How to buy and redeem Nintendo gift cards without the guesswork
Why people get tripped up on Nintendo gift cards
A Nintendo gift card should take two minutes to buy but somehow turns into a research project. I have watched shoppers stare at the checkout screen wondering whether the card will work on their account, which currency to pick, and what happens after the code arrives. The confusion almost always comes down to one detail. Nintendo ties gift cards to the region of your eShop account. A card in Brazilian real works on a Brazilian-region account. A card in Canadian dollars works on a Canadian-region account. That is the whole rule.
So before you buy anything, check your account region. You will find it in your Nintendo Account settings under Profile. If your account is set to Brazil, you want BRL cards. If it is set to Canada, you want CAD cards. Mixing them up means the code will not redeem, and you will end up emailing us at support@blinkcodes.com asking what went wrong.
Which denominations we carry
We stock Nintendo gift cards in two currencies, and the prices below are what you will actually pay at checkout in USD. Nintendo sets the face value in local currency, and we convert it so you see the real cost up front.
For Brazilian-region accounts, we carry six denominations. A BRL 50 card runs about 10 USD. A BRL 100 card is about 19 USD. The BRL 250 card sits at about 48 USD, and the BRL 300 card comes in at about 58 USD. If you want more room, the BRL 400 card is about 77 USD and the BRL 500 card is about 97 USD.
For Canadian-region accounts, we carry two options. A CAD 10 card costs about 7 USD, and a CAD 25 card is about 17 USD. These smaller cards are popular with people who just need enough to grab a single indie game or a DLC pack without overcommitting.
How to buy a Nintendo gift card from us
Buying is simple, and most orders deliver a code to your inbox within minutes. Here is what to do.
- Go to the Nintendo gift card section on our store and pick the currency that matches your Nintendo account region.
- Select the denomination you want from the available options.
- Add it to your cart and proceed to checkout.
- Enter your payment details and complete the purchase.
- Check the email address you used at checkout for your gift card code.
That is it. You do not need an account on our site to buy, though having one makes it easier to track past orders if you ever need to retrieve a code you lost.
How to redeem the code on your Nintendo account
Once you have the code, redeeming it takes about thirty seconds on either a Nintendo Switch console or a web browser. I recommend doing it on the console if you are already there, since the funds show up immediately in your eShop wallet and you can start browsing right away.
- Turn on your Nintendo Switch and open the Nintendo eShop from the home menu.
- Select your user profile icon in the top right corner of the eShop screen.
- Choose the option to enter a download code or add funds using a gift card.
- Type in the code exactly as it appears in your email, including all letters and numbers.
- Confirm the redemption when the screen shows the amount being added to your balance.
If you prefer to do it from a computer, sign in to your Nintendo Account on accounts.nintendo.com, navigate to the Shop Menu, and select the option to add funds with a gift card. The steps are nearly identical, and the balance syncs to your console the next time you open the eShop.
A few things worth knowing
Gift card balances do not expire, so there is no rush to spend the full amount right away. If you add BRL 500 to your account and only spend BRL 120 on a game, the remaining BRL 380 stays in your wallet for the next purchase. Nintendo also lets you stack multiple gift cards, so if you redeem a BRL 100 card today and a BRL 250 card next week, the balances combine into a single wallet total.
One thing to watch for is tax. Some regions apply sales tax or equivalent fees at checkout, which means a game listed at BRL 199 might actually cost slightly more when you hit purchase. Having a little extra in your wallet prevents the frustrating scenario of being a few real short at checkout and having to start over with another card.
Something else I have noticed from helping customers: people sometimes buy a BRL card for an account they set up years ago without remembering which region they chose. If a code will not redeem and you are certain you typed it correctly, double-check your account region first. That single setting is the culprit almost every time.
When the code does not arrive
Codes are delivered automatically, but occasionally an email gets delayed or lands in a spam folder. If you completed checkout and have not received your code within ten minutes, check your spam or promotions tab first. If it is not there, send us a message at support@blinkcodes.com with your order number and we will track it down. Most of the time the code was generated instantly and the email just took a detour through a filter, but we are happy to resend it manually if needed.