If you’re looking for a way to make some extra money, the Amazon affiliate program may be a good option for you.
In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about the Amazon affiliate program, including how it works, how much you can earn, and the pros and cons of participating in the program.
We’ll also give you tips on how to become an Amazon affiliate and start earning money.
- What Is Affiliate Marketing?
- What Is the Amazon Affiliate Program?
- How Much Does the Amazon Affiliate Program Pay?
- How Much Can You Make With the Amazon Affiliate Program?
- Amazon Affiliate Program: Pros and Cons
- Amazon Affiliate Program: Getting Paid
- Strategies To Maximize Profits
- 1. Use Amazon native shopping ads
- 2. Promote high-paying products
- 3. Promote higher-priced products
- 4. Drive traffic from multiple sources
- 5. Blog frequently
- 6. Write Amazon product reviews
- 7. Add Amazon affiliate program link to email signature
- 8. Use comparison posts
- 9. Include Amazon Affiliate Program links in social media profiles:
- How To Become an Amazon Affiliate
- Is It Easy To Become an Amazon Affiliate?
- Amazon Affiliate Program Rules and Requirements
- Which Amazon Affiliate Program Should I Sign Up For?
- Signing Up for the Amazon Affiliate Program [Tutorial]
- 1. Visit Amazon Associates Homepage
- 2. Enter Required Information
- 3. Fill Out a Profile
- 4. Set Up Payment
- 5. Start Promoting Products
- Wrapping Up
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based digital marketing.
A business rewards an affiliate for each customer product purchase caused by the affiliate’s marketing efforts.
What Is the Amazon Affiliate Program?
The Amazon Associates program is a specific type of affiliate marketing platform.
You can send your traffic to Amazon via affiliate links as an influencer or blogger.
If your visitors buy products at Amazon, you’ll earn affiliate commissions.
Related Programs:
How Does the Amazon Affiliate Program Work?
The Amazon affiliate program works by giving website owners and bloggers a referral link to Amazon.com.
When a customer clicks through the link and makes a purchase, the website owner or content creator earns an affiliate commission on the sale.
If a blogger has a high-traffic website that can recommend products, Amazon affiliate links are almost always included in the blog content due to how simple the program is to apply for and get started with.
How Much Does the Amazon Affiliate Program Pay?
Amazon pays its affiliates based on a variety of factors, including the number of sales made and the product category.
Amazon Associates Commission
The Amazon Associates program pays its affiliates based on a fixed commission structure.
The commission rates range from 1% to 20%.
Your commission depends on the product category you’re selling in.
For instance, you can earn a 4% commission when selling luggage or a 2% commission when selling televisions.
Amazon Associates Bounties
In addition to the regular commissions, Amazon also offers bounty payments for certain activities.
Amazon pays a bounty commission on programs and services instead of products.
A bounty pays out a fixed commission on actions taken by customers.
These actions might include signing up for a program or taking a free service trial.
Examples can include the following.
- Amazon Prime
- Amazon Music
- Amazon Baby Registry
- Audible
- Amazon Home Services
Amazon runs promotions that offer its affiliate opportunities to earn some bounties for a limited time.
Other bounties are evergreen offers.
How Much Can You Make With the Amazon Affiliate Program?
Your earning potential as an Amazon affiliate depends on several factors, including the traffic to your website or blog, the products you promote, and the commission rate you earn.
In general, however, you can expect to earn around four percent on average for most product sales.
As mentioned above, certain categories of products earn specific commission rates.
For example, you will earn a 4% commission on any sales made in the category of shoes, handbags, and accessories.
Other 4% commission rate categories include the following.
- Kitchen (4.5%)
- Office products
- Physical books and automotive (4.5%)
- Luxury fashion
- Ring devices
- Watches and jewelry
- Fire TV
- Apparel
- Men’s and kids’ private label
Health and personal care and grocery products earn a 1% commission.
You can earn a 3% commission on these categories.
- Business and industrial supplies
- Beauty
- Home improvement
- Furniture
- Lawn and garden
- Amazon Coins
- Baby products
- Tools
- Musical instruments
- Sports
- Outdoors
If you sell in the digital videos, handmade, physical music, or digital music categories, the Amazon Affiliate Program will pay out a 5% commission.
Luxury beauty pays a 10% commission rate.
The highest tier goes to 20% for affiliates who can sell Amazon Games.
To calculate how much you can earn with the Amazon Affiliate Program, look at your ability to drive traffic to an offer.
If your blog generates 10,000 monthly views to a review of Amazon Echo Devices, start paying attention to how many clicks the first position receives.
You might notice that 30% of visitors click your top recommendation.
You’ll get 3,000 clicks to the Amazon sales page in this case.
Assuming a 5% close ratio, you would create 150 sales.
A 4% commission on a $40 Echo device earns you $1.60 per sale.
At 150 sales, you would earn $240 per month.
Use this as a simple example of what’s possible for every product you offer through the Amazon program.
Each affiliate will earn a different amount based on traffic numbers and sales conversion rates.
Use Google Analytics to help you identify your best earning opportunities.
Watch Out for Amazon Associates Commission Cuts
The Amazon Associates Program has been profitable for many years.
It’s one of the longest-running and most popular affiliate programs available today.
However, in April 2020, Amazon announced a major change to its commission structure.
The new rates went into effect on April 21, 2020.
Amazon cut commissions in many categories by as much as 50%.
The home improvement and furniture categories saw their commission go from 8% to 3%.
Grocery product commissions fell from 5% to 1% during this time.
Amazon Coins went from paying a 10% down to 3%.
The tools and outdoor categories went from paying out 5.5% to affiliate down to 3%.
The Amazon Associates Program commission cut announcement caught many affiliates by surprise.
An affiliate who previously made most of their affiliate from the program saw their commissions drop in half instantly.
Amazon doesn’t keep its affiliates informed about when these changes can happen again.
You should know that more cuts are always possible.
For this reason, it’s recommended to diversify your affiliate income with other types of affiliate offers.
Choose some Amazon products and sprinkle in a mix of non-Amazon program products.
You can promote as a CJ affiliate or with any other affiliate network.
Amazon Affiliate Program: Pros and Cons
Now that you know how the program works, it’s time to decide if it’s the right fit for your blog or website.
Here are some of the pros and cons to consider before joining the Amazon Associates Program.
[pros title=”Pros”]
[/pros][cons title=”Cons”]
[/cons]
As you can see, there are both pros and cons to the Amazon Associates Program.
You’ll need to decide if the potential earnings are worth the effort required to generate traffic and sales.
Amazon Affiliate Program: Getting Paid
Let’s now discuss how you get paid after signing up to become an Amazon Associate.
When Do Amazon Associates Get Paid?
You need to earn a minimum of $100 before Amazon will issue a payment.
If you don’t reach the $100 threshold in one month, your earnings will roll over to the next month.
For example, if you earned $30 in January and $50 in February, you would need to earn an additional $20 before Amazon would issue a payment in March.
Once you’ve reached the $100 threshold, Amazon will issue a payment on the first of the following month.
Keep in mind that it can take up to 60 days for Amazon to process and issue payments.
It’s due to the time it takes for customers to return items and cancel orders.
How Do Amazon Associates Get Paid?
The Amazon Associates Program pays affiliates through direct deposit or check.
You can choose which payment method you prefer in your account settings.
1. Direct Deposit
If you choose direct deposit, Amazon will deposit your earnings into your bank account on the first of the month.
The funds should be available within five business days.
2. Check
If you choose to receive a check, Amazon will mail it to the address on file in your account.
Checks are typically sent out within seven business days of the first of the month.
3. Amazon Gift Cards
In some cases, Amazon may issue your payment in the form of an Amazon gift card.
This option typically happens if you live in a country that isn’t supported by direct deposit or check.
Strategies To Maximize Profits
Always work to maximize your earnings.
Here are a few strategies that can help you become a successful Amazon affiliate.
1. Use Amazon native shopping ads
A native shopping ad targets shoppers based on their browsing history.
They’re also more likely to convert than traditional banner ads.
2. Promote high-paying products
Amazon offers a wide range of products.
Some items, such as Amazon Explore, Luxury Beauty, and Amazon Games, have a higher commission rate than others.
Choose products with a high commission rate to maximize your earnings.
3. Promote higher-priced products
In addition to promoting high-paying products, you should also focus on selling higher-priced items.
A refrigerator sells at a higher amount than a toaster, for instance.
You’ll earn more commissions on a single sale of a high-priced item than you would on multiple sales of lower-priced items.
4. Drive traffic from multiple sources
Don’t rely on one source of traffic.
Promote your Amazon affiliate links through email marketing, social media, and your website or blog.
The more places you promote your link, the more likely you are to make sales.
5. Blog frequently
A blog is a great way to drive traffic to your Amazon affiliate links.
Be sure to post new content regularly.
At a minimum, you should be blogging once per week.
6. Write Amazon product reviews
A product review helps to convince people to buy items through your affiliate links.
Remain honest in your reviews and only promote products that you’ve used.
7. Add Amazon affiliate program link to email signature
Include your Amazon affiliate link in your email signature.
This is a great way to promote your link without being too “salesy.”
8. Use comparison posts
People love to compare products.
Write posts that compare two or more products.
For example, you could compare the features of different AmazonBasics products.
Put your Amazon links in your social media profiles.
How To Become an Amazon Affiliate
You can’t earn Amazon commissions until you officially become an Amazon affiliate.
Let’s discuss the process for becoming the next affiliate for Amazon products.
Is It Easy To Become an Amazon Affiliate?
Yes, becoming an Amazon affiliate is fairly easy.
You just need to sign up for the program and start promoting products.
Amazon Affiliate Program Rules and Requirements
To join the Amazon Associates program, you need to have a website or blog.
Or, you can drive traffic from an app or on social media.
You also need to be at least 18 years old and reside in a country that supports the program.
Amazon lists many different rules and requirements on its program policy page.
You should pay close attention to the “qualifying purchases and qualifying revenue” and “disqualified purchases” sections.
Qualified purchases include the following:
- Customers must click over to the Amazon website from your special affiliate links
- Customers can use the 1-Click feature or their shopping cart to complete a purchase
- Purchases must become finalized within 89 days of using your special affiliate link
Disqualified purchases include the following:
- A refunded, returned, or canceled product purchase
- A purchase completed after Amazon terminates your affiliate agreement
Which Amazon Affiliate Program Should I Sign Up For?
Sign up for the program based on where you will generate traffic from.
- Website or blog
- App
- Social media
Amazon likes to see at least 10 blog posts on your website before applying for its affiliate program.
Make sure you’ve written recent content on the blog.
Amazon looks for content that’s 60 days or newer.
You can’t use false, hateful, illegal, or defamatory content on any blog post.
If you generate traffic for affiliate offers through an app, it must meet Amazon’s mobile application rules.
One example is that your app must be free to download.
Users need to find it on Amazon, Apple, or Google Play.
Amazon accepts affiliates who promote on social media.
Here are the main social media platforms that Amazon accepts into its affiliate program:
- YouTube
- Twitch.tv
- TikTok
You need to apply for the Amazon Affiliate Program with a well-established social media platform.
Amazon looks to see if your social media account includes at least 500 followers or fans.
When applying, give Amazon the exact URL of the social media platform.
Don’t simply say you’ll promote via Instagram or a YouTube channel.
Signing Up for the Amazon Affiliate Program [Tutorial]
If you’re ready to start earning money inside the Amazon Associates program, it’s time to sign up.
Here’s a quick tutorial on how to get started.
1. Visit Amazon Associates Homepage
Go to Amazon Associates and click on the yellow “Sign Up” button to create an affiliate account.
2. Enter Required Information
Enter the information Amazon asks for.
You’ll need to provide your name, website or blog information, mobile phone number, address, and tax information.
Amazon asks for a payee during this process.
Choose yourself or another contact.
Select whether you’re signing up to promote via an app, social media, or a blog.
Don’t forget to use the precise social media account URL if you’re using the social media method to drive traffic.
3. Fill Out a Profile
Setting up your Associates ID is the next step.
You can use your website name, your name, or any other name you desire.
The ID becomes public in each Amazon link, so your Associates ID is critical - It’s the way Amazon tracks all sales back to you.
Tell Amazon about your website next.
Select the categories you want to promote on your website or blog.
The Traffic and Monetization section is where you can tell Amazon how you plan to drive traffic to Amazon offers.
You can select items such as email, website, social media, paid search, SEO, and forums.
Amazon won’t lock you into only promoting through the options you select here, but the company wants to get a good idea of how you’re already set up.
You can start by checking off that you’ll promote via a website to start with.
Later, you can always add in social media advertising as your affiliate business grows.
4. Set Up Payment
In this section, tell Amazon how you want to get paid affiliate commissions.
Select whether you prefer direct deposit or check.
5. Start Promoting Products
To promote an affiliate product, click on the “get link” button.
It will generate a special affiliate link that you can use to drive traffic to Amazon.
Once you generate your first Amazon Affiliate Program sale, Amazon then officially reviews your account.
Amazon withdraws your application if you don’t sell at least three items within the first 180 days.
Tools:
- You will need a computer and a reliable internet connection.
Wrapping Up
The Amazon Associates Program can work well to help you earn money online.
Make sure you understand how the program works and how much it pays.
You’ll also want to consider the pros and cons of the program before you decide if it’s right for you.
Once you’re ready to sign up as an Amazon seller, take action to do so.
