If you are currently making money from Amazon Associates program, you should note that Amazon has unveiled a new fee structure that is to take effect on April 21st, 2020. The email below was sent out on 14th of April 2020, about a week before the changes are to go into effect:
Here are the new standard program fees:
Prior to April 21, the fee structure for the program is listed below:
Some product categories such as home gear and outdoor gear are seeing a reduction of 200% in income with the new Amazon fees reduction.
What this means: Less Income
One of the sites I own, 10BabyGear currently earns $400 to $600 per week from Amazon Associates program. It is in the baby products niche and currently earns 4.5% of all the revenue of ordered products.
Here is a snapshot of earnings from 7th April to 13th April, 2020 before the email was sent out:
During the week, it made $427 and had orders of $8,712 (althought the shipped item revenue was higher). Sometimes, there is lag in shipping and we only get credited for shipped items. In this case, $9,275 were shipped – translating to a revenue of $418, plus $9 bounty.
With the new changes, the income would have been $9,275*3% – $278, a 33% reduction in income.
It is unclear if the fees will be reverted back to the previous rates after the Covid19 pandemic is over but it’s very clear that most Amazon associates and bloggers stand to loose a signficant amount of earnings from these new changes.
At 10Webtools, we’ve always encouraged bloggers to rely on other methods to monetize their blogs such as:
- Registering for a premium ad network such as Mediavine
- Building an email list using software and you can leverage them to increase your sales
- Create a podcast or webinar
- Launch a Youtube channel to diversity from Amazon’s earnings
- Offer your services in platforms such as Fiverr or Upwork.
You can also check out our 2020 list of 20+ highest paying affiliates programs
My name is Nate Reiner and I am the editor here at 10Webtools. I have 8 years of experience using 50+ different web tools ranging from podcast, web hosting, email marketing, and much more. I previously managed a team offering support services to a large conglomerate that utilized tens of software solutions. I now run this blog full-time and when I am not reviewing or testing software, I enjoy riding bikes and supporting my clients achieve internet success. You can reach me directly at [email protected]