A Million Vendors: The Amazon Affiliate Program!

Hey there readers! I’m back with a new (well, the first) entry in ‘Profitable Platforms.’ It’s a little series where I’ll present you… er, profitable platforms (I pride myself on appealing alliteration)  that make money on the internet. I hope you like it! 

 

Amazon is huge!!! This is a reality you can use to your advantage!

 

The first thing that comes into anyone’s head when thinking ‘money’ and ‘internet’ is eCommerce, or selling products online. And while there are dozens of high-profile eCommerce platforms, the biggest and most-known is undoubtedly Amazon. Every internet user has probably bought something on Amazon. It’s unavoidable, what with its endless selection and incredibly fast shipping. But did you know you can actually make large amounts of money from Amazon? Anywhere ranging from simple beer money to entire living expenses? There are even Amazon-made millionaires. Read on for more details!

There are two main Amazon programs for making money: the Seller program and the Affiliate program.

Seller is exactly what it sounds like. You sell your goods and profit off them. Affiliate is basically promoting Amazon’s products on your website (or anywhere else), the process of which is known as affiliate marketing. When someone clicks a link of yours, and buys a product, you get paid a commission. This has potential to be more passive than selling, but requires a website with a following.

While I will cover the Amazon Affiliate program in the future, this post will focus on selling. If you’d like to learn more about affiliate marketing, get started here.

Why You Should Sell on Amazon


Amazon offers a host of benefits for it’s sellers. These benefits are the reason vendors are flocking sell on the website.

An overview of Amazon selling benefits

For starters- and this is probably the principal reason anyone should sell on Amazon- all sellers have the ability to reach millions of customers around the world, from Japan to Brazil to Germany. eCommerce, and the internet itself, is defined by access to the world from your home, which is why an Amazon business does so well.

While one-day delivery isn’t available everywhere, it’s a good example of how important Amazon’s shipping time is to the company

If online shoppers can be one thing, it’s impatient. Shipping times can be a deciding factor in a purchase, and Amazon, with it’s Prime membership, offers unbelievably fast shipping times, which keeps customer satisfaction at a high note.

Listing fees can be a thorn in the side of online sellers, reducing profits and being a general nuisance. Amazon only charges you after you make a sale, and it’s payment methods are considerably secure. All these make selling less of a headache.

Finally, Amazon’s support services are always available to help. Whether you need a tutorial or a solution to a problem, you can be sure that you’ll find an answer. Technical problems are hurriedly dealt with, too.

What You Need


Amazon is incredibly simple. All you need to start is an Amazon Seller account, which you can sign up for here.

Next, you have to find a product. Finding a product is a topic in and of itself, but I can slip you a few tips right here:

  • Sell things you own around the house- stuff you don’t need. You’ll get traction right off the bat!
  • Keep your eye on Amazon Top Seller lists. You need a product that you can buy in bulk, and is proven to sell well. Look at different categories, too.
  • If you have a website, sell products related to your niche. If you have a a lot of readers, you can surely make some revenue.
  • Consider buying wholesale products from Alibaba. if you can find cheap and interesting items, it’s worth a shot. This tactic is one you can get rich off of, if you play your cards right.

Finally, this is kinda obvious, but you need packing materials like boxes, tape, and bubble wrap.

Hold It! You Don’t Need to Ship Wares Yourself!


Can you imagine buying a hundred lamps, and having them around the house until they were sold off? That happened to a friend of mine, and a great deal of other people too. My point is, packing and shipping items yourself might be too impractical. Luckily Amazon’s got you covered.

This is how FBA works! In this model, all you have to do is manage buying product and making sales.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a process in which Amazon stores your products in it’s ginormous warehouses until a customer buys one. Then, Amazon ships the order to the customer. You don’t do anything! Well, you do, but not relating to shipping. It’s almost too good to be true. Incidentally, this is another reason to sell on Amazon.

You can find more information directly from Amazon at this link.

Closing Thoughts


Amazon is the premier destination for anyone wanting to sell online. It makes selling easy, is full of customer-friendly features, and all in all can be a great source of passive income.

If you’re interested in another way to earn money online (without products of your own!), check out my #1 program here!

What are your thoughts on Amazon? Do you think it’s a good money maker? Leave a comment down below! Don’t be shy, it’s the Internet!

Your pal,

-Makki

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12 thoughts on “A Million Vendors: The Amazon Affiliate Program!

  1. Cannot agree with you more, Amazon is definitely the way to go. I personally use them on my site.

    My only problem is the low commissions, that can be a killer if you don’t have high priced items.

  2. Hi Makki,
    Great article, interesting read.
    I am an affiliate with Amazon and eBay as sometimes prices vary on each product I am promoting so I point the customers to the cheaper option as I know that most of us will look around. Ryan is right, it can be quite difficult if you don’t have high priced items as you will need a lot of traffic to make a lot but it is all possible.
    Are you an affiliate with Amazon?
    Cheers,
    Simon.

    1. Hey Simon! Thanks for your contribution. That actually is a good idea. I’ll remember your strategy in the future. Maybe I’ll write about it too. I’ll be sure to credit you.

      Anyway, while this is my first solo website, I have contributed and been a part of other websites before, such as my friend’s, and I have used the affiliate program. I am an affiliate with them. I need a lot more experience in it though. Thanks for your reply!

  3. I set a site up a couple years ago and even though I don’t work on it near as much as I did back then, I still generate a lot of sales through my Amazon account. If you are looking to earn money online through Affiliated Marketing I could not agree more that Amazon should be a part of that.

    1. The problem is with the commissions, as Ryan said. My preferred tactic would be to sell lots of smaller items. These sell faster, which makes up for the low commission rate. Thanks so much James! Your comment is appreciated.

  4. Makki,

    Great article!

    I love the idea of selling things I already own via Amazon. I’d like to learn more about how to do that!

    Especially since I am looking to sell some of my fly fishing gear to be able to buy MORE (but different) fishing equipment!

    Thanks for the tips!

    Roger

  5. Thanks for the praise Roger. I’m glad you like that idea! I’ll be sure to go more in-depth in the future.

    Undoubtedly, your situation is perfect to sell your unwanted fishing gear. Equipment can be expensive!

    This feedback means a lot. Thanks for your time!

  6. Thank you for making this so informative and easy to understand! I LOVE Amazon. As a buyer, I have never had any issues that weren’t quickly resolved. They protect their buyers and it’s great to know that they also stand behind their sellers. I don’t have one negative thing to say about Amazon. Thanks for another great post!

    1. I’m glad you enjoyed it! Amazon’s customer service is unparalleled. There’s a reason they’re at the top of their industry. Thanks for your thoughts Rachel!

  7. Excellent post on Amazon. I’ve been playing around with Amazon’s affiliate program, and it’s been a bit of a hassle going through them, but I think it’ll work out in the end. I’ve also thought about dabbling in actually trying to sell products through their fulfillment by Amazon program. Do you have any experience with this?

    1. Go for it Pete. My experience has been nothing but positive. It really takes away the hassle of shipping. I highly recommend it. Thanks for commenting!

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