Amazon Coins!

Wow, these new Amazon coins are so cool!

Not only can you use coins for all your Amazon App Store purchases, but you can save as much as 20%!

(Amazon Coin images copyright Amazon.com)

Learn all about this new Kindle Fire App feature, how to spend your coins, check your balance, and buy yourself more sweet gold!

Lovin' Me Some Gold!

I'm totally diggin' the "Amazon Woman" on the face of these new Amazon coins- she rocks!

Along the outer edge of the front side of the coin it says "AMAZON COIN" and on the back side it says, "MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF".

500 FREE Amazon Coins!

The first time I accessed the App Store on my Kindle Fire (after the coins were first released) I saw the following image, notifying me of Amazon's 500 coins gift, which is the equivalent of $5.00! SWEET!

Amazon Coins: Balance & Prices

The Amazon App Store now has a new little popup bar at the bottom right of your screen that shows your Amazon coins balance (here are my 500 free coins):

Go ahead and tap the coin balance bar:

This will pop open the Buy Coins screen which shows the cost to buy more coins and how many you get for free. The more money you spend the more free coins you get:

Save Money on Amazon Apps & Games!

Purchasing Amazon coins will save money on apps, games, and any in-app content that you buy!

Here's the breakdown of how much you save for each amount:

• 500 coins for $4.75 saves you 5%
• 1,000 coins for $9.00 saves you 10%
• 2,500 coins for $21.75 saves you 13%
• 5,000 coins for $42.50 saves you 15% 
• 10,000 coins for $82.00 saves you 18%
• 50,000 coins for $400.00 saves you 20%

Buying Amazon Coins

If you'd like to increase your balance and buy more coins just select which amount you want to purchase, and then tap the orange "Buy" button at the bottom right.

For now, I'm going to start with an extra 1,000 Amazon coins:

You will need to "Confirm Your Purchase":

Yes, I really want to buy more coins. If you've turned on the parental controls password on your Kindle Fire you'll need to enter your password at this point.

After you've confirmed that, yes, you really do want to buy more coins, you'll see that they are now "minting":

Once your coins are done being minted ;) you should see this "Thanks for your order!" screen which also shows your updated balance:

Yep, 500 free coins + 1,000 newly minted coins = 1,500 Amazon Coins!

Close the screen and the balance bar at the bottom right now reflects the new total:

Spending Your Amazon Coins

The Amazon App Store on your Kindle Fire now shows the cost of an app or game in both regular US dollars and Amazon Coins:

The above is a game, The Room, that I've had in my "Saved for Later" area, so I think I'll go ahead and buy it with some of my coins.

When you're ready to spend your coins just tap the orange button and a window will pop up:

Tapping the GREEN "Get App" button will confirm your purchase, so make sure you really do want to spend your coins (or pay $$) for an app.

Yes, I want the app, so I tap the green button. My coin balance is updated accordingly. 1,500 coins - 199 coin game = 1,301 coins:

And that's basically how it's done!

Buying & Using Coins Directly on Amazon.com

If you have the first generation Kindle Fire, or you're on your computer, you can go directly to Amazon.com to purchase and spend coins.

Here's a picture of the Amazon Coins order page:

For first generation Kindle Fire owners you will need to use your coins to purchase apps and games on Amazon.com. However, according to Amazon, you can use coins for in-app purchases right from within the app/game. (I still need to test that out.)

Here's a screenshot showing the new purchase options from Plants vs Zombies on Amazon's website:

And here's a closeup of the options which also shows your balance:
(Yes, I took this screenshot before I purchased the app above so I still had all 1,500 coins.)

And there you go!

Another Alternative

If you're not sure about using Amazon's new coin system you can still use an Amazon gift card to give yourself a pre-purchased amount on your account.

This is still a great Kindle Fire tip since you can use the entire amount left on your card (even if it's only a penny) towards your next purchase, but you can't do that with coins. You either have enough coins to make the purchase, you buy more, or you use regular money.

Check out other great Kindle Fire accessories and Kindle Fire app resources.

I ♥ My Fire!
-Christine