Amazon affiliate marketing is a way for you to earn additional income by running ads for Amazon on your website. If someone clicks on a link on your site then goes on to buy a product from Amazon, you’ll earn a commission.
The program, also called ‘Amazon Associates program’, can be a great way for small business owners to build a passive income with little effort.
In the article we’ll cover the following:
- how does Amazon affiliate marketing work?
- how to become an Amazon affiliate (getting started)
- requirements to join Amazon affiliate program
- how to create Amazon affiliate links?
- Amazon affiliate program: getting paid
- Amazon affiliate commission rates in 2025
- how much do Amazon affiliates make?
- strategies to maximise your Amazon affiliate income
- Amazon affiliate program: pros and cons
- is Amazon’s affiliate program right for you?
- Amazon affiliate marketing FAQs
How does Amazon affiliate marketing work?
The Amazon affiliate program works by giving you a commission for advertising Amazon products to your audience. Amazon creates a unique link for you to share a product on your website – if someone buys through your link, you’ll get a commission.
The amount of money you get from a commission depends on what you’re selling. It’ll generally depend on the category of the item you’re advertising – we explain the categories later on.
If someone clicks on the link from your site and buys a product from Amazon within 24 hours, you’ll earn the commission. This 24-hour period is called a ‘cookie window’.
Another feature of the Amazon Associates program is that your commission is based on the ‘full cart value’ of the purchase. Meaning you make money based on everything they buy, not just the product you advertised.
And because it’s a referral-based scheme, you don’t need to do anything else. Amazon fulfils the rest of the order, your job is to advertise the product.
How to become an Amazon affiliate: getting started
Signing up for the Amazon affiliate program is simple and free. You apply online and submit basic information about the platform you’re planning to share the affiliate links on.
Amazon then reviews your application to make sure it meets their guidelines.
Requirements to join Amazon affiliate program
The guidelines for joining the Amazon Associates program are:
- you must have a publicly accessible website, social media page, or app
- your site must have original content on it, mainly to avoid people creating sites to just host links
- your site must not contain or promote any prohibited content
- you must be at least 18 years old
- you’ll need to provide accurate contact, payment, and tax information during the application process
Once your application is approved, you’re good to go.
To stay in the scheme, you need to make at least three sales in the first six months of your account being accepted.
How to create Amazon affiliate links
The simplest and most common way to create an affiliate link is with the ‘SiteStripe toolbar’. The SiteStripe toolbar appears at the top of any Amazon page as long as you’re already signed into your affiliate account.
When you visit a product page and select the SiteStripe tool, it will create an affiliate link for you to promote. The type of link will depend on how you want to embed it on your site. This video below explains the differences:
Amazon affiliate program: getting paid
To get paid through the Amazon affiliate program, you need to choose if you want to be paid by direct deposit or gift card plus the currency of payment. This means Amazon will send your commission directly to your back account or the equivalent amount in an Amazon gift card.
You just need to have the minimum withdrawal amount in your Amazon account, which is £10.
But you need to be aware of Amazon’s payment schedules and the 60-day delay on affiliate payments. Amazon Associates are paid monthly but because of potential returns or cancellations, Amazon needs time to verify the sales. So there’s a 60-day delay on payment.
This means any commission you make in January would be paid at the end of March, for example.
Amazon affiliate commission rates in 2025
Amazon’s affiliate commission rates are always changing but they tend to group products in a similar way. Here are some examples of the current Amazon affiliate commission rates:
- Amazon games – 20 per cent (this is typically for specific Amazon-branded games, not all video games)
- luxury beauty, luxury stores beauty, Amazon Explore – 10 per cent
- Amazon haul – seven per cent
- digital music, physical music, handmade, digital videos – five per cent
- physical books, kitchen, automotive – around 4.5 per cent
- toys, furniture, home, lawn and garden, pets products, headphones, beauty (non-luxury) – three per cent
- musical instruments, business and industrial supplies, outdoors, tools, sports, baby products, Amazon Coins – three per cent
But here’s a comprehensive list that breaks down the rates of most items.
How much do Amazon affiliates make?
The amount you make from the Amazon Associates program largely depends on the traffic to your site and the amount of sales made from your affiliate links.
But according to Shopify, the average yearly earnings for people using the Amazon affiliate program is $77,893 in the US.
Strategies to maximise your Amazon affiliate income
There are many ways you can maximise your earnings with the affiliate program:
- find a profitable niche – finding the right product to promote can make a big difference to how well your ads convert into sales. Choose a product that suits your own website and your audience but also has a high commission rate
- create great content – whatever pages you display your ads on, they need to be engaging. Great affiliate marketing should be subtle and part of something interesting. ‘Best of’ guides, in-depth reviews, or comparison guides are better than just listing items
- optimise for SEO – make sure you capture the key phrases people search for to make it easier for people to find your page
- optimise your links – try to put the links for products in places that feel natural but hard to miss. You don’t want to lose potential customers by hiding affiliate links in places they won’t be seen
- use seasonal opportunities – paying attention to the seasonality of certain products and capitalising on trends can make a big difference to your sales
Amazon affiliate program: pros and cons
Pros
- huge range of products – regardless of the industry you’re in, you’ll be able to find a product on Amazon that suits your site
- brand reputation – as the biggest online retailer in the world, people trust buying from Amazon
- easy to join – there aren’t many steps to joining the program and it’s very quick to get started once you’ve been accepted
- reliable payouts – because of the size of Amazon, you can feel confident you’ll be paid what you’re owed
Cons
- low commissions – you’re not getting a huge amount of money from each sale made through Amazon. So you’d need to make lots of sales to make a significant return
- short ‘cookie window’ – the 24-hour period where you get commission for a sale is very short in comparison to other programs that can offer 30, 60, and 90-day ‘cookie windows’
- strict policies – Amazon’s terms of service are enforced strongly, and if you breach them, even accidentally, your account will be shut down
- competition – it can be extremely difficult to compete with businesses that are already established in the affiliate program and it’s hard to find a product that’s not promoted elsewhere
Is Amazon’s affiliate program right for you?
The Amazon affiliate program isn’t for everyone. But if your site gets a good number of visitors and creating content about products makes sense for your audience, then it could be right for you.
The Amazon affiliate program is also a good fit for those who want to build a passive income stream over time. Because it can take a while to build up sales at first, plus the 60-day delay on payments, it’s not a quick way to start making money.
It’s ideal for bloggers, niche website owners, YouTubers, and social media creators who want to monetise their content. And also for entrepreneurs that are looking to get a start in a low-cost, low-risk business.
Amazon affiliate marketing FAQs
How does Amazon affiliate marketing work?
The Amazon affiliate program allows you to earn commissions by recommending products sold on Amazon. You place a unique link on your own site and if someone clicks through and buys the product, you earn a commission.
How much do Amazon affiliates get paid?
Amazon affiliates get paid a different amount depending on the amount of sales they make and the products they sell. Each product has its own commission rate that determines how much they get paid.
Can you make £100 a day with affiliate marketing?
Yes, it’s possible to make £100 a day with affiliate marketing. You just need to establish regular traffic to your site, create engaging content, and choose the right product for your audience.
What qualifies you to be an Amazon affiliate?
To become an Amazon affiliate, you need an active website, blog, or social media presence with original content. You must be at least 18 years old and provide accurate contact and tax information. Crucially, you must make three qualifying sales within the first 180 days of approval to maintain your account.
Ready to set up your cover?
As one of the UK’s biggest business insurance providers, we specialise in public liability insurance and protect more trades than anybody else. Why not take a look now and build a quick, tailored quote?