DO NOT buy Amazon Gift cards for employees or acquaintances

Full Review
Potential unlimited exposure to your Amazon credit or debit card is what they recomended. This allows them to take any amounts over the gift card amount, and charge it to your credit card.
Amazon has a nasty little secret about how people can use gift cards. If you have friends, or relatives that do not have credit cards or a banking relationship with a debit card , you have wasted your money.
On Christmas Day, I bought an Amazon gift card for my 13-year-old daughter. Thank heavens it was not a casual friend, or employee on the low side of the pay scale. up until now, I felt like Amazon was a good way to make sure the money is well spent. Bad Idea
Since my daughter does not have a credit or debit card, the only way she could use the gift card, was F I gave her my password and access to my account.
Once they have that information, the face amount of the gift card becomes irrelevant because they can buy as much as they want on your account. Any amounts in excess of the gift card amount will be a nasty surprise gift to you.
I have been a big fan of Amazon, but this kind of policy in a world where fewer and fewer people have credit cards, this is a silly policy and dangerous for gift card givers.

The customer support representative suggested that the recipient should go buy a prepaid debit card. An excellent idea, but why would they use it at Amazon.

My take away, from this experience is that, it is much safer for your friends, and casual acquaintances to be given the prepaid debit card instead of an Amazon card. You will not have to put your account at risk, and they will not be left with a worthless gift card.