Amazon Associates is the name for Amazon’s affiliate marketing program & it’s one of the most well-known affiliate programs on the internet.
It’s reported that there are over 900,000 affiliates inside the Amazon Associates program & in another blog post, we recently uncovered some of the top earners.
But being popular doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good.
So, what’s the deal? Is Amazon Associates worth it? Or are there better affiliate programs to promote?
Well, if that’s what you’ve been wondering, then you can rest assured that you’ve landed in exactly the right place to find out.
In this post, we’ll be taking a closer look into Amazon Associates & uncovering everything you need to know, including, of course, if it’s actually worth it.
What Is Amazon Associates?
Amazon Associates is the name of Amazon’s affiliate marketing program & it’s through this program that you can earn commissions by recommending products off Amazon’s website.
The program is completely free to join & as soon as you’re approved & given access to it, you can begin making money by recommending products.
Plus, on top of recommending products, you can also earn money by recommending some of Amazon’s services, such as Amazon Music.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, it’s extremely popular, with over 900,000 affiliates having joined & it’s also completely free to get started with.
Once you join, you essentially get provided with your own special link to each of the products, known as an affiliate link & all you need to do is share this in order to start earning.
If somebody clicks via your link & makes a purchase, you’ll get paid a commission (providing it was a qualifying sale, as per their terms).
The best way to make money with Amazon Associates is by creating a website & that’s the exact method we teach in our free affiliate training.
We’ll explain more about how much you can earn with Amazon Associates in a moment, but first…
Is Amazon Associates Legit?
There are many scams that operate off the back of the Amazon Associate’s name, leading people to question the program’s legitimacy.
However, the good news is that the official Amazon Associates affiliate marketing program, located here, is perfectly legitimate.
It’s also completely free to join, too, as are all legitimate affiliate programs.
So to help protect yourself from getting scammed, always do your due diligence if an affiliate program ever asks you to hand over money to join.
Amazon Associates operates on the affiliate marketing model & as we’ve outlined on our blog before, affiliate marketing is perfectly legitimate.
As an affiliate, you’re essentially just a freelance advertiser. You advertise products on behalf of third-party companies but rather than being paid an upfront fee, you’re simply paid commissions on any successful sales you manage to generate.
And the good news is that you can stand a chance to earn a lot of money with affiliate marketing.
So, on that note…
How Much Can You Make With Amazon Associates?
The reality here is that there is absolutely no limit on the amount that you can earn with Amazon Associates. Your earnings are uncapped.
However, it is not a case of getting money for nothing. It is a case of getting out what you put in, so if you want to earn big, you must be prepared to work hard.
You can also follow our free training & learn how to work smart to generate passive commissions.
But ultimately, how much you earn with Amazon Associates is entirely up to you.
If you want to earn $10/mo, it is possible. Similarly, if you want to earn $10,000/mo, it is also possible. It’s all about working hard.
To see what’s possible, though, be sure to check out our list of top Amazon affiliate earners.
Some of the Amazon affiliate marketers that we shared in that list are earning in excess of $12,000 per month & one managed to make over $10,000 in his first 6 months of joining.
…(though he’d have probably earned it sooner if he had access to our free training).
In the image below, you can see how much Amazon pays affiliates for products in different categories:
The commission rates aren’t the greatest in comparison to other affiliate programs, but their high conversion rate typically makes up for it.
So let’s now take a look at the pros & cons of the Amazon Associates program to help us decide if the Amazon affiliate marketing program is worth it or not.
Amazon Affiliate Marketing – The Benefits
Below are some of the main benefits associated with the Amazon affiliate program:
High Conversion Rates
One of the main benefits of the Amazon affiliate program is that the sales process is so easy, meaning that you can achieve epic conversion rates.
The main reason for this is that most people already have Amazon accounts with 1-click billing enabled, so there is next to no friction at all when it comes to making a purchase.
All they need to do is click your link, hit buy & you’ll earn a commission.
Huge Product Range
If you want something, regardless of what it is, the chances are that you’ll find it for sale on Amazon.
It’s safe to say that they have one of the largest product ranges of any retailer meaning that as an affiliate, there are lots of things that you can promote.
Lots of Affiliate Tools & Great Reporting
Amazon provides a lot of different tools & widgets to help you make sales as an affiliate. Plus, they also provide great reporting so that you can track your sales.
You can see exactly where your sales are coming from & you can even see what your referrals are buying (which can be kinda fun to look at).
Opportunity To Earn From Additional Purchases
If somebody clicks on your link to view a product but then happens to purchase something completely different, you’ll still get paid a commission.
Also, if somebody clicks on your link to a product but then adds other products to the cart, you’ll get paid a commission based on the total cart value. Pretty neat 💰.
Amazon Affiliate Marketing – The Downsides
The Amazon affiliate program isn’t perfect. Below are some of the biggest downsides:
Low Commission Rates
There’s no doubt about it, in comparison to many other affiliate programs, Amazon pays out some pretty low commission rates on their products.
Many products, such as video games & video game consoles, only pay out 1% commissions & the average commission rate across other products is around 4%.
Short Cookie Duration
Cookie duration refers to the amount of time after somebody clicks your affiliate link that you can still get awarded a commission for the purchase.
Most affiliate programs offer a 30-day cookie duration (meaning you could earn from sales made 30 days after the click) but Amazon only has a 24-hour cookie duration.
Minimum Sale Requirement
New Amazon affiliates must make a minimum of 3 sales within their first 180 days of joining in order for their account to be kept active.
Strict Terms
Amazon Associates aren’t shy of bringing down the ban hammer if they notice you doing that even ever-so-slightly violates their terms.
Separate Accounts Required For Different Geos
One of the most frustrating things about the Amazon Associates program is that you need to create a separate account for every geo you wish to operate in.
So, if you wish to promote products from the USA & UK websites, you would need to create 2 separate Amazon Associates accounts.
Is Amazon Associates Worth It?
Even though Amazon Associates offers a lower commission rate than many other affiliate programs, their high conversion rates make the program worth it.
This means that whilst you might earn less per sale with Amazon Associates, you will likely end up making more sales overall.
And the reason for that is because, as we mentioned earlier, most people already have an Amazon account & already have 1-click billing enabled.
This means that all they need to do is simply click on your link & hit “buy now” & you’ll get paid a commission. There’s next to no friction in the sales process at all.
Whereas if you were promoting another affiliate program with higher commissions, the user might have to create an account, resulting in lowered conversions.
But as with anything, the key is to test it. After all, affiliate marketing success is all about trial & error.
So give the Amazon Associates program a go, but also try out different affiliate programs & see what generates you the most revenue.
After all, not all affiliate marketing traffic is equal.
The Bottom Line
The Amazon Associates program is a fantastic affiliate program because it gives you instant access to a huge number of products to promote.
In our free affiliate marketing training, we recommend the Amazon Associates program as we believe it’s one of the best affiliate programs for beginners.
And if you haven’t already done so, we recommend signing up for our free training before you leave.
But overall, we hope that this blog post gave you a good insight into the Amazon Associates program & helped you understand if it’s worth it for you or not.
If you happen to have any additional questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave them below.
