Everybody knows Amazon as it is one of the world’s largest retailers. It is usually the first place most people turn to when they need to buy something online. As well as Amazon’s retail offering, they also have an affiliate program called Amazon Associates. You can join and earn commissions from promoting Amazon products and services on your website.
Is Amazon Associates Free To Join?
Firstly, a question people often ask, is Amazon Associates free? Yes it’s completely free to join. Note that in order to join the Amazon Associates program you are required to have your own website. This is a great way to monetize your site without any cost to you.
See one of the most effective ways to increase sales on Amazon with SellerMobile.
Amazon Associates Commission Plans
It is important to note that Amazon runs different associate programs for their different global sites. For instance the US, UK and Germany all have different commission structures for their respective sites. Which ones you join will depend on which regions your visitors come from that you will be marketing to.
You can join the associates program for multiple countries regardless of which country you are based in. But you do have to apply separately for each one. However these can be linked together in your account. This post will focus more on the US site. You can see a full list of supported countries and their associated commission structures here.
Commission rates are fixed for sales made through Amazon’s US website. This is usually between 1% to 10% depending on the product category. There are some categories that do not earn commission such as gift cards. You can see the full list of commission rates in the table below.
Bounty And Bonus Commission
In addition to the standard commission earned on product purchases there are other ways to earn special income. These include bounty events and bonus events.
Bounty events let you earn commission for new customer sign ups for services such Prime, Amazon Business, Audible and Kindle Unlimited. These pay a fixed fee per sign up and the value varies with each service. For example, you can earn $3 per successful sign up to an Amazon Prime trial.
Bonus events include referring new sign ups to Amazon Fresh and Pet Food & Supplies. For these you can earn $3 per sign up.
Registering An Account On Amazon Associates
Registering an account is free and easy. The link to the Associates page can be found in the footer menu on the main Amazon website. It says ‘Become an Affiliate’.
On the Affiliate page click the sign up button to register. If you already have an Amazon account you can simply sign in with your existing log in details.
Once logged in you will be asked to provide details of your website. In addition you need to state the advertising and promotional methods you plan to use. Create an account here.
Promotional Tools
Amazon provides you with a wealth of tools to help you promote products. This includes product links, banners and native shopping ads. You can customize links to land on any product page on Amazon. So you can direct visitors to any specific product you wish to promote easily.
You can also customize links to show only text, only images, or text and image links. Colours can be amended as well so you can ensure these fit seamlessly within your website content. Simply copy the HTML code and paste into your website or blog posts.
The best way to manage all your affiliate marketing links is with ClickMeter. It is an amazing tracking tool for affiliate marketers: Monitor, compare and optimize all your ads in one place.
Promo Codes
There are also promotional codes issued by Amazon. Offer these to your audience to help drive your traffic to Amazon and increase your conversions. The latest codes can be found under the ‘Promotions’ menu of your associates account.
Payment
Payment is by your choice of direct bank deposit, check or Amazon gift card. Method can be changed in your account settings. Minimum payout amounts are $10 for bank deposit, $10 for gift cards and $100 for checks. Although there is a $15 processing fee for checks. Commission is paid in the default currency for your Amazon site. You can choose to convert to your local currency if different.
Amazon Influencer Program
Amazon also have an Influencer Program aimed at those with a large social media channel presence. This program can be joined in addition to the Amazon Associates program. But there are different qualifying criteria which can you find here.
To qualify you must have either a YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account. With the Influencer Program you get your own page on Amazon. This lets you showcase your recommended products. You can then drive your social media followers to this page with your unique link and increase sales.
This is a great extension to the Amazon Associates program and works off of the same commission structure. The great thing is that you can be a member of both programs at the same time as long as you meet the qualifying criteria. This can help you maximize sales by increasing the audience you reach.
See out post on 10 ways to make money as an influencer.
Amazon Associates Conclusion
Anybody that owns their own website or runs their own large social media channel should really consider joining the Amazon Associates and/or the Amazon Influencer program.
Amazon is the world’s number one e-commerce platform and as such has a brand name that everybody recognises and trusts. This increases the likelihood of you making a sale versus advertising a lesser known competitor that customers are uncertain of.
Another benefit is that Amazon offers pretty much any product you can think of. So whatever sector you operate in, from fashion to books, gaming to food, you are certain to find products that match your content and you are able to recommend to your audience.
Learn these 10 affiliate marketing mistakes to avoid
More Affiliate Marketing Programs
Find more great affiliate programs and networks here >>> Affiliate Marketing Programs
If you don’t have a website then you still don’t have to miss out on earning money with affiliate marketing. Consider joining the Fiverr Affiliates program. This is free and open to anybody and start to promote their services via other means such as social media. We have a guide on how to get started with Fiverr Affiliates.
Website owners interested in monetization with affiliate marketing should also check out other free affiliate networks. You can check out our posts for more information on networks including FlexOffers, CJ Affiliate and more.