Stacking Perks with the Amazon Rewards Credit Cards
These days, every major retailer seems to have a branded credit card with a special offer. The Walmart credit card offers 3% cash back on Walmart purchases, the Target Redcard boasts 5% off everything at Target, Best Buy gives you up points towards discount certificates, and the list goes on and on. These branded cards are far from perfect, but when managed correctly they can add significantly to your bottom line, especially when they are coupled with a cash back portal like eBates.
The Amazon Rewards Credit Cards
There are actually two different Amazon credit cards, and both offer pretty decent perks. The biggest difference is that for the Prime Rewards you have to be an Amazon Prime member, but for the Amazon Rewards card you do not.
Amazon Prime Rewards Card
As mentioned above, to be eligible for this card you have to have an active Prime membership. The benefit is that you get 5% cash back on all your Amazon purchases, including Wholefoods, Zappos, etc. The downsides are that while there is technically not an annual fee for this card, your Prime membership will set you back $119/year. Also, keep in mind that you are not allowed to use your Prime membership to buy things to resell, which includes Amazon flips, drop shipping, etc.
Amazon Rewards Card
The more basic Amazon Rewards card does not have an annual fee, does not require a Prime membership, and still offers a nice 3% cash back on purchases from Amazon. But again, since we cannot use our Prime membership for Amazon flips we would only get 3% cash back anyways.
In short, if you have a Prime account already, then feel free to use it to apply for the Prime Rewards card. You can still use the Prime Rewards card with your alternate Amazon account you use to purchase flips and take advantage of the 3% cash back. Which is pretty good cash back if we’re being honest. If you are active with FBA and spend $1,000 per day, this card could add an additional $600 – $1000 per month to your bottom line. But don’t rush to apply just because I said so, because there a few other things to keep in mind.
Other Considerations
Travel Hacking
The first other thing to note about this card is that it is offered by Chase. In general, Chase is not well liked because of their less than ethical, and sometimes borderline predatory lending practices. But beyond that, Chase also has some fairly strict rules about their reward cards. Specifically I am talking about the unofficial 5/24 rule that says you can only get five Chase rewards cards in a 24 month period before they start declining you. For most of you this should not be an issue, but for those who are (or are interested in) travel hacking, you will want to pay attention to how many Chase cards you apply for. Especially if you want the coveted Southwest Companion pass that will require at least two Chase credit cards.
Debt is a Slippery Slope
The other thing to keep in mind is that debt can be a very slippery slope, and since these cards can charge up to 25% APR, it can easily put you in a tough situation very quickly. If you are going to apply for this card you should really only use it when you have enough cash in the bank to pay it off in full. Or at a minimum set it up to automatically pay the full balance every month, and manually pay it off every two weeks with your FBA payout. Leveraging debt to grow your business is not a bad thing, but it is something that needs to be closely managed and well maintained.
Final Thoughts
To wrap this up, if you are in a good position and ready to grow your Amazon business, then the Amazon Reward cards can be a great asset in a solid cash back strategy and should certainly be a consideration for your arsenal.
