For years, the only way to reach a slot’s free spins round was to keep spinning and wait for the scatter symbols to land. Bonus buy slots changed that. Instead of grinding through the base game, you pay a fixed price and the bonus round starts immediately. The feature has become one of the most debated additions to online slots in recent years, and https://thebonusbuyslots.com currently lists 300 titles that include it. This guide explains what a bonus buy is, how the pricing works, what it does to volatility and RTP, and which players should and should not use it.
Bonus Buy Basics
A bonus buy (also called a feature buy or bonus purchase) is an option inside a slot that lets you skip the base game and go straight to the bonus feature. Usually that feature is a free spins round, but some titles sell access to pick-and-click games, hold-and-win rounds or enhanced versions of the free spins with extra multipliers. Providers such as Pragmatic Play, Nolimit City and Hacksaw Gaming have built the feature into most of their recent releases.
The option normally sits next to the spin button, and it shows the price before you commit. That price is quoted as a multiple of your current bet, so it rises and falls with your stake. Once you confirm, the game deducts the cost from your balance and launches the feature at once.
Types of Bonus Buy
Early bonus buy slots had a single option: pay the price, get the free spins. Newer releases often offer several, and the differences matter before you choose.
The standard buy delivers the same bonus the game would trigger naturally, at the same starting conditions. The enhanced buy starts the feature with something extra already in place: a higher multiplier, more spins, guaranteed wild symbols or a larger grid. It costs more because the expected payout is higher. Some games include a mystery or random buy, where the price is lower but the game decides which tier you receive, and a few allow you to buy a boosted base game instead, where the bonus triggers far more often for a fixed number of spins.
Each option has its own price and, in most games, its own published RTP. A frequent pattern is that the most expensive tier has the highest return and the mystery option the lowest, but this is not a rule, and the only reliable way to know is to open the information screen and compare the figures.
From Click to Feature
- Set your bet size first. The buy price is worked out from it, so change the stake before you open the buy menu.
- Open the bonus buy menu and check the price and, where several options exist, the differences between them.
- Confirm the purchase. The amount leaves your balance at that moment, not after the round ends.
- The game runs a triggering spin that guarantees the scatters, then the feature starts.
- Your winnings from the feature are added to your balance when it finishes, exactly as they would be after a naturally triggered bonus.
A point worth repeating: the purchase is a single outcome. You are not buying a set number of spins at a guaranteed return; you are buying one shot at the feature, and that shot can pay back a fraction of the price or many times it.
Bonus Buy Pricing
The standard price for a basic free spins buy is around 100x the bet. At a stake of 1 EUR, that means 100 EUR for one feature. Games with several tiers can range much higher: enhanced bonuses that guarantee a higher multiplier or extra wilds are often priced at 500x or more.
The multiplier is not arbitrary. In the game’s maths, it approximates how many base-game spins you would expect to play on average before the bonus triggered naturally, adjusted for the wins you would have collected along the way. This is the reason the price differs from game to game: a slot where the feature triggers, say, every 150 spins will sell it for less than one where it triggers every 400.
Because the cost scales with the bet, the minimum buy is set by the game’s minimum stake. On The Bonus Buy Slots the lowest bet on most bonus buy titles is 0.20 EUR, which puts the cheapest standard buy at 20 EUR.
Bought Bonus or Natural Trigger?
Imagine two players at the same stake on the same game. The first spins normally and reaches the bonus whenever it comes. The second buys it every time. Over a long enough stretch, their total return converges with the respective RTP figures, so neither has a built-in edge unless the buy RTP differs from the base RTP.
What distinguishes them is the shape of the session. The first player sees many small wins, long dry spells and an occasional bonus. The second sees nothing but bonuses, each one either a disappointment or a win, with nothing in between. Over an hour the first player might have risked a few hundred bets in total; the second could have risked the same amount in ten clicks. Same game, same maths, completely different experience.
The Maths Behind a Buy
Two numbers shift when you buy the bonus, and each of them matter.
The first is RTP. Many providers publish a separate return figure for the bought feature, and it is not necessarily the same as the base-game RTP. In some games the buy RTP is slightly higher, in others it is lower, and occasionally it is identical. The figure is usually listed in the game’s information screen next to the regular RTP, and it is worth reading before you spend anything.
The second is volatility, and here the effect is far bigger. A naturally triggered bonus arrives after dozens or hundreds of base spins that soften your results. A bought bonus removes all of that. Every purchase is one concentrated bet on a single high-variance event, so a session of ten buys can swing far more than a thousand regular spins at the same stake. Even when the long-term return is similar, the ride is nothing alike.
Common Myths About Bonus Buys
Because the feature is new and costly, it has attracted a lot of folklore. Three claims come up constantly, and none of them survives contact with the maths.
“The game remembers what you paid.” It does not. Each bought feature is decided by the random number generator independently, with no memory of previous purchases or results. A string of poor bonuses does not make the next one more likely to hit, and a big win does not make the game “due” to go cold.
“Buying is always worse value.” Occasionally it is, when the buy RTP is set below the base figure. Often it is identical or marginally better. The claim is meaningless without looking at the specific game.
“Buying at a low stake is safer.” It is cheaper, which is not the same thing. The ratio of price to expected return stays the same at every bet level; a smaller stake simply shrinks both sides equally.
The Upside
- Easier comparison. Because you see the bonus repeatedly, you learn how a game’s feature plays much faster than through base-game play.
- Full feature exposure. If you play slots for the bonus round, a buy delivers the part you actually enjoy every time.
- Time. You get to the feature in seconds instead of waiting through half an hour.
- Published maths. Where the provider lists a dedicated buy RTP, you know the precise return of what you are paying for.
Drawbacks and Risks
- No base-game wins. You forgo every win that would have come from the spins you skipped. The buy price accounts for this, but it is still money that never passes through your balance.
- Volatility. As described above, a run of dead bonuses can empty a balance that would have lasted hours of normal play.
- Pace. Rapid purchases squeeze a lot of risk into very little time, which leaves it easy to lose track of what you have spent.
- Price creep. Raising the bet to chase a loss also raises the buy price, which speeds up the downswing.
Who Should Use Bonus Buys?
The feature is a good fit for players who understand that they are paying for variance, who set a budget per session and stick to it, and who genuinely prefer the bonus round over the base game. It is also useful for anyone testing a new slot and wanting to see the feature several times quickly.
It is a poor fit for anyone on a small bankroll, for anyone who is inclined to chase losses, and for players who enjoy the slow build of anticipation that the base game provides. If a single buy represents a large share of what you are willing to lose in a session, skip it.
How to Choose a Bonus Buy Slot
With hundreds of titles carrying the feature, the choice comes down to a few things that take a minute each.
- Maximum win. A feature capped at a few hundred times the bet behaves very differently from one that can reach several thousand. The cap tells you how much of the price is riding on rare outcomes.
- Hit rate inside the bonus. Some features return something on almost every spin; others rely on one or two big events. Demo play reveals this quickly.
- Buy RTP. Read the paytable and locate the return for the bought feature. If it is not listed separately, assume the base figure.
- Tier structure. Multiple buy options with clear differences are a good sign; a single option with a vague description is less informative.
- Provider track record. Studios that publish full maths for every tier make the decision easier than those that do not.
Bankroll Rules That Actually Help
- Decide the number of buys before the session, not the amount of money. Five buys at a fixed price is a concrete limit; “until I hit something” is not.
- Steer clear of the premium tiers until you have seen how the standard feature behaves.
- Check the published buy RTP and regard a lower figure as a genuine cost, not a rounding error.
- Stop when the planned number of buys is spent, whether the balance is up or down.
- Keep the stake constant across every buy so the price remains predictable.
Regional and Bonus Rules
Bonus buys are not available to players in the United Kingdom, where the regulator does not permit the feature. If you log in from one of those regions, the buy button is hidden and the game runs in its standard version only.
At The Bonus Buy Slots, bonus buys are not permitted while bonus funds are in play. Using the feature with an active bonus may cancel the bonus and any winnings from it, so complete the wagering first or play with real money only.
Bonus Buy FAQ
Does the buy price change with the bet?
Yes. The price is a multiple of the current stake, so raising or lowering the bet changes the cost in proportion.
Can I buy a bonus while a casino bonus is active?
Not at The Bonus Buy Slots: the feature is blocked while bonus funds are active, and using it anyway can void the bonus.
Is a bought bonus the same as a natural one?
In most games, yes: the feature runs identically. Some titles sell upgraded tiers that start with a higher multiplier or extra symbols, and those are labelled separately in the buy menu.
Is a bonus buy good value?
It depends on what you want from the session. The published RTP tells you the expected return; the volatility tells you how rough the road is. Neither makes a buy right or wrong by itself.
Can I try bonus buys for free?
Yes. The Bonus Buy Slots offers a demo mode on its bonus buy titles, so you can see the feature with play money before spending anything.
