Are Amazon Affiliate Earning Good Enough?

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   faresalhakimposted 18 months ago

   Thinking of joining hubpages' Amazon program but I don't currently have an Amazon account and would like to make sure if going through the hassle of making an account then joining the affiliate program is worth it.

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   1. STAFF

      Matt Wellsposted 18 months agoin reply to this

      All you need to do to enroll in the Amazon Program is to click a few buttons. You can do that here.

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      Kenna McHughposted 18 months agoin reply to this

      I sell Amazon items from my article links. It is easy and works by paying attention to what sells and doesn't.

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   PaulGoodman67posted 18 months ago

   There's the potential to earn dollars rather than cents with Amazon. However, it's definitely become harder over the years for a number of reasons.
   
   I only earn a small fraction of what I used to back in the day and you really have to jump through all sorts of hoops nowadays that you never had to.
   
   Like Matt says, it's not hard to sign up. The challenge is to write Amazon hubs that get views and earn.

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      faresalhakimposted 18 months agoin reply to this

      Should they specifically be amazon product reviews or can I add amazon capsules leading to the books I use as references?

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      1. 97

         PaulGoodman67posted 18 months agoin reply to this

         You can link to books. Whether you'll get much income is another question.
         
         Generally speaking, to earn with Amazon you have to orientate the article around the product. So, if the book features heavily and you discuss your views on it, then there's a chance of the link earning some money.
         
         The problem is when people try to just throw in links without really exploring the book or product that they're linking to. That rarely works and can even come across as spammy.
         
         Your abusive men article might be a candidate for an Amazon link to the book you cite. It probably wouldn't earn a great deal of money, if any, but it would be appropriate, from what I read of your article anyway.
         
         Reviews often work best because the readers are often people who are looking at products with an inclination to spend money.
         
         Your book link idea would need to persuade people that the book is so special that it's worth ordering. That said, you can't "sell" it too heavily, a pros and cons approach is better.

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   Rupert Taylorposted 18 months ago

   I've included links to books at Amazon, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of times. These have been books that I have quoted from in the text of the articles and I've placed the links in "Sources" at the end.
   
   I've never made a single sale.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 18 months agoin reply to this

      Yes, that doesn't surprise me. I gave up on that approach as I had a similar experience. I think it would require thousands of views to stand much chance of working.

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      bravewarriorposted 18 months agoin reply to this

      I've found that the sales I get through Amazon aren't necessarily for the products to which I link, but because the reader entered by way of my link, I earn from whatever they end up buying.

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4. 97

   PaulGoodman67posted 18 months ago

   To give you some sense of the decline in my Amazon earnings, the figure I got in December 2022 for this account was less than 5% of what I was getting around five years or so ago.
   
   It's been gradually dwindling away. I'm trying to drum up some Pinterest traffic but I'm not terribly hopeful.
   
   Most of the problem comes from a combination of Amazon Ass. reducing the commissions and Google giving the retail corporations more of the top spots in the SERPs.

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      bravewarriorposted 18 months agoin reply to this

      Yeah, our earnings have greatly diminished on all fronts. All the more reason to enjoy the residual income I gain from from this site. It's not enough to urge me to edit and resubmit. I'll do better on my own as a freelancer once I retire and can devote my time. HP will not be a priority. They take too much of our earnings. Freelancing doesn't give up revenue as long as you don't write for the mills.

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   Rupert Taylorposted 18 months ago

   I'm doing way better than you Paul. My Amazon earnings have not declined at all. I made zero dollars from Amazon in each of the last six years. Holding steady. No drop.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 18 months agoin reply to this

      That sounds like my eBay earnings back when we had those!

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      faresalhakimposted 18 months agoin reply to this

      Can't we make the claim that if you buy the items on your amazon capsules, you technically made negative earnings?

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      1. 97

         PaulGoodman67posted 18 months agoin reply to this

         I'm not sure what you mean? You're not supposed to click on your own Amazon links, it can get you banned.
         
         Just to be clear, I'm not saying don't do Amazon. You can still do much better than Hub Ads, it's just got more difficult over the years.
         
         If you have an article that's orientated around a specific book then it makes sense to use an affiliate link. Regardless of whether it makes money, it won't do you any harm.
         
         You should do it in-text, though. Maybe do it once near the beginning of the article and then maybe once at the end? Don't bury it in a sources list at the bottom of the page.

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   Abby Slutskyposted 18 months ago

   It works and really does not take that much time, but if you are looking for a big payout, it is unlikely to happen. It also depends on what you sell.

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