Amazon 24 Hour Link and Cookie Enlightenment

Hi everyone,

I have always been confused about the time that Amazon cookies are valid. I have read that the cookies disappear after 24 hours and that just didn't seem right to me.

I recently had a session with one of the Amazon support people and I saved the conversation. I'm going to paste it here.

The quote that I gave her was from someone on the Amazon Associates Discussion Board where I originally went to see if my question would be addressed. I wasn't satisfied so I went to the Feedback link at the top right corner of the Amazon Associates site, clicked that and then chose "Chat With Amazon.com Associate Support."

I'm including the entire conversation because I want you to experience the great rapport I had with her.

You are now connected to Suzy from Associate Support.

Edina MN 55435

Suzy: Hello, thank you for contacting Amazon Associates. My name is Suzy. May I confirm your name, email before we get started?

Me: Cheryl Kohan and my email addresses are cheryl.kohan@gmail.com and clkohan@icloud.com

Suzy: Great, thanks! How can I help?

Me: I'm concerned about how long the links on my site are valid. I just read that after 24 hours if someone clicks on one of my links, I won't receive a commission. Is that true?

Suzy: Links are valid until you take them down, if I'm understanding you correctly. You get commission by having people order from your links, and keep the item.

Me: If you could wait just a minute, I'll quote the person who posted on the discussion board...

Suzy: Ok, sure

Me: Here's the quote: "Yes. But the cookie set by Amazon only lasts 24 hours.So if no one bought anything today and only bought 4 days later, you won't earn anything."

Suzy: Looking into that...

Me: Thanks! It just doesn't seem right to me.

Suzy: This is what I found out: as long as they added the item to the cart during the 24 hour shopping session, the order will still be credited to the Associates account. The cart session will last up to 89 days.

Does that sort of clear things up?

They have 24 hours to place it in the cart and 89 days to buy it.

Me: Oh! So if they click on one of my links but don't order within 24 hours, there's no commission. However, If they come back to my link, later, though and add something to the card they have 89 days to buy it?

That makes sense...if they don't order something of course there would be no commission!! Duh!

Suzy: LOL you've got the jist!

Me: I feel so much better!! So when someone clicks on the link there's a cookie placed that is removed after 24 hours. But the links themselves are valid as long as I have them on my site?

Suzy: Correct.

Me: Thank you! You rock!

Suzy: Aww shucks! Thank you! I'm glad I could put your mind at ease!

Me: You know, there's a lot of misunderstanding about this and I'm going to spread the word among my friends who are also Amazon associates. I'm just as pleased as punch with the support you offer.

Suzy: Great, I'm glad you're helping clear the air. Anything else I can help with today?

Me: No, thank you. Have a great day, Suzy!

So, maybe I'm just not as savvy as the rest of you guys but it took this conversation for me to really understand the system.

If this post helps anyone else, I'll be happy. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Cheryl