Thwas was once an Amazon Dash Button FAQ

General

• What is a Dash Button?
• Why are these popular?

Earning Credits

• How do I get the credit without ordering an item?
• I accidentally ordered something. What now?
• Can I get credits from the same type of button? If I get three Tide buttons, will they all give me credits?
• Can I earn more than one Dash credit on my account at the time?

Spending Credit

• What can I use these credits for?
• Do these credits stack?
• Can a credit be split between orders?
• How can I search for Amazon-sold items?

Credit Balance

• How do I check my Dash credit balance?
• When do these credits expire?
• If I end my Prime membership, will my credits disappear?

Miscellaneous

• Why does everyone hate the Glad button?
• Will Amazon punish me if I claim credits without ordering anything?
• So, I have this worthless button now. What can I do with it?

General

What is a Dash Button? ^{[#what-is-it]}

A Dash Button is a small device sold by Amazon that links to your Amazon account that can order an item when pressed.

Why are these popular? ^{[#why-popular]}

No deal hunter is using these to buy anything. They give you a $4.99 Amazon credit on first press (for Amazon-sold items only), and can often be purchased for less than $4.99. It’s like buying a discounted $4.99 gift card that can only be used on Amazon-sold items.

Earning Credits

How do I get the credit without ordering an item? ^{[#earn-credit]}

When your Dash Button arrives, you link it to your Amazon account in two steps:

• First, you get the device on your WiFi network and link it to your account.
• Second, you select an item to buy.

The trick is to push the button after the first step but before the second step. Simply quit the setup process by hitting the top-right X when asked to select an item. Amazon will give you the credit when you push the button, but it’s not configured to order anything.

Don’t forget to actually push the button! Credit is awarded after you press a registered button, not after registration itself.

I accidentally ordered something. What now? ^{[#cancel-order]}

If you do complete the second step and order something by mistake, you can cancel the order and the credit will remain in your account.

If the order gets shipped and you return it, you will not get the credit refunded. In that case, it will be lost.

Can I get credits from the same type of button? If I get three Tide buttons, will they all give me credits? ^{[#duplicate-buttons]}

Yes. You can use duplicates of the same type of button, and they will all give you credit.

Can I earn more than one Dash credit on my account at the time? ^[#no-limit]

Your account can store an unlimited number of Dash credits for future use. Only one credit will apply to an order at a time; they must be used in sequence.

Spending Credit

What can I use these credits for? ^{[#what-credit-for]}

These credits can only be spent on items that are marked “Shipped and sold by Amazon”. If you order an item sold by anyone else (even if “fulfilled by Amazon”), the credit will not apply to that item. Note that “Shipped and sold by Amazon” is not the same as eligible for Prime shipping – there are many items that have Prime shipping that are not sold by Amazon.

Dash credits cannot be used to buy more Dash buttons. (This used to be possible, but no more.)

Do these credits stack? ^{[#credits-dont-stack]}

An order can only have one Dash credit apply. If you have $50 in Dash credits, you’ll need to spend them over at least ten different orders.

Your account can store an unlimited number of Dash credits.

Can a credit be split between orders? ^{[#split-credits]}

Yes, if you apply a credit to something less than $5, the remainder will apply to your next eligible order.

Furthermore, if you have more credits waiting, you can use them to “fill up” a partially spent credit back up to $4.99. So if you have two credits, and spend $3.99 of a credit on one order, your next order can use the remaining $1, as well as $3.99 of the second credit.

You can think of your Dash credits as one mass pool of credit that can only be used up in per-order amounts of $4.99 or less.

How can I search for Amazon-sold items? ^{[#find-amazon-items]}

Limit your search to a specific department, using the drop-down to the left of the search bar. When you do, your search results will have a “Seller” filter on the left side. It will include an “Amazon.com” option if any Amazon-sold items are available.

Credit Balance

How do I check my Dash credit balance? ^{[#check-balance]}

If you want to know if you have any credit balance (to check if you did your first setup correctly), try to check out with any shipped-and-sold-by-Amazon item. (If you’re looking for something that qualifies, try any AmazonBasics item.) When you start checkout, you’ll see “Dash Promotion: -$4.99” (or a lower amount, if your item is cheaper or you’ve already spent some of the current credit).

To find your total Dash credit balance:

1. Find your “Amazon MP3” balance at this link. (If the balance doesn’t come up immediately, click the “Check your balance” button.)
2. Check this link to see if you have any “Digital Rewards” credits for no-rush shipping.
3. Subtract any no-rush Digital Rewards from your Amazon MP3 balance to find the value of your Dash credits only.

If you have other active credits besides no-rush credits on your account, it might not be perfectly accurate, but it’s the best estimate available.

When do these credits expire? ^{[#when-expire]}

Amazon has never stated an expiration date for the credits once they have been earned.

You must push the button and earn the credit by December 31, 2018. (This used to be 2017, but has been pushed forward another year.)

If I end my Prime membership, will my credits disappear? ^{[#cancel-prime]}

There are reports that credits persist after ending your Prime membership. In fact, although you need a Prime membership to order Dash Buttons, if you somehow got a brand new one and activated it on a non-Prime account, it would probably give cedit to that non-Prime account just the same. I am not 100% sure about this, but those are the most plausible reports I’ve seen. If you have a firsthand account, please file an issue with more details.

Miscellaneous

Why does everyone hate the Glad button? ^[#not-glad]

The Glad brand button is notorious for not giving the credit. You will need to contact Amazon customer support to tell them to issue the credit. The Glad button is the only button that does this, and no one knows why.

Will Amazon punish me if I claim credits without ordering anything? ^{[#will-amazon-punish-me]}

Some people have done this hundreds (!) of times without any issue. I suspect if Amazon had punished someone even once for this, the deal hunting community would be rife with rumors of “that one guy who had his account deactivated for Dash Button misuse!” Since no such rumors exist, I think it’s safe to say this has never happened.

They might possibly revoke credit in the future, but considering that this has been going on for years with no issue, corrective action from Amazon doesn’t seem likely.

So, I have this worthless button now. What can I do with it? ^{[#repurpose-buttons]}

If you want to throw it away or sell it, you can disassociate it from your account on the “Content and Devices” menu. Make sure you’re on the “Devices” submenu (rather than the “Content” submenu). Click the ... button for the Dash Button and select “Deregister”.

Alternatives to throwing them out:

• You can crack it open to get the AAA battery inside. (Some people have suggested using plumber’s pliers. You might also try a hammer and/or screwdriver. Be safe!)
• You can search for “dash button hacks” to learn how to use it for home automation. Turn on your smart lights with the press of a button, trigger an IFTTT job to call your cell phone, etc.
• After you disassociate the button from your account, you can sell them in bulk on eBay to other people who want to use them for home automation.