Yip first came to notice by appearing in various television series' in the mid-1980s. Erotic Ghost Story in 1987 proved to be a breakthrough role and she became one of the most popular actresses in Hong Kong and many other parts of Asia in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She had large, full breasts which made her much in demand for nude scenes. However she refused to appear fully naked on film. Her efforts to avoid fully exposing her breasts on screen through clever use of camera angles, whereby the side of her breast is seen, became known as the "Yip tease". However, in Erotic Ghost Story for Example, she did show her buttocks in one scene.

In 1990, a Hong Kong man was sent to prison and charged for stealing money. This man said he stole money in order to sustain Amy Yip's luxurious lifestyle. However, Amy Yip said she had only met the man few times and the man was not a close friend.

She retired from acting in 1997. She expressed regret that, given the nature of her films, there were not many memorable roles during her acting career. The only exceptional movie for her was the 1991 movie Queen of the Underworld which she portrayed Sister Har, a woman who climbed from the lowest depths of society to become the celebrated queen of the night life in the 1960s and 1970s of Hong Kong.

Numerous rumours have surfaced over the years about Yip being married to her long term orthopedics surgeon-boyfriend Lim Kiam Hwee, and being pregnant. In an interview in early 2006 with an East Weekly reporter, who spotted Yip walking her dog at Repulse Bay, however, she said she was in a steady relationship with her boyfriend of more than 15 years and had no intention of getting married or having children. She added she had food and beverage businesses set up in Hong Kong and Macau that kept her busy and occupied.