My Faith Renewed in Amazon Associates

How many newbie affiliates sign up to the Amazon affiliate program as their first? I think it was probably the first program I signed up with along with Commission Junction back in the day.

But there is one problem with Associates: the commission rates are relatively low compared with other merchants.

Another complaint people make is that because Amazon only have a 24 hour cookie, you are less likely to make a sale, especially if the person decides not to buy right now.

That can put you off but if you take a closer look and actually start driving some volume to the products you quickly realize there is a whole lot of potential. For this reason I’ve been giving AA a second go lately, with some positive results.

Amazon Affiliate payment tiers

The above shows that with the Performance Fee Structure you get a measly 4% if you refer less than 6 product sales. This quickly jumps to 6% when referring just 7-30 products. And in a moment I’ll explain why that’s not as hard as it sounds.

You get more commission selling digital products, but these are often priced less so it all evens out.

Why It’s Easy to Earn More from Amazon
There are several reasons why earning through this program is easy, and it puts to rest the above mentioned common complaints.

1. Amazon converts amazingly well. They spend millions in research and know how to convert customers. Their checkout process throws related products in front of the buyer’s eyes, and it is all geared to make the buyer checkout NOW rather than later. So your 24 hour cookie isn’t so bad after all.

2. Most people buy more than 1 product so you get more commission. This has been a big thing for me, because I often earn commissions from products that are totally unrelated to what I’m promoting – that’s because people simply put many items in their cart at once. I keep getting Oprah Book Club sales which I find amusing

3. Further to the above point, you might only make 1 “sale” from your website, but if that person buys 3 items then you are getting bumped up the performance fee scale (as in the diagram above). The more products you sell, the more commission you get over time.

So don’t discard Amazon Associates because the earnings potential is considerably more than just via the products you are promoting on your site.

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