If you want to make money from your website, Amazon might come to mind as an old player in the field of affiliate marketing. After all, Amazon Associates, their passive income platform, was the first to offer its affiliates a chance to make some money by directing website visitors to Amazon.
But, the pandemic has changed many things online as well as in the real world. So, the answer to the question – is an Amazon affiliate website worth it? – is not as simple as it once was.
Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of the Amazon Associates program and decide for yourself if it is still with your time.
Advantages of working with Amazon
- Even today, Amazon’s affiliate is one of the most extensive such programs in the world. It is free to join and simple to use. Amazon’s associates can earn commissions when one of their website visitors clicks on a link and completes a purchase on Amazon. It is as simple as that.
- Amazon is a well-established and well-trusted brand. Many people do all their shopping there. Since it is so popular, no other platform can guarantee you as high a conversion rate as Amazon can. Roughly nine percent of people that visit Amazon make a purchase. Compare that to other online retailers with a success rate of approximately one percent, and you will see how much more successful Amazon is.
- Like any other affiliate program, Amazon uses tracking cookies to see where the purchases are coming from. However, their cookies expire after 24 hours. In practice, this means that you make money off anything that a visitor to your site buys on Amazon within the next 24 hours after clicking your link, even if they do not purchase anything right away.
- One more advantage that Amazon gets due to its size and scope is that you can find comprehensive – and wild – assortments of products to promote within your niche and specialty. If a product is not on Amazon, the odds are that it doesn’t exist. So no matter how specific and small your product niche is, you will find something on Amazon that is worth promoting.
Disadvantages of working with Amazon
- Low commission rates Back in April of 2020, Amazon has significantly reduced the amount of money you can get from working with them. Sure, you get a mall portion of every purchase that a customer from your site makes. But, the keyword here is “small.” The only way to make significant money off Amazon these days is to sell large quantities of products or sell a few costly ones.
- Their cookie policy is not as generous as it might seem. Most other affiliate networks have cookies that expire after 30 or more days. Sure, on Amazon, you get a cut from everything your visitor buys within the 24 hours after clicking your link, but some might say that that time window is too narrow.
- Getting banned from the Amazon Associates program is very easy, thanks to their strict terms and conditions that change constantly. And, once you get banned, you might lose all the commissions made in the past couple of weeks or even months.
- Finally, their vast market share makes it easy for Amazon to lower its commission rates as they find fit. If you look at their history, you will see that their rates constantly tend to go down.
Conclusion
Dealing with the Amazon Associate program is tricky.
On the one hand, Amazon offers an unmatched range of products, a globally recognized reputability, and is extremely easy to use and join.
On the other hand, the only way you are guaranteed a massive profit off Amazon is by creating lots of traffic and moving vast amounts of products.
Give the Amazon affiliate program a try if you want to learn how such a platform works without too much hassle. Amazon might be a good match for you if you have a narrow, specific, or quirky niche of products that you want to promote, as well. You can also try Amazon as an additional source of passive income or if you’re going to diversify your streams of income.
If none of these things apply to you, you might be better off if you find some other alternative to Amazon.
