I actually wrote a blog about this topic, and feel like you should check it out. I think that it would be a great idea to be a Merchant, however, you may want to get as much experience as possible as an Affiliate first, because being a Merchant really takes a ton of work. There are way more tasks at hand with Merchants than with Affiliates. Here is the blog that I was actually referring to: Why being a Merchant is a lot more work than being an Affiliate So being a Merchant is definitely a possibility, it's just recommended that you become an Affiliate first, and not jump right into being a Merchant when your just starting out :) Good luck!