Should you Become an Affiliate of Amazon?
I see so many WA members either immediately or eventually wanting to become affiliates of Amazon. Is this a wise decision? I don't think it is. I’m not saying you should not become an Amazon affiliate (or Associate as Amazon calls it) because I am one too and there are some benefits to being one. What I am saying is that Amazon should not be your first choice. Why do I say this?
Because there are thousands of other affiliate programs out there that pay a much higher commission than Amazon pays. Plus if you live in the United States and you live in Arkansas, Colorado, Rhode Island, Minnesota, or Connecticut, you cannot even participate as an affiliate. Even though I have no problem being an affiliate living in New Jersey, Amazon was not my first or second choice for a company to be affiliated with. Why?
OTHERS OFFER MORE
Yes Amazon has millions of products but you will not need to nor be able to affiliate even 1000 of those products. So the fact that they have so many products shouldn't even be a factor in your decision to affiliate with them because your niche is too narrow and focused. Depending on your niche, Amazon may not even be the wise choice at all. Thousands of other affiliates pay a much higher commission rate and have better payment options.
Why are Amazon's payment options not that good? Amazon's commission cookie is only 24 hours. That means if someone enters Amazon through your affiliate link starts an order and then decides to save the items in their shopping cart so they can complete the order the following day, you will NOT get the commission for that order. The only way you will get a commission is if that customer completes their order within a 24 hour period.
As for commissions levels, with my video game website at Christmas time I had only one affiliate widget with a slide show of games from Amazon and two other widgets of games from Origin/Electronic Arts and Sony Creative Software. Amazon only pays from 6-8% commission on select products. Origin/Electronic Arts pays 12-14% and Sony Creative Software pays 9-17%. These higher percentages are not just in the video game software genre either. There are a ton of affiliates out there that pay all the way up to 20% commission and sometimes more.
DO YOUR RESEARCH
When choosing an affiliate it is important to do your research. Just like everything important in life, research is vital to overall success. When I was searching for affiliates for my Natural Health and Video Game websites, I went on Google. I typed in: Vitamins + Affiliate Programs and Video Games + Affiliate Programs. Then I researched the affiliate programs of the ones that interested me. Practically all of them had their affiliate programs operated by LinkShare. I soon became a member of LinkShare because so many companies from all over the world affiliate through them.
LinkShare represents small Mom & Pop companies all the way up to major Big Named corporations. Plus the commissions that many of these companies offer is way better than Amazon. The only reason I affiliate with Amazon is to offer more choices of products for my readers to buy. However when it came to overall sales, I made most of my Christmas sales from O/EA & Sony, but not from Amazon.
So if you want the most bang for your buck then you need to stop obsessing about wanting to affiliate with Amazon and do your research and find all of those other affiliates in your niche that pay way more than Amazon does. Do your homework for higher commission payouts. Again, I am not saying to avoid being an Amazon affiliate. I am saying that there are much better options available to you and becoming an affiliate of Amazon shouldn't be your first best option.
Recent Comments
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I'm inclined to agree with you, Robert. Plus, Amazon does not have cooperative agreements with every state. Also, they have a short cookie life...it only lasts for 24 hours. So you work your butt off to send them a referral and the referral likes the product but they get distracted and don't get back to the Amazon page for three days...you just lost a sales commission.
Great article! ~Rebecca
Exactly Rebecca! Like I just commented below to Lynn's post, that 24 hour cookie is another reason why Amazon was not my first or only choice. I prefer the 15 and 30 day cookies I get with the other affiliates to Amazon's 24 hour cookie.
But when it comes to cookies, Wealthy Affiliate's lifetime cookie is THE BEST!!!
You're welcome Andy! Amazon is good to be an affiliate with but there are better choices available. I prefer to be affiliated with a few companies plus Amazon just to give my readers more options...and me better commissions. :-)
I think Amazon associates is more of a safer option as it's widely known by many people. You are right though, we should seek alternatives. I haven't monetised my website just yet, when I do I'm going to scrutinise the internet for affiliate programs that pay higher than Amazon, with that said I will still keep amazon on the backburner.
By all means Charlene, definitely include Amazon as one of your choices. All I am saying is that there are way better choices available and Amazon shouldn't be the first or only choice.
As far as monetizing your website, take your time to build up your content first. The more quality content you have the more traffic and standings you will have online. This will help greatly in getting the other affiliates to accept you. Amazon is easy to become affiliated with and is great for people who are in a rush to monetize.
Personally I tend to follow Kyle's advice and not rush into monetizing my websites until I have built them up. His advice has worked well for him as it has for me too.
Hey Robert, great post, as usual, and I do agree with you.
However, I think a lot of people start out with Amazon because they're one of the few major affiliate programs that are reasonably sympathetic towards barebone sites. I do see Members get rejected from a lot of other retailer type affiliate programs because their site is just too new.
There's also the trust factor for visitors, no matter how "rough" a new site is, they don't have any hesitation about making a purchase via Amazon, often they've already got an account, whereas they might think twice or thrice before adding to a Clickbank cart or similar and parting with their credit card number to a company they've never heard of before, via a site that may well still be under construction.
Just my 2¢, as always. :)
Rich.
First off Rich your comments are always worth more than 2¢. :-)
Yes Amazon is the easy choice for most people and they aren't as strict about signing up but almost every company I wanted to affiliate with had better commissions and I didn't have problems signing with them. My approach was what Kyle taught in his lessons. Build your content, share your content, get traffic, get a following, and only then apply for affiliates. Basically I was patient and because of this, I feel, I didn't have a problem being accepted.
But for those who are in a rush Amazon is a good choice. After all, they were a choice of mine too...just not my first choice. :-)
Why would you pick just one. You can be an affiliate to just about anything from either the manufacturer or through many other affiliate programs. Just remember linked words get more clicks then banners. So click bank, commision junction or link share would be better. In fact one product I'm an affiliate of, ( I started with the manufacturer direct ) made me join CJ because that is who they use. So research what products you want to promote and then you'll know what affiliate program you'll need.
Exactly Steve! I never like putting all of my eggs in one basket and I became affiliates with 4 other companies before I became an Amazon Associate. Eight of the nine companies I wanted to affiliate with worked through LinkShare, so that was my logical choice for choosing them first.
Thank you Robert. I believe in not putting all your eggs in one basket. Although Amazon offers a lot of products I think for me it's the lazy route. If you specialize in something Amazon is not the way to go. Like you say, research to find the best distributer for you.
Pam
I agree Pam, I never put all my eggs in one basket. That is why I am an affiliate with many other companies and not just Amazon.
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Great information. I did both. I researched and have affiliate programs with other places, but I also have one with amazon.
Me too Jennalee! I offered Amazon for those who like them and have accounts with them. However most of my sales come from the other affiliates and not Amazon.