If Amazon is the goal and you're near a Whole Foods, our Whole Foods gift card guide covers that store's selection too, since the two retailers overlap more than you'd expect.
The Money Side: Denominations, Fees, and What to Actually Buy
Fixed-denomination Amazon cards at Walmart run $25, $50, and $100 most of the time, with variable-load cards covering $5 to $500. For a coworker or a teacher, $25 is the sweet spot. For a teenager or a family member, $50 lands well. For a wedding or baby shower, $100 is a normal number and won't look cheap or showy.
One thing people forget: third-party gift cards at Walmart don't carry a purchase fee in the way that a general-purpose Visa gift card does. A $50 Visa gift card usually costs about $5.95 in fees on top of the $50 value, which means your recipient gets $50 but you paid $55.95. A $50 Amazon card costs exactly $50. If flexibility matters more than brand, the Visa card is worth the fee; if you know the recipient shops Amazon, skip the fee and buy the Amazon card.
A Quick Budget Sanity Check
Work backward from your relationship, not your wallet. Coworkers and teachers: $20 to $30. Friends: $30 to $50. Siblings and close family: $50 to $100. If you're buying for a group (like splitting a gift for a departing colleague), a single $50 or $75 card with everyone's name on the envelope is cleaner than five $10 cards.
How to Avoid Buying a Dead or Drained Card
This is the part nobody warns you about, and it's the reason a gift card that seems fine at the register can turn out empty by the time someone tries to use it. Gift card fraud happens when a card is tampered with in the store: someone peels back the packaging, writes down the card number and PIN, reseals it, and waits for the card to be activated before draining it.
Before you pay, do three things:
- Run your thumb over the scratch-off strip. It should be completely intact and unpeeled.
- Check the packaging for any sign of resealing, glue, or a slightly misaligned cardboard backer.
- Make sure you're buying the actual card, not a "card replacement" insert or an already-opened package.
Then keep the receipt and the activation slip, and tell the recipient to register or check the card shortly after they get it. If you're giving an Olive Garden card or something similar, the recipient can verify the balance the same day using the steps on a Olive Garden balance check. Amazon cards can be redeemed straight into an Amazon account within seconds, which actually makes them one of the safer cards to gift because the balance gets locked to an account rather than sitting loose in a wallet.
When a Gift Card Isn't the Right Gift
We like gift cards, but they're not always the answer. If the person you're shopping for loves a specific hobby, a small physical item usually beats a card. A reader with a stack of unread books will get more joy out of a book light than a $25 Amazon card they'll forget to use. Our gifts for book lovers guide has picks in the $15 to $40 range that feel more personal than a card. Same logic for tech accessory gifts: a MagSafe power bank is a better present for someone who's always on the go than a card they'll use eventually.
Gift cards win in three situations: when the recipient is genuinely hard to shop for, when you're buying for a teenager or someone whose taste changes weekly, or when you're shipping the gift and don't want to pay for a real box. If you're in the last category, the Amazon card is a strong choice because the recipient can use it immediately and nothing has to be mailed.
A Few Final Logistics
If you're standing in a Walmart and you know the Amazon card isn't there, ask a cashier before you give up. Associates can usually tell you whether that store carries it or whether it sold out. Gift card inventory does get replenished, and the Amazon peg is one of the first to clear out around December.
If the card is a last-minute gift for someone out of state, buy it in the store and either hand it over in person or mail it in a padded envelope. Don't scratch the strip off yourself. The whole point is that the recipient does that, and it also keeps the card safer in transit. And if you're buying for someone who genuinely loves Amazon and you're near an Amazon pickup location or a Whole Foods, you've got more options than you think for buying on the same day.
Gift Ideas to Go With This
Want more ideas? Browse our full guide: 18 Holiday Gifts & Christmas Present Ideas Under $50 (2026): Thoughtful Picks for Everyone on Your List
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Walmart sell Amazon gift cards online?
No, Walmart does not sell Amazon gift cards on walmart.com. Third-party gift cards including Amazon are sold in physical stores at the gift card mall near the registers. You can only buy a Walmart-branded gift card online.
What denominations of Amazon gift cards does Walmart carry?
Most Walmart stores carry fixed-value Amazon cards in $25, $50, and $100, plus variable-load cards that let you put anywhere from $5 to $500 on the card at checkout. Selection varies by store size.
Can I use an Amazon gift card to buy other gift cards?
No. Amazon gift card balances generally cannot be used to purchase third-party gift cards, prescription drugs, or certain subscription services. They're meant for merchandise and eligible digital content on Amazon itself.
Why did my Amazon gift card from Walmart have a zero balance?
If the card was tampered with before activation, someone else may have captured the card number and PIN and drained the balance. Report it to Walmart with your receipt and to Amazon customer service. This is why you should always check the scratch-off strip before buying.
Do I have to activate an Amazon gift card at Walmart?
Yes. Third-party gift cards only become active after the cashier scans and activates them at the register. A card taken off the rack without being rung up will show a zero balance when redeemed.
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