Have you been searching for a how-to guide on how to make money with Amazon without falling from another work from home, scam?
Well, I can totally relate to how you guys must feel about now because I have been scammed many times as well until I found the right program that showed me the proper way to build a business online utilizing the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program.
The Amazon affiliate program is actually 1 of the first affiliate programs to launch as far back as 1996.
Well, it didn’t take long before other people started to catch on and they started a trend that many people would follow for years to come.
Since Amazon launched their affiliate program back in 1996, there have been millions of many other highly successful affiliate programs to launch since then.
I have actually had many of my loyal visitors ask me if it’s truly possible to make any decent with Amazon and if so how could they do so?
Instead of answering numerous emails all on the same topic, I figured I would write a detailed blog post on this topic and share it with the entire world here on my website.
In the following post, I’ll be providing you guys with a detailed step by step walkthrough of how this works, what tools you’ll need to acquire to make this work for you as well as showing you the true potential that’s available here.
If you have ever shown any type of interest in affiliate marketing and you have always wanted to learn how to be an affiliate for Amazon then today is your lucky day.
Since I happen to have made several sales with this affiliate network I figured why not share the experience that I’ve had with them with you guys so that you can learn from it and implement this strategy into your daily routine.
Let’s get started, OK?
Are you guys ready?
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Before I get started showing you guys how to make money as an affiliate of Amazon it’s highly imperative that you have a solid understanding of what affiliate marketing is and how it works beforehand.
Affiliate marketing originated from Amazon as they were the first affiliate program to launch as I said earlier and from there on out other companies decided to follow suit and launch their own affiliate program.
This is basically where you’ll promote products and services from other companies on your website and receive an affiliate commission whenever someone clicks your affiliate link on your website and makes a purchase.
There is obviously a whole lot more to it than that but that is the basic idea of how it works. If you would like to read more about this amazing business model then you can do so by clicking here.
How Can You Become An Affiliate For Amazon?
Signing up to become an affiliate of Amazon is pretty straightforward and only takes a few minutes of your time.
You’ll need to provide them with some basic info about yourself as well as a few other details like your website and how much traffic you’re getting.
Take a look at the screenshot that I’ve captured for you guys below about how to go about applying to be an affiliate for Amazon.
Simply click the link that you see highlighted in the footer of their website and provide them with all the info required to complete your affiliate application and send it out for approval.
What all is included in these 5 steps?
This includes things like
- Basic account information ( Name, email address, phone number)
- Website/ app that you’ll be using to promote Amazon’s products/ services
- Your affiliate profile
- Identity Verification
- Start Using Amazon Associates
As you can see in the screenshot above, you have the ability to list up to 50 websites and list all the TLD’s that you’ll be displaying Amazon advertising on in this section here.
I would highly recommend that you name your account something thats relevant to your niche so that you’ll know which website is making sales and which ones need some more work done to them.
Ready To Build Your Own Amazon Affiliate Business? Get Trained As An Amazon Associate Here!!
What Will You Need To Get Started?
Obviously, you’re going to need a few things prior to applying for the Amazon affiliate program and they are as follows.
- Your own website or domain name that you own
- At least some content and traffic coming to your website on a daily basis
- Access to a PC desktop or laptop that you can log into on a daily basis
- A decent amount of your precious time
- Willing to put in the hard work and not expect to see results overnight
- The right training that shows you how to create a REAL Amazon business online
There are also a few other things that you’ll need to comply with once your application is approved and I’ll be listing these things for you guys below.
- Affiliate Disclaimer- This is mainly to keep your visitors informed that there are “affiliate links” on your website which you’ll earn a commission from if they click the proper links and make a purchase.
- No Clicking Your Own Links- You would think that this is common sense but you wouldn’t believe the number of people who try to cheat the system by clicking on their own links.
- Keep It Clean- While Amazon sells just about anything under the sun, there are some things that aren’t appropriate and this includes sexually explicit content and controversial topics among many other things
Tip & Tricks That You May Not Have Known About Amazon
As I continued to do my research on the Amazon affiliate program including how much you can earn as well as cookie lengths and other hacks, I was able to discover 1 thing that no other affiliate program offered.
What is this, you may be wondering?
I’m glad you asked as I have done some pretty extensive research on this and I’ll be listing what I was able to find out below.
If someone is searching online for a review of the best gaming headsets and they happen to run across a review that you have written on this subject they may click on the search result to read more about what you have to say.
If they like what they have read and perhaps they’re looking to purchase one of these gaming headsets for their son or daughter then they would click on your link and start browsing the Amazon marketplace.
Let’s say for example that they happen to put a few things in their shopping cart to buy at a later time.
Guess what that means for you, the affiliate?
It means that the customer will have up to 90 days to purchase anything added to their cart and you (the affiliate) will get full credit for anything that they may purchase within that time.
How long does their affiliate cookie last?
Surprisingly their affiliate cookie only lasts for 24 hours and has one of the shortest life spans out there of any other affiliate program out there that I have joined.
However, if you apply the shopping cart hack, their cookie could last for up to 90 days.
It also seems that there are various affiliate commission percentages for each country with some countries paying up to 15% or more.
Also, as I was doing my research here I was able to determine that cookie lengths and the amount you’ll earn from each item vary greatly from one country to the next.
Is This A Global Opportunity?
The Amazon Associates Affiliate Program has expanded their reach quite a bit over the course of 2017 as well as 2018.
As you can see in 2019, they have evolved quite a bit and have expanded to over 13 countries now with many more planned for 2019 and beyond.
Listed below are all the countries that the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program is currently accepting entries into their amazing affiliate program.
- The United States with the exception of Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Rhode Island, and Missouri
- Canada
- United Kingdom(UK)
- Germany
- France
- Japan
- India
- China
- Italia
- Espania
- Brazil
- Mexico
- Australia
If you don’t happen to live in the countries I listed above then you won’t be able to participate in this program or make money with them.
As Amazon continues to add more countries to this list and expand their reach even further I’ll be sure to update this list for you guys.
If you don’t see your country on this list at this point and time don’t worry as I’m sure it will be added in the near future.
My Personal Experience With The Amazon Affiliate Program
I always like to make sure and include my personal experience that I’ve had using any type of product, service or business model before I even think about recommending it to my audience.
This way you’ll get to see that I am just a regular joe like you guys but I simply have a huge passion for helping other people out on the internet.
I would like to give you guys some insight into how much I was able to earn from the Amazon affiliate program thanks to following an amazing affiliate marketing training course.
I simply followed the training from the link above and took action on what I learned by applying it to my website.
More on this in a few minutes so I encourage you to continue reading
Take a look at a few of my stats that I was able to produce over the past 30 days in the screenshot below!!
As you can see I’m not making a huge amount of money with Amazon just yet but I am earning consistent revenue with them on a monthly basis now so things can only go up from here.
Wouldn’t you guys agree?
I’ll also be sharing my yearly earnings and how much I have earned with them over the course of the past year in the next section so you’ll definitely want to stick around so you don’t miss out on any of this.
How Much Have I Earned With The Amazon Affiliate Program?
I have been working on an Amazon niche site in my spare time over the past year or so but have never really put that much time into it as this site here is the main website that I spend most of my time working on.
However, for having this as a side project I was able to start earning a pretty consistent income from Amazon from working on a site part-time.
Take a look at how much I was able to earn from Amazon over the past year working part-time on an Amazon niche site.
As you can see this isn’t a whole lot of money but if I would devote more time to it I would make a whole lot more money than you see here.
There are people out there who are killing it with Amazon and earning 6 figures a month strictly from Amazon alone.
This is definitely possible if you’re willing to put in the time and effort that’s required to build an Amazon business over time.
If you were to take the time to count these commissions you would be looking at around $300- $400 which isn’t bad at all for a website I only work on maybe a couple times a month in my spare time.
Wouldn’t you guys agree?
This is of course in addition to what I make with this site as well along with a few other income sources so as you can see I have money coming in from all angles.
Ready To Get Started Building Your Amazon Affiliate Site?
Over the years I have helped many people learn how to start making money with Amazon via affiliate marketing and there is nothing that I would love more than to help you do the same thing.
Before you even ask, I’ll be the first to tell you that you don’t need to have any special skills or be a wiz at computers to get started making money with Amazon.
As a matter of fact, when I first started out in this industry over 5 years ago, I didn’t know the first thing about building a website or none of that nonsense.
However, there was one thing that I did have and that was a strong passion to make money online from a passion of mine and I would do anything to make this dream a reality.
If you have a strong passion for making money online and you would be interested in learning how to make money with Amazon then I would love to have you come on board.
I’ll let you know right now that I’m only interested in working with people who aren’t afraid to put in some hard work and build a business over the long term.
If you’re looking for a get rich quick scheme or thinking you’ll make $1,000 overnight then I’m afraid this opportunity isn’t for you as building any type of business online takes lots of hard work and plenty of effort.
The place that has shown me how to build a business promoting Amazon products is Wealthy Affiliate.
It’s because of their detailed step by step training platform that I have been able to build the website that you guys are currently on now as well as a website that promotes products and services from Amazon.
I Want To Help You Make Money With Amazon
If you’re serious about learning how to make money with the Amazon affiliate program and you’re not afraid to put in a great deal of time and effort then you’re just the type of person I want to have on my team.
Like I said earlier, I have worked with many people over the course of the past 5 years and shown many many people how to earn a full time living from Amazon in the comfort of their homes.
If this sounds like something you would be interested learning more about then I invite you to join me over at Wealthy Affiliate where you’ll find me at most of the time hanging out, answering peoples questions and providing my assistance to new members who have just joined.
Anyway, I really hope this detailed post has given you guys an in depth look into how the Amazon affiliate program works and how you can make money promoting their products and services on your website.
Still, have questions or don’t understand something in this post?
Please let me know all about it in the comments below and I’ll be more than happy to answer your questions and help you out in any way I possibly can.
Until Next Time
Cheers
~Your Friend, Scott~
Wim
Hi Scott
Sounds like a wonderful way to make side to full time income.
Is this still valid in 2019? Also, has it become possible for Belgium as well? 😉
Kind regards
Wim
Scott Newkirk
Hi Wim,
Yes, this is an excellent way to either pull in some side income or earn a full or part-time living from home. Yes, this is still valid in 2019 and even more powerful than it was when I wrote it back in 2015.
After doing some research on this it looks like the Amazon shopping site, as well as seller central, is available in Belgium. However, I wasn’t able to find anything out as to whether their affiliate program (Amazon Associates) is available in this country or not.
I would say that it’s not but don’t quote me on this cause I may be wrong. I hope this helps answer your question Wim and please let me know if you have any other questions or need my help.
Cheers
~Scott~
april brumm
don’t you have 60 days after approval for AA to get a sale? i remember a time limit but can’t remember what it is.
Scott Newkirk
Hi April,
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention as this slipped my mind when I was writing this article.
Actually, you have 180 days to make a sale before they send you a warning that they will disable your account for being inactive. However, I’ve yet to receive any type of notice from them and my account is still active even though I don’t use it that much.
I have received multiple payments from Amazon after my 180 days of being inactive so I guess this varies according to your specific situation.
I hope this helps April and please let me know if you have any other questions or need my help.
Cheers
~Scott~
Sheena
Wow, I found you with Google looking for more info on amazon since I’m an affiliate and I’m also a premium member of wealthy affiliate. Anyways thank you for sharing this with me. I will be following you now. I hope to succeed like you.
Scott Newkirk
Hi Sheena,
I’m glad that you were able to find my website and hopefully, the info contained in this post has helped answer some of your questions that you had about Amazon. It’s always nice to have a fellow WA member drop by and I really do appreciate you stopping by and chiming in on this topic of conversation.
I wish you all the success in the world Sheena and once again thanks for dropping by.
Cheers
~Your Friend, Scott~
Naser Mohd Baig
Hi Scott,
I live in India and I have been using Amazon affiliate on my sites since 2014. So you might wanna correct the approval information above.
Regards
Scott Newkirk
Hi Naser,
Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing your experience that you’ve had with the Amazon affiliate program. I also want to thank you for bringing this to my attention and I have already corrected this in the approval information above. I’m glad to hear that you are having success with Amazon and thanks again for dropping by.
Cheers
~Scott~
Ray
Nice! Didn’t know about that cookie thing or that shopping cart effect until now. I thought it needs to be bought through your link immediately or you don’t get anything, so that system is rather nice.
Too bad it doesn’t work for International Associates like me so I can’t make it my primary source of internet income… but they CAN give Gift Certificates, so it’s still valuable (and it’s trusted and convenient).
Scott Newkirk
Hi Ray,
The shopping cart thing is a hidden secret that a whole lot of people don’t know about. You have a whole 24 hours for them to make up their mind whether they want to purchase anything after clicking on your link. I’m sorry to hear that you won’t be able to use Amazon as one of your primary sources of income.
I guess gift cards are convenient and it’s better than nothing. I’m glad that you learned something from this post Ray and I really want to thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience you’ve had with the Amazon associates program with everyone here today.
Cheers
Your Friend, Scott
Timmi S.
Amazing post-Scott!
That makes you wonder WHY people use Amazon and get max 8% commission? Yes, they convert well, but at the same time you can use eJunkie or Clickbank to get 76% commissions?
Now, I have 2 sites running. They have the same products running. One Amazon, one Clickbank. Now guess which one brings in more money?
You’re right. Clickbank. ($124 vs. $1089 in March 2015)
Again Amazon is great but there are better alternatives and you don’t want to waste your time, don’t you?
Thanks again Scott!
Tim
Scott Newkirk
Hi Timmi,
Thanks so much for stopping by man!
I have actually had a pretty good amount of success with Amazon and just to let you know they pay 10% now and even more than that on some items. I get pretty good conversions with them. Even though their commission payouts aren’t the greatest, they are a well known company and people feel more comfortable shopping somewhere that has been around for nearly 20 years.
Did you know that Amazon was the ones that started Affiliate Marketing way back in 1996? They were the very first affiliate program and now there are millions of different affiliate programs online. Unlike you, I have actually had more sales with Amazon than I have with Clickbank.
The reason for this is simply because the majority of products in the Clickbank marketplace are either a scam or a product that doesn’t live up to my standards of something I would feel right about promoting on my website. I actually wrote a post on this and I show you how to find the right products to promote on Clickbank. You can check it out here!
Like I said earlier, Amazon is a trusted company that has been around for nearly 20 years now and they have nothing but high quality products to choose from. It shouldn’t always be about how much money you can make Timmi. You need to focus on providing your customers with the lowest price as well as a trusted place to shop online.
For those who actually can’t participate in the Amazon affiliate program, there are many other alternatives and Clickbank is definitely worth checking out. You just need to be careful what you promote from there. I really want to thank you for stopping by Timmi and sharing your thoughts with everyone here on this subject.
I hope you continue to have lots of success with Clickbank and in all of your online ventures.
Cheers,
Your Friend, Scott
Tom
Hi Scott- This was great, if I was thinking about becoming an affiliate with amazon and read your post I would have clear and precise instruction as to what to do and expect. Although I am an associate already, I learned a lot from this post, and I like you, highly recommend it to all affiliate marketers.
~Tom
Scott Newkirk
Hey Tom,
I have been a member of the Amazon affiliate program for a couple years now, but I just never promoted their products until here recently. Even though they don’t pay that high of a commission, you can unlock higher commission payouts the more products you sell. I’m glad that this post has helped you out and gave you some direction on how to get your Amazon site setup and start making money from selling their products.
Thanks so much for stopping by Tom and chiming in on this discussion.
To your success online
Your Friend, Scott
leo
Amazon is a great program to start with – true their commission are painfully low – but if you sell a lot of items or higher priced items you can make a lot of money.
I know a Wealthy Affiliate member that bought a new car from what he earned from amazon.
The other thing that is in your favor as an amazon associate – is that amazon is a very trusted vendor – and people want to buy from someone they trust and that association works big time in your favor.
Another thing that is cool – is their 24 hour cookie. Someone could come to amazon through your link and if they buy something completely different while there you get the commissions for that purchase too.
Cheers
Leo
Scott Newkirk
Hey Leo,
I think everyone should start out with Amazon because it really is a great affiliate program. Just like any other affiliate program, you need to take the good with the bad. The key to being successful with Amazon is to sell lots of items and possibly look into the high ticket items as they pay very good.
I know several people as well that have been able to buy a new car and many other things strictly from Amazon commissions. You could decide to go with other programs that pay higher commissions but let’s face it people like to buy from a trusted vendor and a company that has been around for a long time.
Another thing that I should point out is that Amazon is the ones who started it all back in 1996 (20 years next year) That’s going to work in your favor big time and help you build more trust with your potential customers. Thanks for bringing up the point about getting credit for ANYTHING that someone buys while your cookie is active.
I haven’t had this happen to me as of yet, but I personally know a few people who had this happen to them which is just awesome. For anyone that’s reading this, What I mean by this is that If you have a website promoting shoes and they click on your link and decide to buy a big screen TV instead you will still get the commission.
Thanks so much for stopping by Leo and chiming in on this discussion and for also adding a few things I left out. This will help other people who come here and read this.
Cheers
Your Friend, Scott