Are you having trouble checking out on Amazon?
Whether the proceed to checkout button is missing entirely, Amazon is showing an error or the page simply isn’t loading, this can be quite frustrating – especially if you’re ready to be done shopping!
Thankfully, Amazon is a massive company, and errors like these cause them a lot of money. So, we have a lot of information available on how to fix this.
In this article, I’ll be covering 6 different reasons why you may have trouble checking out on Amazon, and what can be done to fix it.
Let’s get started!
1. You Have Add-On Items And Your Cart Doesn’t Total $25
This is one of those things that most people don’t think that much about.
Amazon has a classification for their catalog called ‘add-on’ items. These are typically low-priced, light products that would otherwise be too expensive to ship on their own.
After all, if Amazon sells you a product for $2, it may be more expensive than $2 just to ship it to you – leaving them with no profit on the sale.
So, add-on items require you to have at least $25 of products in your cart, before you can checkout and purchase them.
If your cart is under $25, you will either need to add more until you reach the threshold, or remove all add-on items from your cart.
2. You Have Items In Your Cart That Are No Longer Available
Similarly to the above, Amazon may not allow you to checkout if you have items in your cart that are no longer available.
Typically when this happens, you will still be able to reach the checkout page, but you will receive a notice at the top stating that one or more of your items is no longer available.
However, I’ve heard reports from others that this issue has prevented them from reaching the checkout page entirely, in rare cases.
Usually, all you have to do to fix this is refresh the page, and try proceeding to checkout once again.
However, you may also consider clicking through to each one of the project pages to verify that they are still available for purchase, before trying to checkout once again.
3. Amazon Is Experiencing A Huge Traffic Surge
If you know that you’re shopping during one of Amazon’s peak times, it’s possible that this may be the reason.
You can recognize a traffic surge because the ‘Proceed to checkout’ button will still be present, but the page won’t actually load when you click on it.
Instead, it will simply show a blank page, or perhaps an error message at the top. For example, two common error messages Amazon uses are Error CS11 and Error 9912.
Some of Amazon’s peak shopping times include:
- Prime Day
- Black Friday
- Cyber Monday
- The first three weeks of December
- The week leading up to Mother’s Day
- The week leading up to Father’s Day
That being said, Amazon is aware of this, and usually ensures that they’re able to handle the increased traffic. They do own AWS after all – which powers over a third of the entire internet!
Of course, we’ve seen Amazon experience massive bugs and glitches during these time periods of time, including the inability to checkout.
Since this obviously costs Amazon a ton of money, the issues are usually sorted out very quickly. So, all you really need to do is wait!
4. Your Browser Cache Is Causing A Conflict
Sometimes the issue isn’t on Amazon’s end at all, and is instead caused by your specific device or internet browser.
While it’s hard to identify whether or not this is truly the cause, it’s still a good idea to rule this out. That way, you can focus on trying out one of the other fixes instead, once you’re sure this isn’t the problem.
If you have another device entirely (such as a smartphone or another computer), the easiest way to rule this out is to simply try checking out there instead.
If you only have one computer however, you have two options.
The first is to try clearing out your browser’s cache. The exact steps to do this can vary by browser, so I’ve included a link with step-by-step instructions here.
Alternatively, if you have more than one internet browser installed, you can also try checking out using the other browser.
So, if you’re currently on Google Chrome for example, you can try checking out using Firefox.
If Amazon checkout works in one browser and not another, than it likely points to an issue with that browser.
5. You’re Using A VPN
It needs to be said – Amazon does not like VPNs.
A VPN – or virtual private network, masks your device’s IP address by pooling it with hundreds or thousands of other people. So, if you connect to a VPN server, Amazon doesn’t see your IP at all. Instead, they see the IP address for that server.
Why is that a problem?
Well, it makes it much harder for Amazon to verify that you’re the person using your Amazon account.
If Amazon sees someone log into your account through a VPN, they don’t know if the person logged in is actually the owner, or somebody who stole your password.
This increases the likelihood of fraudulent purchases, or purchases made with stolen credit cards.
So, you’ll have a harder time using Amazon’s website with a VPN, unfortunately.
To rule this out, temporarily disable your VPN and try checking out again. If it works, you’ll know that this was the cause!
6. Amazon Is Currently Experiencing Another Error
Finally, it’s also possible that Amazon is experiencing another error, that isn’t related to high traffic volumes.
This is rare, but it does happen.
The best way to diagnose this is to use a service called Downdetector.
Downdetector is a free website that monitors when other websites and services are experiencing problems.
One of the features I like best about them is the comments section towards the bottom of the page. Here, other users can detail exactly what’s going wrong, so you’ll know whether or not the issue is widespread.
If other people are indicating that they can’t checkout, chances are it’s a platform-wide issue, and not anything going wrong with you specifically.
If that’s the case, Amazon is already likely aware of the problem, and will be trying to fix it as quickly as possible.
So, wait 10-15 minutes, and try checking out again!
What If Nothing Else Works?
Let’s say that you’ve tried every single fix listed above, and still, nothing is working.
What now?
Unfortunately, the only thing left to try is to contact Amazon customer service.
Amazon’s customer support team is actually pretty helpful, and should be able to walk you through whatever needs to be done in order to reach the checkout page.
Considering that you can contact them either by phone or by live chat, you’re sure to find an option that will be convenient for you.
Most people with issues checking out are able to get the issue fully resolved in under 10 minutes, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re still having trouble!
Conclusion
Although it’s frustrating when the checkout button isn’t working on Amazon, the fix for it is usually quite simple.
Of course, if you are still experiencing issues after trying the above recommendations, the best thing to do would be to contact Amazon customer support for further assistance.
I hope that you were able to checkout successfully, and you won’t experience this issue again in the future. If you have any other questions about Amazon, ask them below and I’ll be happy to chime in.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister