Amazon’s Market Resilience and Consumer Workarounds

Share Price Momentum Amazon’s stock performance has taken a notable upturn as the year draws to a close. On 23 December 2025, the share price climbed to €196.72, effectively crossing the 100-day moving average in an upward trajectory. This movement signals a continuation of the long-term positive trend that has been evident since late October, during which time the company’s value has appreciated by over 3.5 per cent. Currently, the stock sits comfortably above the 200-day line with a buffer of 4.65 per cent, suggesting underlying strength in the asset.

Technical Analysis and Future Outlook Market analysts are observing bullish signals across short, medium, and long-term horizons, bolstered by the share price recently intersecting both the 100-day and 20-day moving averages. However, a degree of caution remains prudent. The breakout is fresh, with the price hovering a mere 0.33 per cent above the 20-day average of €196.07. Provided the stock does not dip below these key moving averages, technical indicators point towards a potential rise to the six-month high of €220.00 recorded in early November. Should this momentum hold, investors could be looking at an upside potential of nearly 12 per cent. This growth is part of a staggering historical context; since its listing in 1997, the stock has surged by over 320,000 per cent.

Payment Hurdles for Shoppers While investors monitor the charts, consumers attempting to spend money on the platform face their own logistical nuances, particularly regarding prepaid payment methods. Vanilla Gift Cards—prepaid Visa and MasterCards often gifted during the holiday season—have become a popular choice for online shopping. Yet, using them on Amazon is rarely straightforward. The cards, issued by InComm Payments, come with significant caveats, including steep activation fees and a mandatory 24-hour waiting period post-purchase before funds become available. More concerning are the reports plaguing the issuer regarding disappearing balances, which necessitates swift usage by the consumer to avoid potential losses.

Optimising the Checkout Experience Navigating the Amazon checkout with a Vanilla card requires a specific strategy to avoid common pitfalls. The standard procedure of adding the card as a direct payment method is often inefficient; Amazon does not permit splitting a transaction between a debit card and another payment source. Consequently, if the purchase total exceeds the prepaid card’s value, the transaction will fail, or conversely, leave a small, unusable remnant on the card.

The ‘Reload’ Strategy To circumvent these restrictions, seasoned shoppers are advised to utilise the ‘Amazon Balance’ feature. Rather than paying for goods directly, the most effective method involves navigating to the ‘Gift Cards’ section of the user account and using the Vanilla card to reload the Amazon balance. This approach transfers the entire prepaid amount into the user’s store credit. Not only does this solve the issue of leftover change, but it also bypasses restrictions on recurring payments and allows the funds to be combined effortlessly with other credit cards for larger purchases, ensuring a seamless transaction within the Amazon ecosystem.