Many affiliate marketers rely solely on Amazon commissions to earn a living. In fact, one of my close friends relied heavily on Amazon to generate her income. Unfortunately, her income is now affected since Amazon reduced commission for their affiliates.
According to CNBC, Amazon, one of, if not the biggest online marketplace on the internet is reducing the commissions paid to affiliate marketers who advertise products listed on their platform.
For those who didn’t know, Amazon runs an affiliate program known as Amazon Associates.
With the COVID-19 affecting everyone in the world, a reduction in income is devastating. From what I’ve heard, Amazon did not imply that the change is due to the pandemic.
Here are the rates before the change:
And here are the rates after April 21:
As you can see, the imposed changes are significantly less than what their affiliates were receiving in the past. And you’ll definitely feel the difference if you’re an affiliate marketer who relied heavily on Amazon commissions.
Personally, I don’t promote anything on Amazon, but I do feel the pain for other affiliate marketers who do. Now the question is, why is Amazon making the change all of a sudden?
My friend brought up a good point. Are they reducing affiliate commissions simply because they are receiving more traffic, more purchases due to the pandemic that is forcing people to shelter-in-place?
In other words, they don’t really need the help of affiliate marketers to drive sales? Again, we don’t know and I am not accusing Amazon of doing such.
What You Can Learn From Amazon’s Commission Reduction
Whether you’re a new or an existing affiliate marketing. What you can learn from Amazon’s commission reduction is diversification. Making money online should open doors to multiple income streams. You don’t have to depend on one source to generate all of your income.
Amazon Associates is a great affiliate program that caters to a huge variety of niche topics. But as soon as their program gets modified, you will see either and increase or decrease in your income.
So even though Amazon’s commission reduction will probably impact your income in a negative way. See it as a blessing in disguise.
If you are devastated by the change imposed by Amazon, it is time to diversify your income. There are likely other affiliate programs out there that cater to your niche. Don’t lock yourself down to one, promote others that you believe are of great value to your audience.
With that said, I hope you all have a blessing day and stay safe!
Protected by Patchstack