One of the best ways to make money online can be done without selling any product–it is with affiliate marketing, where you get paid simply to promote other people’s products.
Combining the passive income potential of affiliate marketing with the power and reach of Amazon can be a recipe for a nice online money stream, and this is exactly what the Amazon Affiliate program offers.
Whether you’re a seasoned content creator looking to monetize your audience or if you’re just getting started in learning about making money online, this guide is for you.
Let’s dive in so you can learn everything there is to know to get started in Amazon Affiliate marketing, from how you can get started with signing up and creating your first affiliate links to how much you can earn, including pros and cons.
What is an Amazon Affiliate?
Amazon Affiliate is a term that refers to an individual who is enrolled in Amazon’s Associates program and is paid to promote products by sharing unique affiliate links. These links can be shared through various channels, including social media and personal websites or blogs. Payment is made in the form of affiliate commissions, hence the name. The more traffic and exposure that is sent to affiliate links, the more the Amazon Affiliates, who are also referred to as Amazon Associates, can earn.
How Much Does Amazon Pay Affiliates?
Amazon affiliates don’t earn money like a typical employee or freelancer, so the income is purely performance-based. Amazon pays affiliates based on commission based on a percentage of the sale price of items purchased through their unique links.
Commission rates vary by product category and range from 1% to 10%. Your income is thus heavily influenced by which products you choose to sell. For instance, luxury beauty products offer some of the highest commissions while video games are on the lower end.
Be sure to constantly check Amazon’s current commission rates as they are subject to change at any moment. This variability also means that your earnings can fluctuate if the commission for your category changes.
Who Can Be an Amazon Affiliate? Amazon Associate Eligibility Guidelines
It is completely free to join the Amazon Affiliates program, but you do need to meet certain criteria. You must, of course, have an Amazon account, and you also have to promote your products via an active channel, but there is much more to it than this alone.
It’s important to understand that you might not be ready if you don’t yet meet the requirements, which include the following qualifications:
- Age: Amazon Affiliates must be at least 18 years old
- Tax ID or Social Security Number: You must have a valid tax ID or social security number to enroll in Amazon’s Associates program
- Valid business information and payment method: You must have a valid business, whether it’s your personal information associated with a sole proprietorship or a formally registered company along with a valid payment method so that you can get paid.
- Owned platform to share affiliate links: You need to own a platform that you have full control over to share affiliate links. This platform can be a website, a blog, or social media such as YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok.
- Original, Quality content: When applying for Amazon’s affiliate program, even if you already have a platform with traffic from content to you need to be aware of their guidelines surrounding content standards. This includes not having content that violates any intellectual property, and content that isn’t explicit or offensive.
- Authentic traffic only: All of the traffic that you send must be genuine. Fake traffic is one of the quickest ways to get banned from Amazon’s Associates program.
- Comply with all Amazon policies: Be sure to review all of the other policies enforced by Amazon for its Associates program, which are subject to change at any moment.
How to Become an Amazon Affiliate in 7 Steps
Once you’ve ensured that you’ve met Amazon’s requirements to become an affiliate, you can continue by carrying out these steps to finalize your ability to cash in with this affiliate marketing:
1. Set up your traffic platform
It’s impossible to make money as an affiliate for Amazon if you don’t have a quality source of traffic. Pick a platform that will be the source for attracting potential customers, whether it’s a website, YouTube channel, TikTok, or Instagram. You’ll need a dedicated traffic platform when applying for the Amazon Associates program.
2. Create Your Amazon Associates account
Head over to affiliate-program.amazon.com and sign up as an Amazon Associate. You’ll need a basic Amazon seller account first before you sign up as an affiliate and you will use that same information to sign in.
Then, visit https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/ and follow the steps to register as an associate/affiliate
3. Connect your traffic sources
Whether you’re using a personal website or social media for driving traffic, have your URLs handy so you can put them in when prompted.
If you’re using a mobile app to drive traffic, you’ll need to input that separately. For those who have created an app on Alexa, also known as a Skill, you will need to fill out a separate section as well for your Alexa Skills traffic and its dedicated affiliate program.
4. Create and explain your monetization strategy
When going through the steps of setting up your Amazon Associates account, you’ll have to explain how you intend to drive traffic and what kind of content you create.
You’ll also have to say whether or not you are producing content that is meant to be marketed to children 13 and under or not–be sure to be clear on this as this will change your eligibility.
5. Choose your preferred payment method
Getting paid accurately is a simple yet important step when signing up for Amazon’s affiliate program. Make sure to input your business bank account information as your preferred payment method so you get paid on time and accurately. You’ll also need accurate tax information.
Keep in mind that you only have up to 180 days to make your first sale as an Amazon affiliate, and if you fail to meet this deadline, you’ll be ineligible for payment.
6. Create your Amazon affiliate links
Once you’ve been approved as part of Amazon’s Associates program and you’re logged in, go to your dashboard to generate and manage links for products that you want to promote. We’ll dive into the step-by-step process for this in the next section.
7. Drive traffic
You won’t get paid unless you can effectively drive traffic, so be sure to create and combine as many different marketing strategies as you can that are within the guidelines of the Associates program.
Combine organic and paid methods and use as many social media platforms as you can that are relevant to your product so that you can maximize your reach.
How to Create an Amazon Affiliate Link
You will notice that step six in becoming an affiliate is creating links that you can share. Here’s how do you that:
1. Log In to Your Amazon Associates Account
The first step you need to get started is to log in to your Amazon Associates account.
2. Use the SiteStripe Toolbar
Once logged in to your Associates account, head over to Amazon.com and browse as normal.
You will now see the Product Linking Tool at the top of the website. This toolbar is a handy tool provided by Amazon to use for the creation of affiliate links that can be made directly from any product page.
These links are unique to your account, so whenever someone clicks them, Amazon will know that it was your business that sent them, and they’ll pay you if they buy with that specific link.
3. Search for the Products
With the SiteStripe toolbar active and enabled, search for the product you want to promote.
Navigate to the product detail page: Once you’ve chosen a specific product, make sure to navigate to its detail page so you can get its associated link.
Use the Amazon search bar: Simply enter the product name or related keywords to find a product. Make sure you pick a product that is relevant to your niche
4. Create the Affiliate Link
At this point, you’re ready to create your affiliate link using the SiteStripe toolbar on the product page.
Choose your link type: You will see options for Text and sharing to either Facebook or Twitter. While Amazon used to allow for Image links, they have recently discontinued this until further notice.
Navigate to the SiteStripe toolbar: It will be at the top of the product page
5. Choose Your Type of Link
There are two types of link that you can generate. One is a full text link that you can use in websites and blogs, another is a short link, which is best for social media. You can also share the product directly to social media from Amazon.
Getting a Text Link:
- Click on “Text” in the SiteStripe toolbar.
- A window will pop up with your unique affiliate link.
- You can choose a short link (better for social media) or a full link (better for websites and blogs).
- Copy the generated link.
Sharing to social media:
- Currently, Amazon allows for integration with both Facebook and X/Twitter.
- Simply click the social media icon and a pop up window will take you to the account for you to make a post.
7. Integrate the Link into Your Content
Now that you have your links, it's time to put them into your content. You can put your Amazon Affiliate links in your social media profiles, under posts, in blogs or websites. Here's how:
Social Media: Most links can’t be clicked through a social media post, so you’ll have to put your short link in your bio or within a link landing page such as Linktree to convert your audience
Blogs/Websites: Simply paste the generated affiliate link or HTML into a CTA (Call to action) for people to make a purchase after being encouraged to do so
8. Disclose Your Affiliate Relationship
If you’ve noticed now that every social media influencer is clearly stating whether or not a post is sponsored, this is because of rules that apply to everyone promoting products, including you as an Amazon affiliate.
It’s important to comply with Amazon’s guidelines and FTC regulations by disclosing your affiliate relationship.
Make sure to include that your posts are sponsored in social media, and if you’re promoting on a website, be sure to include a disclaimer such as: “As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”
This disclosure should be clear and conspicuous, typically placed near your affiliate links or at the very top of the page of your website.
9. Monitor Your Links and Earnings
Log in to your Amazon Associates account and go to the “Reports” section.
From here, you will access the Amazon Associates dashboard, where you can track the performance of your affiliate links. This includes clicks, conversions, and earnings. You’ll be able to see your top-performing products and those that are lagging, and since you have no need for physical inventory management, you can quickly add or remove products based on what you see.
You can view real-time updates in addition to creating custom reports that you can filter by date. Keep filtering until you find trends and insights, as this actionable data can be used to optimize your content and marketing strategies for better performance.
Is Becoming an Amazon Affiliate Worth It? The Pros and Cons
While becoming an Amazon Affiliate can open up a brand new, substantial revenue stream, like with any business model, it also comes with disadvantages.
If you’re excited about going this path and you want to continue, here is what you can expect, both good and bad:
Pros of Being an Amazon Affiliate
- No upfront costs: There is no cost to joining Amazon’s Associates program to become an affiliate–you can create one with a free basic seller account.
- Make money without managing physical inventory: One of the most difficult aspects of ecommerce with physical products is the management of inventory. As an Amazon associate, not only will you not need to manage physical inventory, but you won’t be responsible for any aspect of fulfillment and you’ll get paid simply if someone ends up purchasing the product through your link.
- Access to vast inventory: As an Amazon affiliate, you can promote all of the products on the platform, including those that are trending and within your current niche, which gives you the highest chance of converting.
- Easy Link Creation: Making links as an Amazon affiliate is as simple as finding the product while logged in and then copying & pasting your affiliate link wherever you want to promote it.
- Global reach and fulfillment: You’ll be able to leverage social media or a website to reach an audience anywhere in the world, and Amazon will fulfill their order locally and you’ll get paid no matter where they are.
- Detailed reporting and analytics: The Amazon Associates Dashboard includes rich and detailed reporting with actionable data that you can use to optimize your strategies, all for free.
- Passive Income Potential: Amazon is open 24/7, as are your affiliate links, and as an affiliate, you don’t even have to fulfill the products to make money. So, once you’ve set up a platform with broad reach and connect your affiliate links to it, you’ll own a machine that can bring in passive income from customers who will come through at any moment to make purchases.
Cons of Being an Amazon Affiliate
- Must comply with potentially strict rules: While it’s easy to get started with an affiliate account, you could be suspended or banned at any moment from Amazon’s guidelines which are sometimes needlessly strict. For example, you can’t place affiliate links in newsletters, which is one of the go-to methods for promoting just about any other product.
- Get paid only if customers buy quickly: While many affiliate links will create a cookie that follows the customers until they make a purchase for you to get paid, Amazon’s cookie duration is only 24 hours, meaning that a customer must make a purchase within that time frame for you to get paid.
- Low commission rates for many products: Many product categories, such as electronics, have low payouts, from 1-3%. This means that you’ll have to do quite a high volume to make a decent side hustle or living out of it, making the income potential more limited compared to other methods for making money online.
- Payout thresholds: Especially when you are new, hitting the payout thresholds is one of the most annoying things about getting paid. Amazon won’t send you a payment until you hit $10 in earnings, and in that case, you’ll only get a gift card or direct deposit. If you want to get paid by check, you must make $100 in earnings. Remember that Amazon also only gives you up to 180 days to make any sales, or else they will suspend your ability to earn altogether
Looking to Make Money Online? Other Lucrative Side Hustles that You Can Start Today
Making money as an Amazon affiliate may present one of the easiest entry points into ecommerce, but there are many methods for making a side hustle or living online. Here are some other ways that you can cash in from the comfort of your own home:
Amazon FBA
If you want to use Amazon’s incredible reach and fulfillment capabilities to build an ecommerce business with them, their Fulfillment by Amazon program, also known as FBA, can be a great choice for you.
With it, you won’t need to handle some of the peskiest aspects of managing inventory, which includes the picking, packing, shipping and even storage of orders, making for a hands-off business model with a huge potential for scale.
The convenience of handing off the fulfillment to Amazon comes with a price–FBA sellers pay the highest fees compared to any other business model on Amazon. You’ll also have to buy inventory to sell, and in order to be profitable, you’ll need to explore various sourcing methods including finding wholesalers. However, FBA remains a good option for ecommerce entrepreneurs looking for a side hustle or full-time income that leverages the power of Amazon.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is another business model that has risen as an attractive option for those looking to make money online with little up-front investment.
As a dropshipper, you are selling another company’s low-cost products at a fair-market markup by marketing their products through your channels and store.
The other company is responsible for the manufacturing and fulfillment of the product, and all you have to do is market it through whichever method you choose. You can dropship with little to no investment by leveraging the reach of social media on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, driving traffic to a store that you can build for cheap or free using a SaaS ecommerce platform.
Dropshipping can be competitive and subject to volatility based on trends and competition. At the same time, if you nail the product selection and marketing tactics, it can be incredibly lucrative and highly scalable.
Sell on Ebay
If you’re a new reseller, you should consider using one of Amazon’s main competitors, which is eBay.
The platform is much more flexible than Amazon, allowing for sale of a broader spectrum of items in nearly any condition, including heavily used and not working, making it a good place not just to sell but also to source inventory to flip elsewhere.
It’s also lenient in seller qualifications: Unlike Amazon, which often requires that you be approved or ungated to sell a certain product or within a specific category, eBay allows every seller to list anything in any condition so long as it is a legal product to sell.
You can even get started simply by finding products in your home to list and sell, and you can get good insights on demand and pricing by looking at data using their filtering tools include the ability to see sold and completed listings for effective pricing research.
The Most Lucrative Way to Make Money Online: Selling Digital Products
The most savvy online entrepreneurs of today are taking advantage of the flexibility and income potential of digital products. As you are selling your own product - not reselling, not dropshipping, not using FBA - you have much higher earning capacity.
Because they can be produced today at almost no cost, digital products allow for nearly infinite scalability and absolutely unbeatable profit margins.
The types of digital products you can sell are incredibly vast, so it’s easy to find one that is aligned with your skill–whether it’s an eBook, online course, SaaS or other piece of software.
Another advantage of digital products is the ability to create recurring revenue through a subscription-based product, which is considered by many to be the holy grail of business in any category.
Launch Your Next Side Hustle Today
Now that you know everything it takes to become an Amazon affiliate, you could open your account to start promoting links today.
However, you should always pick a business model that is most aligned with you. If the idea of managing a social media account (or blog) and posting affiliate links doesn't align with you, then perhaps one of the other methods we mentioned is more appealing. From selling ebooks to reselling sneakers, creating an online course or dropshipping, there are many ways that you can make money from home.
To find your next money-making venture, you can explore the Whop marketplace to discover a world of opportunities. There are hundreds of private groups dedicated to niches like ecommerce, dropshipping, consulting, and more - all led by experienced experts. Head over to Whop and find the right opportunity for you.
FAQs
How does Amazon’s Affiliate program work?
Amazon’s Affiliate program works on a commission basis, rewarding those who are enrolled by paying them a percentage of the price of a product sold through the participant’s unique channels and marketing efforts. The Amazon Affiliates, also known as Associates, can use any approved channel to promote products for commission, which includes websites, social media, and even through apps. The commission is variable by product category, and each Associate generates unique links which attribute sales to them.
What are the requirements to join Amazon’s Affiliate program?
In order to join as an Amazon Affiliate, there are several requirements. These include being 18 years old or over, having a website or blog with relevant and high quality content to promote product, and compliance with Amazon’s operating agreement and program policies. You will also need to sign up for a basic seller account on Amazon, which you can do for free on their website.
How much can I earn as an Amazon Affiliate?
As an Amazon Affiliate, your earnings can be highly variable, as they are based on how much traffic you send, the amount of people that convert to customers, the number of products you are promoting, and the amount of commission you are receiving. The higher each of these variables, the greater your potential income. On average, an Amazon Affiliate can expect to receive anywhere from $50-$500 per month within the first 6 months, with the potential to scale higher if they are particularly good at marketing or picking profitable products. The most successful Amazon affiliates are those that have a large social media presence.
What is the best way to promote my Amazon affiliate links?
The best way to promote your Amazon affiliate links is by attracting a niche audience through high-quality, relevant content. The cheaper it is for you to acquire these customers, the better. Focus on good practices for growing a social media audience or a blog, and continue to foster a relationship with your audience to raise your trustworthiness and the potential for customer and audience loyalty.
