Amazon Affiliate Program – What You Need To Know

Amazon affiliate program, also known as Amazon Associates is said to be the most popular and successful eCommerce affiliate program. This is so because Amazon is the largest online retailer or eCommerce marketplace in the world.

Amazon was founded by Jezz Bezos in 1994. The company started as an online marketplace by selling books. In time, other products like electronics, apparel, toys, furniture, video games, software, etc, were sold by the company.

If you want a bite of the money in Amazon, you can do so. It is either you have a product to sell or you become an Amazon Associate. If you think this post is an Amazon affiliate program review, then read it to the end.

As stated earlier, Amazon Associates is another name for the Amazon affiliate program. So don’t get confused when both terms are used interchangeably. They both mean the same thing.

If you are not familiar with affiliate marketing, you can read the post: Best Ecommerce Business ideas. There, you will be able to understand more about affiliate marketing, especially eCommerce.

How to Make Money With Amazon Affiliate Program

When you become an Amazon affiliate or Associate, you will make money when someone clicks your affiliate link and make a purchase.

There is a percentage commission for every purchase by a customer through your affiliate link.

The referral fee is not fixed; it all depends on the category of the product purchased by the customers.

Commission rate is always between 1-10% dependent on the product category as mentioned above. So before you promote any product on Amazon, you may consider the commission structure.

Amazon Affiliate Program Requirements

There are no many strict criteria for joining the Amazon affiliate program. Getting started is easy. Make sure you have a website, a blog or a mobile app. If you have any of this, you are good to go.

If you don’t make any sales within 180 days, your account will be closed. You can always reapply again.

Pros and Cons of Amazon Affiliate Program

It is worth noting to know the advantages and disadvantages of Amazon Associates. With this, you will be able to decide whether to join or not.

Pros of Amazon Affiliate program

• It is very easy to join. Once you have a website or blog with valuable content, you will be accepted into the program even if you don’t have a high volume of traffic.
• It is trustworthy. Amazon is a brand highly reputable. Almost everyone trust Amazon.
• They accommodate almost every niche. Name your niche! Is it tech, eCommerce, relationship, entertainment or fashion?, Amazon has a product that will suit your audience.
• They have eye-catchy promotional materials such as various ad banners that fit any style of website or blog.

Cons of Amazon Affiliate program

• Low commission rate. The majority of the product categories have a low percentage commission which is usually 5% or less. You will be earning cents in some cases depending on the product and quantity purchased.
• 24 hours cookie. This is one of the biggest turn-offs. If you refer a customer who didn’t buy a product on the first instance of visiting the website and comes back after 24 hours to make a purchase, you won’t be paid for that referral.

The only way you can earn if a customer doesn’t buy a product within 24 hours of visiting the Amazon website through your affiliate link or banner is, they added the product to the cart.

There are some product categories that can earn you a 10% commission, but it is good to promote products which prices are $50 and above.

How Much You Can Make With Amazon Affiliate Program

There is no limit to how much you can earn as an Amazon affiliate. There are some sites that earn over $500 – $2000 monthly. There are others that make less than $50 or nothing at all for a month.

Making money on Amazon Associates is not as easy as you may read in reviews or income updates of some successful affiliates. There is more to learn to earn so regularly on the program.

You will need the right content and the right product that fit your audience. Your content should be compelling enough to make customers use your affiliate link to buy a product they need on Amazon.

Amazon Affiliate Program Payment Methods

I deliberately refused to add the payments in pros and cons. Amazon associates have fewer payment options which are limited to direct deposit, Amazon gift card and by check.

For direct deposit and gift cards, the minimum payout is $10, and by check, the minimum payout is $100. There is no option for PayPal payment.

Amazon Affiliate Program Terms and Conditions

I am not going to scare you but it is worth noting to know that Amazon is ruthless with its affiliate policies. You must understand clearly what affiliates shouldn’t do. There is no room for an excuse. Amazon will ban you without prior warning if you go against their terms and conditions.

You can go online and read how people say of being ban without knowing the reasons. If you don’t want this to happen in your case, it is advisable to take time to understand what you must do and shouldn’t as an Amazon Associate.

How to Get Started With Amazon Affiliate Program

If you already own a blog, a website or a mobile app, head on the Amazon Associates website to apply as an affiliate.

The steps to get approved is not difficult but you may have a roadblock when it gets to the stage of phone number verification.

Amazon supports phone number verification for US numbers. This means you must have a US phone number in order to verify your account.

There is a solution to that, you can use Dingtone to get a US phone number. Download the app and purchase a US phone number.

If you follow all the procedures on the is signup page, you will get an approved Amazon Associates account.

Final Words

Amazon affiliate program requirements are not high but it is not easy to earn if you are a beginner in affiliate marketing.  You will get approved for only 180 days in which you must bring up to 3 sales in order to stay in the program.

If you can’t make any sales within this period, your account will be closed. Anyway, you can always reapply.

At the time of publishing this post, our website hasn’t earned anything from the program. This is to tell you that Amazon affiliate program is not a fast and easy way to make money online using a blog, website or mobile app.

So what do you think – does it worth it to join Amazon Associates?