How to Buy US Apple Gift Cards Right Inside Alipay

You finally grinded through some online guide and managed to register a US Apple ID.

Freedom was only a tap away—just that one little rocket app you needed to buy. You clicked “Get,” heart racing.

And then the progress bar froze. It’s asking you for a Visa or Mastercard.

Some people tell you to go to the bank and apply for a dual-currency credit card. Others say to find a reseller on Taobao.

Getting that credit card is a hassle, full of paperwork and approvals. And buying gift cards through resellers? The markup is insane, and you’re never 100% sure the cards aren’t from stolen credit cards.

Actually, you can buy US Apple Gift Cards directly in Alipay.

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Switch Your Region to International

To buy US Apple Gift Cards in Alipay, you first need to change your region.

Open Alipay, and tap the city name in the top-left corner.

You’ll see an option for “International / Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan” in the region list.

Since we need US gift cards, pick a US location—San Francisco works fine.

Buying the Gift Card

Now Alipay is welcoming you to the United States.

In the bottom menu, switch to the “Offers” tab.

(Product managers love shuffling the UI for their KPIs, so the placement might shift around. Just use your intuition.)

Tap the circled “Curated Discount Gift Cards” from Pockyt.

Tap the App Store & iTunes option—that’s Apple’s gift card. You’ll also spot a Google Play card below for Google’s ecosystem.

Here you enter the amount you want to load, anywhere from $2 to $500.

After typing in the dollar amount, hit “Buy Now” at the bottom.

A notice tells you the gift card will be delivered by email, so you need to enter your email address. First and last name? Just make something up.

Check the box to agree to the terms, then hit “Next.”

You’ll need to verify your email—makes sense, since these purchases can’t be refunded and they want to make sure it reaches you.

Go grab the verification code from your inbox, then tap “Return.”

It takes you back to the product page, but the top-left shows you’re logged in now. Looks like you’ll need to hit “Buy Now” one more time.

After tapping Buy Now, you land on the payment page. Choose Alipay.

The exchange rate is real-time, much fairer than what you’d get with Taobao resellers. Plus it’s official, so no risk of dodgy card-sourced codes. Cheaper and safer.

Redeeming the Gift Card

US gift cards, of course, can only be redeemed on a US account.

First, sign in with your US Apple ID in the App Store.

Tap your profile picture in the top-right corner, find “Redeem Gift Card or Code,” then select “Enter Code Manually.”

Paste the code you received, confirm, and boom—your dollar balance lands in your account.

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In a network world where information gaps can scalp you left and right, I highly recommend bookmarking this guide.

Next time you need balance on a foreign-region account, you’ll save money and keep your account safe.

And hey, with this as your supply source, you could even flip cards on Taobao and start your own little side hustle. Completely viable.