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How to become an Amazon affiliate

How to sign up for Amazon Associates, what your website or social account needs, the 3 sales in 180 days rule and when the Influencer Program fits better.

Getting into the programUpdated 10 min readBy CarouselScout

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Photo: cottonbro studio on Pexels

Short answer

To become an Amazon affiliate, you sign up for Amazon Associates for free with a public website, app or social account, add your tax and payment details, and start sharing tracked links. Amazon reviews your application only after you drive at least 3 qualified sales within your first 180 days.

What is an Amazon affiliate?

An Amazon affiliate is a member of Amazon Associates, Amazon’s affiliate marketing program. You share links to products on Amazon, and when someone follows your link and buys, Amazon pays you a commission on qualifying purchases.

“Affiliate” and “Associate” mean the same thing here. Amazon calls the program Amazon Associates and its members Associates; most creators and search engines say “Amazon affiliate”.

What makes Associates different from other affiliate programs:

  • You link to any product on Amazon, not one brand. Shoppers usually trust Amazon checkout, which helps conversion.
  • You earn on more than the product you linked. Under the standard rules, other qualifying items the shopper buys in the same session can count. This is different from onsite commissions in the Influencer Program, which since April 14, 2026 only count the exact variant on the linked page.
  • The tracking window is short. Third-party guides such as Keyword.com describe a 24-hour cookie, extended to about 90 days for items added to the cart within those first 24 hours. Amazon’s Operating Agreement is the authoritative text.
  • Rates are lower than many brand programs, typically 1% to 10% depending on category on Amazon’s standard schedule.

Amazon Associates exists in many countries, and each marketplace has its own program and account. This article covers amazon.com in the US.

What do you need before you apply?

You need a place where you publish original content and where your links will live. Amazon accepts websites, mobile apps and social media accounts, and you list each one during sign-up.

Platform What Amazon expects Notes
Website or blog Public, with original content Several guides cite about 10 recent posts; Amazon doesn’t confirm a number on its public help pages
Mobile app Available in a major app store Free apps are the common case in published guides
YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Public account with original content Some guides cite a 500-follower minimum; we couldn’t confirm it with Amazon

Besides that, Amazon’s sign-up asks for:

  • an Amazon account (you can use your shopping account);
  • your name, address and phone number;
  • a description of your site or channel, its topics and how you drive traffic;
  • tax information and a payment method, which you can complete right away or later, but before your first payment.

What Amazon doesn’t accept, per its policies and most published guides: sites made mainly to show ads, plagiarized or very low-quality content, content aimed at children under 13, and sites that use Amazon trademarks in a misleading way. Read the Operating Agreement and the Program Policies before you apply; they’re long but they’re the rules that decide whether your account stays open.

How do you sign up for Amazon Associates?

Have your details ready before you start. The steps on amazon.com:

  1. Go to Associates Central at affiliate-program.amazon.com and choose to sign up.
  2. Log in with your Amazon account or create one.
  3. Enter your account information: name, address and phone number, and who the main contact is.
  4. List your websites, apps and social accounts. Add every place you’ll put links. You can add more later.
  5. Create your Store ID. This is the tracking tag that appears in your links (it usually ends in “-20” on amazon.com). Pick something close to your site or channel name.
  6. Describe your traffic: what your content is about, which product types you’ll link and how people find you.
  7. Verify your phone number with the code Amazon sends.
  8. Add tax and payment information. You can skip it at first, but Amazon won’t pay you until it’s done.

When you finish, you have an Associates ID and can create links immediately. That doesn’t mean you’re approved yet: the real review comes after your first sales, which is the next section.

What is the 3 sales in 180 days rule?

After you sign up, Amazon doesn’t approve your account right away. Amazon’s Application Review Process help page says its Associates team checks your application once you’ve driven qualified sales, and it requires at least three within the first 180 days. Personal orders don’t qualify.

What that means in practice:

  • The clock starts at sign-up. If you sign up before you have content and traffic, you’re spending your 180 days on nothing. Many creators wait until they have a few posts or videos ready.
  • The sales have to come from other people. Buying through your own link, or asking family to buy just to hit the number, risks breaking the rules on personal and incentivized orders.
  • The review checks your site too. Hitting three sales gets you reviewed, not automatically approved. Amazon looks at whether your site and links follow the policies.

If you don’t reach three qualified sales in time, third-party guides such as Tech Tactician and Refersion report that the application is closed and the links you made with that Store ID stop earning. They also say you can apply again later with a new account, but old links don’t carry over. Amazon’s own help page is brief on this, so treat those details as reported, not confirmed.

A simple way to plan: publish enough content first that three sales in six months is realistic. A handful of posts that answer buying questions (“best X for Y”, reviews, comparisons) usually does more than many unrelated links.

Every link you create carries your Store ID. When someone clicks it, Amazon records the visit and credits you for qualifying purchases within the tracking window.

The usual ways to create links:

  • SiteStripe, the bar Amazon shows at the top of product pages when you’re logged in to an Associates account. It gives you a short link, a full link or an image link for the page you’re on.
  • Associates Central, where you can search products and build links or banners.
  • Your storefront, if you’re in the Influencer Program: one page with all your recommendations.

Rules that catch new affiliates:

  • Disclose. The FTC expects a clear disclosure near the link. Amazon also requires the statement “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases” or similar on your site.
  • No links in emails or offline material, and don’t show prices that can go stale unless you pull them through Amazon’s approved tools.
  • Don’t shorten links in a way that hides that they go to Amazon unless it’s an Amazon-approved shortener.

Your reports in Associates Central show clicks, ordered items, shipped items and earnings, so you can see which links and pages work.

How much do Amazon affiliates earn per sale?

Amazon pays a fixed percentage of each qualifying purchase, and the percentage depends on the product category. One sale pays price × category rate.

Our table uses Amazon’s standard Associates rates dated April 21, 2020. Some examples:

Category Standard rate A $40 product pays
Luxury beauty 10% $4.00
Kitchen, automotive, physical books 4.5% $1.80
Apparel, jewelry, shoes 4% $1.60
Home, toys, beauty, sports, pets 3% $1.20
Televisions 2% $0.80
Grocery, health and personal care 1% $0.40

Amazon changes these rates from time to time, and your account is the source that counts. The full list is in commission rates by category, and you can run your own numbers in the calculator.

Payment works the same for all Associates: monthly, about 60 days after the end of the month in which you earned it. Amazon’s help pages say amounts under $10 roll over for direct deposit and gift card, and checks have a $100 minimum.

How many sales you get depends on your traffic and the products you link, so there isn’t a typical figure we can give you. Start with the products your audience already asks about.

Earnings calculator

Per sale, this variant only

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A month

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Estimate — not Amazon data. Based on your inputs.

When should you join the Influencer Program instead?

Amazon Associates fits best when you have a website, a newsletter or written content where links sit next to your recommendations. The Amazon Influencer Program fits better when your audience is on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or Facebook and you make video.

The Influencer Program is an extension of Associates. Amazon’s help page says existing Associates don’t need to sign up again: you register with your current Associates account. On top of normal links, it adds:

  • a storefront at amazon.com/shop/yourname, where you group your recommendations;
  • shoppable videos on product pages, which can earn onsite commissions from shoppers who are already on Amazon, even if they never saw your social account;
  • Creator Connections, where brands offer a bonus commission on specific products for a limited time.

The trade-off is approval. Amazon reviews your social account before accepting you, and onsite earnings depend on where your video lands in the product page’s carousel. Since April 14, 2026, onsite sales only count purchases of the same variant you tagged.

If you make video, many creators apply to both: Associates for links on a website, the Influencer Program for the storefront and onsite videos. Our comparison of Amazon influencer vs Associates puts the two side by side, and how to become an Amazon influencer covers the application.

FAQ

Is it free to become an Amazon affiliate?

Yes. Amazon Associates has no sign-up fee. You need an Amazon account, a public website, app or social account, and tax and payment details before your first payment.

Can I be an Amazon affiliate without a website?

Yes. Amazon accepts social media accounts and mobile apps as well as websites. You list them during sign-up, and Amazon reviews them along with your first sales.

What happens if I don’t get 3 sales in 180 days?

Amazon’s help page says it reviews applications after at least three qualified sales in the first 180 days. Third-party guides report that if you miss it, the application closes and you can reapply later with a new account.

Do my own purchases count toward the 3 sales?

No. Amazon’s help page says personal orders don’t qualify.

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