£5 back when you spend £15 at small shops won’t be returning
Every year, American Express ran a Shop Small offer giving money back for every £15 spent at small businesses. You could get money back from shops, restaurants, pubs and even places like hairdressers, galleries and dentists in the form of a statement credit.
But from 2024 it didn’t return. Here’s everything you need to know.
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What happened to Amex Shop Small in 2024?
One of my favourite perks for being an American Express customer was always Shop Small. You’d spend a set amount (around £15) and get a fiver back. It encouraged you to support local businesses and make some money!
However in the last years of the offer, it got smaller and smaller, reducing how many times you could use the promotion and how long the offer ran for. Eventually it was just three times over just three days – a far cry from the two weeks and ten redemptions previously.
Well, American Express quietly killed it off completely in 2024. Their press office told me that a competition announced in October 2024 was instead of the cardholder credit offer, rather than as well as.
Cardholders nominated their favourite independent retailers. There were 50 cardholders who won £1,000 credited to their card. You could enter ten times until 7 December 2024, though it had to be a different shop for each nomination.
In addition, ten of the nominated small shops got a £10,000 grant.
We don’t yet know whether this competition will return for 2025.
When is Amex Shop Small 2025?
American Express won’t be running the scheme in 2025.
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How Shop Small 2023 worked
Though it won’t be back this year, here’s how it last ran in 2023.
The pretty big change was a reduction in how many times you could use the offer.
- Earned £5 back for a spend of £15 or more (before 2021 this was £5 for every £10 spent)
- You could get the offer at up to three different small shops (previously five shops in 2021 and 2022, and before that in ten shops)
- There was a cap of £15 earned per card (previously £25 in the last two years, and £50 before that)
It also lasted for just three days. THREE. This reduction was a huge difference to previous years. In 2022 it lasted for ten days, down on the 13 of winter 2021, and 16 days in the years before this.
Other conditions stayed the same, including the rule that you could only earn a Shop Small credit once per retailer, per card.
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How you could make the most of Shop Small
Here’s how you could take advantage of the offer when it was running. Note the following all refers to the offer as it ran in 2023.
Add the offer to your card
The offer wasn’t automatically applied to your account. You needed to “add” the offer to your card to take advantage.
Throughout the year you also saw other decent offers. Over the years I gained £250 off a £500 United flight, £20 back from a Eurostar trip, 10% off LNER bookings and £100 back from a £250 hotel booking spend – and there were plenty more. I reckon I easily made another £50 to £100 each year from these offers, sometimes much more.
Add it to your partner’s card
If you had an additional, or ‘supplementary’ card on your account for your partner, then they could also add the offer to their card.
This meant you could both take advantage of the promotion, and you could shop twice at the same retailer – once with each card.
Apply for an extra American Express credit card
You weren’t limited to a single American Express card. Since the offer was per card not per person, if you got another card or two in your name it increased the retailers you could spend at.
You could also get a welcome bonus on a second or third card as the Platinum and BA Premium Plus had different eligibility conditions, depending on which cards you already held. I’ve written more about how to get multiple Amex signup bonuses here.
Check out this article with details of boosted referral bonuses and other extra offers with your American Express card.
Think beyond your normal shopping
It’s easy to always buy things at the same big shops, or visit the same places. This was a chance to try new stores and businesses.
Some of the businesses I looked out for were:
- Off-licences
- Corner shops
- Cafes and restaurants
- Bars and pubs
- Small boutiques
- Museums and galleries
- Services like dentists, dry cleaning or picture framing
Buy gift cards
If there was nothing you wanted to buy in the moment but you knew there would be purchases you’d make at specific businesses in the short term, then you could buy a gift card using Shop Small.
Split the bill
If you used Shop Small at a restaurant and you were with someone else using Amex, you could split the bill so you both got the credit.
Who paid for Amex Shop Small discounts?
The money all came from American Express. The shops and retailers weren’t be out of pocket at all. You genuinely were helping shops by using this offer which is why it’s such a shame it’s gone.
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How I used Shop Small in 2023
What I planned on buying
The changes to the promo in 2021 changed how I took advantage, and that was even more so with the latest cuts in 2023. I used to mainly spend in restaurants and bars, using it as an opportunity to enjoy a meal out with a little discount, but that got harder over a weekend, especially over multiple cards.
So I looked out for retailers that sold gift cards. This meant I could extend the offer by a few weeks and months.
How to get an Amex credit card
It could take up to two weeks for your card to arrive, though it’s usually much quicker.
(A quick aside, if you don’t feel confident you’ll be able to pay off your spending every month, then don’t even apply! The interest charges will far outweigh the benefits you get).
Right now there are a couple of boosted refer-a-friend welcome bonuses, which is normally a great extra. You can get the increased deals via:
- Amex Preferred Reward Gold: Boosted welcome bonus
- Amex Platinum: Boosted up to 80,000 points + £80 cashback
Check out this article with details of boosted referral bonuses and other extra offers with your American Express card.
If trying to buy essentials rather than treats using Shop Small then I would suggest using it on postage stamps. Many convenience type shops take amex are on shop small and sell stamps. Often these stores are over priced for food and drink but stamps have to be sold at face value so they can’t mark them up.
I have done this in the past but do make sure the stamps aren’t marked up (there’s a whole article here about this https://becleverwithyourcash.com/corner-shop-stamp-rip-off/#:~:text=A%201st%20Class%20stamp%20should,%C2%A31.15%20to%20%C2%A31.29.
Thought this was an ‘ all you have to do is spend with this retailer ‘ offer. Do Amex ers now have to proir apply ?
Hi, the offer is launched in the Amex app. December 5 to 20, 2020.
How do they notify customers as I just stumbled across it on my app.
I got an email, but I regularly check the app for new offers
Is it possible to obtain a comprehensive list rather than the map ?
Is the £5 applied to your account shortly after you have used your card you don’t have to wait for your statement ?
It depends. Sometimes it’s pretty fast, other times it takes a while – do keep an eye on your statement to check it comes through
I’ve just got a new Amex card but this is not in my Available Offers (the only offer there is Transport for London 10% back).
Call them up – it’s a huge promotion for them so should be on every card
This has happened to me a couple of times in previous years, the listed business I have registered for on the Amex list has refused. Both times I rang Amex customer service and they credited my account with the £5’s
I love this offer, but in the past I’ve found that quite a few shops on the Amex map don’t even take Amex. So check before you spend!
Oh really? Luckily I’ve not had that but great tip for people
Tell Amex – they told me they are tracking it and contacting the shops. I told them about the one place that refused it despite being listed in the promotion (but as I wanted to go there anyway I still bought my shopping).
Often they do take ex but the fees are higher so try to stop you. Best to just do contactless without asking. By the time they have noticed it is too late…. Or add the card to apple pay / Google pay to help. That still tracks ok.