Amazon, the U.S. e-commerce and distribution giant, offers much more than fast shipments of products and digital content. The multinational has tens of thousands of direct jobs in Spain, most of them linked to logistics. But there is much more. Its platform offers several ways to earn money with Amazon from home and even without selling anything.
5 ways to make money with Amazon from home
Before we start, it is important to remember that nobody gives anything away for free on the Internet. These formulas require effort and work to generate income. If you are going to try any of them keep in mind that they can be a good way to start a new type of income for the family with which to get some extra money with which to make some purchases or save a little, but they will hardly replace a normal salary unless you dedicate as many hours or more than a working day. That said, let’s get started.
Amazon’s affiliate program, one of the most popular formulas
The affiliate program is based on recommending Amazon products. If the sale is made, the platform will pay us a commission that varies depending on the product category. These range from 1% to 10%, although there are some exceptions that are a little higher. To access it, it is necessary to register here and meet the requirements.
How does it work? The most common is to use a blog or website to make the recommendations, although you can also use social networks or any other channel you can think of for people to reach you. When users click on the link you provide, they will go to the Amazon product file. If they buy it, everything will be registered through a cookie, thus counting the commission in your account.
The advantages of Amazon Affiliates
- The easiest way to sell: With this mode you don’t need a store, no products, no warehouses, no delivery people, no nothing. Your job here is to get a customer to the product, the rest is taken care of by Amazon.
- Specialize in what we like: The variety of products and families of the great online bazaar is virtually endless, allowing us to focus on recommending those products we know or like, thus avoiding selling for selling or falling into product recommendations in which we do not believe.
- Almost zero or optional costs: Starting on Amazon affiliates does not require any cost, however it is best to start in a place of your own as a website. In that case, you can find good domain and hosting options for around €80.
- The magic of cookies: As we have mentioned, cookies identify you as a “referrer”. Something like if a person comes to a store on your behalf. The good thing is that cookies are temporary. Specifically, a little more than an hour. This means that, in addition to your recommendation, all purchases made in that time from the same window can generate commission.
Disadvantages of using Amazon affiliates today
- High competition: The good performance of this program and the years it has been active have resulted in an Internet full of affiliate websites. Currently, the most themed ones are working and, although it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a niche to address, the application of new technologies presents interesting opportunities.
- It takes work to make it work: The affiliate formula is based on attracting people. Therefore, it is essential to have a website or a profile with relevant or viral information. To achieve this, it is necessary to work on quality content that achieves a good position in search engines such as Google or that is shared naturally among many users. Product explanatory articles, detailed comparisons, rankings, videos… The possibilities are many, but getting them to engage and convert can require a lot of analysis and work.
- Reduced market: Contrary to the rest of the options we will see below -and against all logic-, Amazon’s affiliate program works by country. Each one has its own commissions and although we can choose the one we want, it is important to choose well. If your recommendations are in Spanish, it is logical to target the Spanish market, but keep in mind that all those users who buy the product thanks to you but come from other countries will not generate a euro for your coffers.
Setting up your own online store, an option with a lot of potential
Opening your own space on Amazon to sell your own or third-party products is probably the most obvious answer to the question of how to make money with Amazon. To do so, you simply have to access here and follow the steps to complete the registration. The platform will also give you tips on how to complete the registration and improve your sales.
With a potential market of more than 300 million active users, the possibilities of selling multiply. However, unlike the affiliate program, you must keep in mind that with this option you have to take care of everything: storing the products, attending and preparing the shipments, attending to customers…
To simplify the process and speed up shipping, the platform offers the Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) service, a dropshipping service that helps sellers manage their stock more efficiently. In this case, the seller sends a good quantity of products to Amazon’s warehouses so that, once the order is received, the American company takes care of packaging, shipping and customer service. This service involves an extra cost, but in most cases it is much cheaper than the time, material and management that we would need to do all these tasks.
What’s good about opening a store on Amazon
- You don’t need to have many products: The platform differentiates between professional sellers (with more than 40 different product references) and non-professionals, so you can start by selling 2 or 3 products and see how it goes.
- Millions of potential customers: The volume of users that can reach our products is infinitely superior to any physical store.
- Added services: From sales tips to dropshipping service, Amazon offers a wide range of advantages to make your store prosper.
- Time saving: With a little organization it is possible to automate or delegate much of the work, which allows, in the long run, to save time for you.
What to keep in mind when selling on Amazon
- A sea of fees and commissions: Per referral, per sale, per storage, per refund management… It is important to know all the fees and commissions that exist, as well as to see which ones apply to your way of selling before jumping into the pool. Calculating them and taking them into account in the price is one of the key rules for your store to succeed.
- Sometimes fierce competition: The opportunities offered by Amazon have attracted thousands of sellers. It is important to know our competition before starting to sell and, if possible, try to offer those products that the platform does not have (or does not display correctly).
- Little life outside the platform: Creating a store on Amazon is a very convenient way to sell, but it can generate dependency. If the goal is to create a solid relationship with customers, one of the ten steps to set up an online business is to work on branding and communication, as it will allow you to attract customers beyond the walls of Amazon.
Selling your designs or handicrafts, another way to make money from home with Amazon
If you are good at working with your hands or digital art, Amazon can be your place to earn extra money. The first and most interesting option is Amazon Handmade, a parallel marketplace where individuals and small businesses sell all kinds of handmade products. To get started you must register on the platform and start uploading and selling your products.
Just looking to sell some personalized t-shirts or fun mugs? Merchandising lovers have a second option: Amazon Merch. This program allows you to upload a digital design and choose on which media you want to apply it. In the case of receiving a sale, Amazon will be in charge of producing, charging and shipping the product, paying the author a commission that usually moves between 2 and 5€.
Strengths of these methods
- Huge variety of products: Furniture, decoration, jewelry, unique pieces… In Amazon Handmade fits everything, something that also happens in the merchandising platform, where you can choose from all kinds of clothing, tote bags, prints and much more.
- Verified products: One thing are consumer products and another handicrafts. Amazon takes this differentiation very seriously to maintain consistency between the two platforms. To give each its place, the company performs thorough checks on handmade products to verify that they truly deserve to appear on Amazon Handmade.
- A potentially huge market: The visibility that Amazon offers worldwide allows us to reach customers in any country that we would never have had access to.
- An interesting economic potential: It will depend on what we sell and the price, of course, but according to an external report on the performance of the platform, more than 60% of Amazon Handmade sellers manage to generate more than $1,000 per month.
Negative points of these options.
- Slow approval times: In the case of Amazon Handmade, profile approval and therefore the start of sales can take up to several months. Amazon Merch works by invitation, but often also takes a long time to arrive.
- Low commissions on merchandising: Although Amazon Merch can be extremely convenient, we must take into account that the platform bears all the costs. This means that the amount to be charged does not usually exceed 20%.
- Handicraft sales management: If you are going to sell your handmade creations you should keep in mind that Amazon will take care of the shipping and will act as an intermediary in the collection, but preparing the shipment, answering users’ questions or managing possible returns is up to you.
Amazon Direct Publishing, the money-making option for writing enthusiasts
The conventional publishing market may not be going through its best times, but Amazon is still making money through literature. Many authors – big and especially small – have found in Amazon Direct Publishing a new business model, as it allows them to self-publish books in online format without having to go through the classic publishing houses. To get started, it is as simple as registering with ADP, setting up your profile, uploading your book, setting prices and starting to sell.
Advantages of publishing in ADP
- Not only for novels: Essays, studies, manuals, technical or self-help books… The categories we can work on are tremendously varied.
- Global market: We will not only publish in the Spanish market, but potentially our book can be purchased by anyone in the world who speaks Spanish. In addition, if you have the possibility of translating it, you will have even more sales opportunities.
- You determine the price and how to sell it: It is up to you how much the book will cost since the platform simply charges a commission per sale. The same with the promotion, since you can make offers or give away excerpts to attract readers, if you wish.
The disadvantages of Amazon Direct Publishing
- Effort and competition: Writing a book, even a short one, is no easy task. Especially if we want to stand out. It is important, in addition to quality, price and promotion, to try to write in categories where we can stand out more or have more audience.
- It works better the larger the volume: Specialists recommend having an extensive catalog as it allows you to better capture and retain readers. So, if you are thinking of turning it into your passion, it is important to know that your effort will be rewarded little by little, but it is difficult to achieve significant income with just one book.
Not interested in sales? Try Amazon Mechanical Turk
Amazon outsources certain business services such as conducting surveys, data validation, audio editing or information gathering to individuals through a crowdsourcing marketplace. Accessing this type of work is as simple as registering with Amazon Mechanical Turk and selecting “Request a worker account” and “Make money”. After your profile is approved, you will be able to access a list of jobs and choose the one that suits you best.
Advantages of joining Amazon Mechanical Turk
- Totally free registration: Unlike other platforms, this one does not require you to pay any monthly fee or commission per job.
- Variety of tasks: The different options allow us to focus on those we like the most, those that require less effort or more money.
- No special skills required: Most of them are simple tasks that can be done in a few minutes and without any previous knowledge.
The disadvantages of this platform
- Low cost per task: Everything will depend on the complexity required, but the simplicity and low execution time of most of them mean that, on average, you pay a few cents per task.
- Money only valid on Amazon: While the US market can receive a payment on account, the European market for the moment can only convert the money generated into Amazon gift cards, which should certainly be taken into account if we are looking for more than just money to make a few purchases.
Final tips for making money from home with Amazon
As you can see, there are multiple ways to make extra money from home with Amazon. But, whichever option you choose, you’re going to need planning and work to get it up and running. And, if you need a little boost, you have options like a personal loan, which will allow you to get up to €60,000 easily and without changing banks.
Inform yourself in depth before starting any of the options and make sure you calculate the costs well in case you start selling. And, of course, be sure to make sure your financial digital life is secure. Check out more useful content when it comes to starting or launching your projects.
If I make money from home with Amazon, do I have to declare it?
The fact that it is an online platform of U.S. origin does not exempt you from complying with the law if you generate income through it. Remember that, as with other tax obligations, non-compliance can lead to fines. Although there is also a good side: you will be able to deduct the vast majority of sales expenses.
The formalities and obligations derived depend on many aspects such as whether you operate as an individual, self-employed or company, whether you sell only in Spanish territory or, on the contrary, you sell to different countries, etc. Each case has its own specific requirements, so the best advice is to get information before starting any procedure.