Amazon Associates Affiliate Program – Why I Love It
Amazon’s affiliate program, called Amazon Associates, is not one of the most liked affiliate programs in internet marketing. There are some complaints that people have about Amazon Associates. Here are some of those complaints:
1) They only pay between 4% and 8.5% (for most people it’s about 4%-6%.)
2) The tracking cookie is only 24 hours.
These are definitely legitimate complaints. I do wish the tracking cookie was for a longer period of time, but that’s where my complaints of Amazon’s affiliate program stop. There are many things that I love about Amazon Associates.
1) Amazon is a trusted brand.
People know about Amazon, people have heard from Amazon, and best of all, people are already buying off of Amazon. We don’t have to try and convince people that a certain website is trusted, because Amazon has already gained people’s trust. People love Amazon’s free shipping opportunity, they love being able to buy pretty much whatever they want from Amazon… which leads me to my next point.
2) People buy other stuff from Amazon, and I get paid for it.
This is why I don’t complain about a “low affiliate commission” like others do. When someone is buying an item, or an informational product from another website you may be an affiliate for, you only get paid for that one item pretty much. Amazon, on the other hand, has perfected the art of up-selling.
Just take a little browse around one of Amazon’s product pages. They have a “If you buy this with these two other items, you can save X amount of money.” Further down they have “People who looked at this, ended up buying _______.” Then they have, ‘People who bought this, also bought these.” Then for some items they have “related accessories” and “similar products.” That’s a lot of different products that people can see, and possibly buy. Amazon has probably spent thousands and thousands of dollars on consumer behavior analysis, split testing different layouts, etc. They’ve done all of the work to maximize their sales.
So, for another affiliate program, I may make 15%-20% per item sold, but you may only sell one item per sale. Where, on Amazon, people either already had stuff in their cart they forgot to buy last time and choose to buy, or they just find multiple things they realized they needed to buy. So, you may only get 6.5% through Amazon, but that’s 6.5% on 4-6 items in an order. This is ESPECIALLY true during the holiday season when people are doing their Christmas shopping online. That’s how I was able to make $13,000 from October-December. Which leads me to my last point…
3) They pay on time, every month, plus have great payment options. (for US residents)
Amazon pays on a net 60 payment schedule. So, for any sales I make in January, I’ll get paid for them at the end of March. It sucks when you’re first starting out, having to wait 2 months, but once you’re steadily earnings, you’ll have a monthly paycheck. They always pay before the month is over, usually a few days before. Also, for US residents, they offer the ability to be paid by check, Amazon credit, or direct deposit. I have direct deposit, and I receive the money, like clockwork.
Amazon sells almost everything you can think of, they sell because they are a trusted brand, they’ve mastered the art of up-selling, and they pay their affiliates every month, on time.
What isn’t there to like Amazon?
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