Amazon Affiliate Program Sign up Is Free & Easy
How to setup your Amazon Associates account in 8 easy steps (Steps with images are below.):
- Visit Amazon Associates (US)
- Sign in using your existing information or create a new account
- Verify your primary Amazon.com payment address
- Enter your website address
- Confirm your website is not for kids under 13 years old
- Complete your profile
- Read and accept the terms & conditions
- Complete your payment & tax information
Amazon Associate Program Notes
If your target market is in another country (outside of the US), you will need to sign up for the affiliate program for that country. For example, if you are marketing to consumers in the UK, you will need to setup an account for that country. Each country is a separate Amazon storefront and they are independent of each other.
If you need global linking to avoid losing sales to International customers, you can purchase the service Genius Link.
Regarding links, you will read many blogs and services that suggest cloaking Amazon links, but this is against their operating agreement. Do not cloak or shorten Amazon links. Use the links provided by Amazon.
Amazon actively enforces the terms & conditions of their operating agreement. Be sure you read it and follow Amazon’s rules to avoid unnecessary headaches.
Never fear, Amazon Associate representatives are a helpful team and you can easily contact them if you have any questions or need help.
Amazon will review your website after your first sale for approval.
If for any reason during your process of becoming approved as an Amazon affiliate, you are denied. You can simply reapply and update your links.
At this time, residents of the following states may not participate in the Amazon Associates Program due to eCommerce laws passed by the states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Rhode Island, or Vermont.
Learn how to profit with a website using affiliate marketing with Amazon.
How to Be an Amazon Affiliate in 8 Easy Steps
1. Visit Amazon Associates (US)
2. Sign in using your existing account information or create a new account
3. Verify your primary Amazon.com payment address
4. Enter your website address
5. Confirm your website is not for kids under 13 years old
6. Complete your profile
7. Read and accept the terms & conditions
8. Complete your payment & tax information
The great thing about being an Amazon Associate is if you refer a customer to their website, you will get credited for anything they purchase. So if your customer visits Amazon because of your referral for a book or gadget and they decide to purchase something else or in addition, you will be credited for those sales too!
Note some products sold by Amazon are excluded from the Associates program including Kindle subscriptions and products from the Appstore for Android. See Amazon’s list of excluded products.
Do not worry if you do not make a sale within the first 180 days. If your account is canceled, you can easily reapply and get new links. You can reapply as many times as you need to in order to become established.
Do not be intimidated by Amazon. They are huge but highly motivated to help you succeed. That is why they are so successful. Call them if you need to and you will be pleasantly surprised at how professional and helpful they are.
Thank you for reading How to Be an Amazon Affiliate in 8 Easy Steps. Do you have a question or a tip to share? Please leave it in a comment below!
This is a very nice comprehensive, step by step tutorial. The screenshots really help a lot. I can see you put a lot of effort into this. I didn’t know you couldn’t shorten amazon links.
I love amazon affiliates, its one of the better affiliate programs out there. Its too bad it doesn’t work everywhere.
If you make a sale within the 180 day period does that mean your ‘in’ and your account won’t get canceled?
Hi Matt, If you make a sale within 180 days, they will still need to review your website and give you their approval. After that you are all set. However, they do periodically check affiliate websites after approval, so it is important to continue to follow the terms of their operating agreement. Thank you for your compliments and leaving a comment! ~Gina
Hi there,
Absolutely brilliant step by step guide to becoming an amazon associate. A lot of bloggers dismiss Amazon as way to make some money online due to the low commissions (4%) but it only takes one sale per day to double that to 8% via the tiered commissions system on Amazon. A huge plus is they are a global and trusted brand. By not being an amazon affiliate, bloggers are in my humble opinion,leaving money on the table.
Hi Derek, Thank you for adding the note about the teired commissions. I agree with you. I appreciate you reading and leaving a comment! ~Gina
Great article – thanks for putting out a well-thought out breakdown (including the screenshots). We actually just released an article also on Amazon Affiliation that we think you would appreciate as it goes right off of this topic.
30 (+1) Tips To Instantly Increase Your Amazon Affiliate Earnings
https: //www.brandbuilders.io/31-tips-to-increase-amazon-affiliate-earnings/
Hi Evin, I appreciate you stopping by. Good tips in your article, but Amazon does not allow their links to be cloaked. Associates do this at risk of having their account terminated by Amazon. See my post about Amazon Associates operating agreement rules. ~Gina
I have just created my first blog website and am writing quality posts to out on it. After a while though I will want to join up with affiliate programs and Amazon is one of them. Thank you for explaining the steps involved in joining and setting up your Amazon account.
Hi Owain, All the best to you with your new website! Thanks so much for letting me know you found this helpful. ~Gina
Thanks for the good article, Still it is something I have to ask. Amazon outside of the USA, in Europe. Do I have therefore made an agreement with an affiliate of each of the Amazon? UK, France, Germany, etc.?
Hi Jarmo, Thank you for reading and for your question. The answer is yes. ~Gina
Gina, I liked this detailed guide on Amazon. I had launched my affiliate site a few months back but had trouble in getting the application approved. After going through your article, I learned my mistake and I’ll rectify it as soon as possible. Many thanks for sharing this awesome article.
Thank you Sethu! ~Gina