So you’ve taken the necessary steps to become an Amazon Affiliate by having a decent website presence and signing up for the program. Now, you’re ready to make some money!
Your new role involves placing links to Amazon products on your site and then receiving commission once a customer purchases the item from your link. It seems simple enough, but Amazon has been notorious for fluctuating commission rates, which can be frustrating, but hardly noticeable at times.
Your commission depends on the item’s category the customer buys. Before 2020, Amazon’s standard program fee rates were as follows:
Rates for several product categories were cut back in April of 2020. CNBC reported the change was not due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, but just a “standard industry practice.”
Amazon Affiliate Commissions As Of April 2020:
Product Category – Rate
Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty, Amazon Coins – 10.00%
Digital Music, Physical Music, Handmade, Digital Videos – 5.00%
Physical Books, Kitchen, Automotive – 4.50%
Amazon Fire Tablet Devices, Amazon Kindle Devices, Amazon Fashion Women’s, Men’s & Kids Private Label, Luxury Stores Fashion, Apparel, Amazon Cloud Cam Devices, Fire TV Edition Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV Devices, Amazon Echo Devices, Ring Devices, Watches, Jewelry, Luggage, Shoes, and Handbags & Accessories – 4.00%
Toys, Furniture, Home, Home Improvement, Lawn & Garden, Pets Products, Pantry, Headphones, Beauty, Musical Instruments, Business & Industrial Supplies, Outdoors, Tools, Sports, Baby Products – 3.00%
PC, PC Components, DVD & Blu-Ray – 2.50%
Televisions, Digital Video Games – 2.00%
Amazon Fresh, Physical Video Games & Video Game Consoles, Grocery, Health & Personal Care – 1.00%
Gift Cards; Wireless Service Plans; Alcoholic Beverages; Digital Kindle Products purchased as a subscription; Food prepared and delivered from a restaurant; Amazon Appstore, Prime Now, Amazon Pay Places, or Prime Wardrobe Purchases – 0.00%
All Other Categories – 4.00%
As you can see, some categories took a big jump in the wrong direction, which can seem unappealing. However, if you’re able to generate a good number of visitors to your website, you will profit.
To estimate your monthly profits, you should consider your conversion rate. This is the percentage of people clicking through your site who actually purchase your linked product.
You can know your estimated earnings, by using this free Amazon Affiliate commissions calculation tool.
It’s important to know that the customer must buy the item within 24 hours of clicking the affiliate link. If they don’t, you won’t get paid.
So, now that you’re in the money-making mindset, it’s time to start sharing! Make sure to read our other blogs to learn more about running your own affiliate website.
For a deep dive into the historical rates for Amazon Affiliate commissions, please see this Geniuslink Blog post.
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