7 Key Amazon Affiliate Program Requirements [You Should Know]
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The Amazon Affiliate program is one of the largest affiliate programs in the world. If you have a website and you want to monetize it, joining the Amazon Affiliate program should probably be at the top of your list.
Amazon was one of the first companies to introduce the affiliate marketing model, and it completely changed the company’s fortunes, as well as those who joined the program.
For instance, The WireCutter was a prominent digital consumer guide that leveraged the Amazon Affiliates program to achieve fantastic growth. It was bought out by the New York Times for $30 million in 2016!
But to join the program there are strict conditions that you must meet. Here are the key requirements that you must meet to become an Amazon Affiliate.
1. Have an Active Website or Blog, Channel, or App
To become an Amazon Associate, you need to have an online presence. Amazon doesn’t place any restrictions on this, so you can either have an active blog, a website, a YouTube channel, or a mobile app.
If your website or blog already draws in a decent amount of traffic, you’ll find it much easier to start generating commissions quickly.
2. Disclose That You’re an Amazon Associate
Amazon’s affiliate program is known as Amazon Associates. One of the first requirements that you must meet is to prominently place a disclaimer and disclose to your audience that you’re a member of this program.
This is required not just by Amazon Associates, but also by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Since you’ll be promoting products and services from a third party, adding a disclaimer limits your legal responsibility.
It’s an important requirement from Amazon that you let your audience know that you’re an affiliate. Amazon also offers the following disclaimer that you can use:
[Insert site name] is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to [insert applicable site name].
AAWP is a fantastic plugin that lets you easily add a disclaimer to your site. There’s even an option to specify a disclaimer under each product box as well for maximum visibility.
Note: Previously, it was enough to add this disclaimer at the footer of your site, or in the “About Us” section. Today, for better visibility, it’s better if you place it in a prominent location on your site.
Again, it’s not necessary that you use the disclaimer mentioned above. You just need to specify that you earn a commission for any sale through your website.
Our recommendation would be to add that particular disclaimer to the footer of your website and to your official Disclaimer document, and to add another disclaimer in the header that will be displayed just above the blog posts that says something like:
“This post may contain affiliate links — Please read our Disclaimer”.
Adding a brief one-liner at the top, and a more detailed disclaimer at the bottom of your site is a better way to go about it. If you need a simpler way to add a disclaimer, you can use AAWP.
It lets you easily specify a disclaimer on your website, and there’s also the option of adding one under each product box too.
3. Add a Privacy Policy
If you don’t have a privacy policy on your site, your website is already going to suffer in the SERPs. However, if you plan on making it big with Amazon Associates, it’s important that you add a privacy policy to your site.
As mentioned above, it’s important that you outline in your privacy policy how your website follows all laws related to privacy.
When posting your privacy policy, it’s important that you specify the following:
- The information you’ll be collecting
- How you collect this information
- The parties with whom you’ll share this information
- How you intend to use this information
- The steps you’ve taken to protect your users’ data
You can either create a privacy policy from the ground up or generate one. There are two options available to you: free and paid.
One of the best choices for generating a privacy policy is to use the Privacy Policy generator from Termageddon. It costs $10/month, but you’ll have an attorney-created, ironclad privacy policy on your website!
Another option is to use a freemium option, like PrivacyPolicies. This requires you to input some information about your website, your email address, and the nature of your website.
Once you enter all the required information, it’ll automatically generate a free hosted privacy policy that you can use on your site. However, for additional clauses or download options, you’ll have to pay a fee to PrivacyPolicies too.
4. Make Your First Sale within Six (06) Months
This is perhaps one of the most important Amazon affiliate requirements that you should know. If you don’t make your first sale within the first six months (180 days), Amazon will reject your application.
This is obviously not a permanent rejection; you can reapply once you start generating enough traffic to your site. Remember: Amazon will only approve your application once you’ve made your first successful sale.
Prior to that, your application will be under “Pending approval.” If you don’t make a sale within this period, Amazon will reject your application, and urge you to reapply later.
5. Requirements for Displaying Prices
There are some guidelines regarding displaying prices on your Amazon store. Ideally, you can’t display pricing information directly on your site.
That’s because prices are liable to change over time. To ensure accuracy when displaying prices for goods, it’s important that you only obtain inventory and pricing using the Product Advertising (PA) API.
The best part about using a plugin such as AAWP is that it automatically fetches accurate prices straight from Amazon, so you never have to worry about a discrepancy. The plugin ensures that all prices remain up to date on your site.
If you’re going to display prices on your site in a comparison format, it’s important that you display the lowest new price, and if there’s a “used” price, you should show that as well.
On the other hand, if you don’t plan on displaying prices, make sure your buttons are simple, like “Check Price” or “Buy Now”.
6. You Can’t Manipulate Cookies
If you don’t want to get instantly barred from the Amazon Affiliates program, avoid using any cookie manipulation software. Amazon offers its own cookies, which you can use to track consumer journeys from your site all the way to Amazon’s website.
7. Only Promote Approved Products (You Can’t Sell Sexually Explicit Products)
Amazon strictly prohibits its Associates from promoting obscene, violent, sexually explicit, or discriminatory material on their site if you’ve joined their affiliate program.
More importantly, you should also avoid using any strategies that target children under the age of 13.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Followers Do You Need For Amazon Affiliate Program?
According to Amazon’s guidelines, there’s no specific number for the amount of followers you need. However, anywhere between 5,000 and 15,000 is preferred. A public account is obviously necessary.
Can I Become an Amazon Affiliate Without a Website?
Yes! If you have a YouTube channel or a social media following, you can become an Amazon Affiliate.
How Do I Get An Amazon Affiliate Account?
To get an Amazon Affiliate account, you need to first register on their Associates portal. Here are the steps you can follow to become an Amazon Affiliate.
What Are The Qualifications To Be an Amazon Influencer?
Amazon doesn’t specify any particular qualifications to become an influencer. However, you can expect that Amazon will review your social media accounts, determine the type of content you create, and evaluate your engagement rate during the evaluation.
How Long Does It Take To Get Approved For Amazon Affiliate Program?
Once you file the application, it takes between 1 and 7 days for Amazon to confirm whether you’ve been approved for their affiliate program or not.
Maximize Your Affiliate Website’s Value with AAWP
AAWP is one of the best WordPress plugins for managing your Amazon Affiliates account. It lets you generate affiliate links, configure your site to improve conversions, and automatically pulls data from Amazon stores.
If you’re looking to scale your earnings through Amazon Affiliates, this is a must-have. From creating Bestseller lists to customizing data fields, AAWP lets you design your affiliate page to maximize conversions.
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