Selling products and services online is one of the main ways most entrepreneurs make money. Participating in affiliate programs through Walmart, Shopify, eBay, and Etsy can surely bring in some extra money when times are tough.
Many entrepreneurs partner with large brands like Amazon to get their names out there and fill up their bank accounts. After all, Amazon has one of the largest customer bases of any online retailer.
With over 12 million products sold on Amazon, it’s not hard to figure out a product or service you can sell to Amazon’s audience. Getting started, however, can be tricky if you’re not sure where to begin.
Our list includes 19 different approaches to making money on Amazon. The best part is that you don’t need a huge investment to start earning some extra money for those rainy days.
Are you ready to learn more about how to make money on Amazon? Let’s get started!
How to Make Money on Amazon
Finding ways to make money online without paying anything gets harder with each passing year, especially as the world goes digital. However, with Amazon, you don’t have to worry about spending a large amount of cash up-front to start earning.
When it comes to making money with Amazon, you’re either:
- Selling a product or service directly on Amazon
- Completing a task for Amazon
- Working for Amazon directly
- Advertising for Amazon to earn a commission
In fact, Amazon categorizes making money with its highly successful platform on a specific “Make money with Amazon” page. Here, you’ll see that you can sell and advertise online, as well as implement Amazon pay, sell the apps you create, or participate in independent publishing opportunities.
When it comes to passive income websites, Amazon supports entrepreneurs in several ways. Let’s take a closer look at how you can earn money with Amazon, including several remote side hustles.
19 Ways to Make Money on Amazon
Many of the best passive income apps pay you for your time, but nothing comes close to the vast potential Amazon offers to entrepreneurs from all walks of life.
1. Become an Amazon Associate
Earnings: 4-10% commission, depending on the product
If you want to make money from your phone, join one of the best affiliate programs out there by becoming an Amazon Associate. Like the Walmart affiliate program, or potentially any affiliate program for that matter, you earn money by sending people to Amazon to make a purchase.
The best part is that your referrals don’t have to purchase the item that brought them to Amazon. Instead, you can earn money just for bringing them to Amazon if they do end up making a purchase.
It is less of a commission than you would earn with the affiliate program, but it’s still money in your pocket. Plus, you can recommend products you stand behind that also fall into your niche.
When you sign up for the Amazon Associates program, you’ll be able to generate a referral link for a specific product. Use this link on your social media, emails, and blogs to promote that product and earn money at the same time.
As you promote more products and increase your audience, your earning potential goes up as well. Commission rates vary from one product category to another, but the sky’s the limit for earning extra money with affiliate links through Amazon Associates.
2. Flip Products for a Profit
Earnings: Depends on products but typically around 20-50%
Amazon is a marketplace for practically every product under the sun. If you’re able to find products you can flip for a profit, you can sell them on Amazon.
Many sellers source their products from physical as well as online stores. Take a few trips to your local clearance sale or find a good deal online and you’ve already completed the first step in this method of making money on Amazon.
The name of the game with flipping anything is your profit margin. If you can buy (in bulk) at a low price and sell at a profit, you’re set.
Flipping products on Amazon is competitive and requires patience and research. Knowing your niche and its corresponding products before you make any purchases can help you set your flipping business up for success on Amazon.
3. Sell Your Own Amazon Handmade Products
Earnings: Around $100 per day or $1,000 per month
Many people associate handmade items with Etsy, but you can also earn money with these crafty products through Amazon Handmade. The idea is that with Amazon, you can skip setting up a website and establishing your brand and start earning money right away from the handmade items you create.
Example products on Amazon Handmade include jewelry, accessories, art, and clothes. You will fulfill your own orders, but you have to be invited to Amazon Handmade to take advantage of this resource.
Making your own products is one of the best side hustles you can get into because it allows you to differentiate yourself in the market. With Amazon Handmade, you’ll get a custom URL and only pay a 15% referral fee on your total sales.
Amazon Handmade lets you waive the $39.99 per month fee for a professional selling account so you don’t have to worry about making that overhead. If you’re looking for a great way to make money on Instagram without having to invest in your own website, Amazon Handmade could be the way to go.
4. Take Advantage of Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Earnings: Unlimited
One of the main reasons it’s hard to sell products online is having to store all that inventory somewhere and then provide customer support. Through Fulfillment by Amazon, all those finer details are taken care of.
Here’s a quick rundown of how FBA works:
- Ship your products to an Amazon fulfillment center
- Advertise your products and make sales
- FBA will pack, ship, and support your order, in addition to processing any returns
There are various fees associated with FBA, but many of them are well worth the cost for businesses that don’t want to dedicate hours on end to various shipping and customer service logistics. It gives businesses the opportunity they need to focus on selling and making a profit.
How do you begin your journey with Amazon FBA?
The exciting news: there are numerous Amazon FBA courses designed to guide you in finding and optimizing products for sale on Amazon FBA, ensuring a smiling wallet!
But, the challenge is that there are quite a few courses to choose from.
Although some courses come with a hefty price tag, our top recommendation, the Amazing Selling Machine, is a game-changer and worth every cent of its $3,000 investment.
5. Earn Amazon Trade-In Credits
Earnings: Up to 25% of original retail price (in gift cards)
You’ve heard about getting paid to listen to music and earning extra money from selling photos online, but did you know that you can trade in products to earn Amazon gift cards? It’s just one more way you can make money with Amazon.
Though the concept mirrors the premise behind eBay, Amazon is a bit picky when it comes to which used items it will accept. Niche items that are in higher demand do best.
You can easily find items to trade in by visiting local garage sales or even eBay itself. You can earn up to 25% of the original retail price, but you’ll only get paid in Amazon “store credit,” a.k.a. gift cards.
6. Make Money as a Middleman by Dropshipping with Amazon
Earnings: Unlimited
If you’ve got connections to suppliers where you can purchase items at a reduced price, dropshipping on Amazon might just be the ticket for you. Dropshipping requires you to seek out sales and make them, but you can easily earn a profit without having to deal with any inventory.
To earn money dropshipping on Amazon, find a supplier who can sell you products for a low price. Advertise those products, purchase them from the supplier at a lower cost when a customer places an order, and then pocket the difference as the supplier takes care of the shipping.
Earning potential for this type of Amazon hustle depends on the niche and products you choose. You’ll also need to find a reliable supplier to work with long-term.
7. Join Amazon Influencer Program
Earnings: Anywhere from 1% to 20% depending on the product category
One of the best side hustles for teens who are active on social media is becoming an Amazon Influencer. If you’ve got an Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or YouTube account, you can get started no matter how big or small your following.
Amazon’s Influencer program awards you with a dedicated storefront that hosts products you recommend. You can also create video reviews of those products and place them on the listing page as well.
Note that if you do apply with an Instagram or Facebook account, you’ll need to have a business or creator account. That said, the earning potential for this type of Amazon opportunity is anywhere from 1-20% depending on what products you choose to recommend.
8. Complete Tasks with Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk)
Earnings: Around $6-$10 per hour or up to $15 per hour
You’ve heard of the best survey apps and the highest-paying survey sites, but with Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, you can earn side money by participating in surveys, doing research, and validating data. It’s a job that doesn’t require much skill and just a few minutes of your day.
Most workers make about $6-$10 per hour with MTurk, so it’s not necessarily something you can use to replace your full-time income. However, it can make it easy to bring in a few bucks in your free time.
9. Advertise Your Services through Amazon
Earnings: Unlimited
This retail giant enters the gig economy with Amazon Services, a way for entrepreneurs to advertise their professional services to connect to customers. The market is competitive but you can easily use Amazon Services to scale your business as you gain clients.
There are no advertising or startup fees with Amazon Services, and no monthly subscription to pay. However, you will need to submit to various background checks and have general liability insurance with a $1 million policy.
Amazon Services gives you a website and advertises for you in exchange for a portion of your earnings. If you don’t make any money with Amazon Services, you won’t pay a cent.
10. Buy and Sell Bulk Wholesale Goods
Earnings: Unlimited
Selling products wholesale is a competitive game, especially on Amazon. Success in this market means having a reliable supplier for bulk products at a low price and knowing your niche.
Purchasing products and selling them for a profit requires knowing your niche and what profit margins you can expect. It’s a more popular way to make money now than in the past, but if you do it right, you could earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars each month.
11. Review Products with Amazon Vine
Earnings: Free products (no cash or credit)
Amazon reviews are huge when it comes to making a purchase decision. Even if a product looks amazing, bad reviews can kill a sale quicker than your webpage loads.
Amazon Vine is an invite-only way of earning free products, which is kind of like making money and buying cool gadgets without having to put any money on the table. As long as you can write honest and helpful reviews of products you’ve bought, you should qualify for Amazon Vine and can get paid for Amazon reviews.
If you’re invited, Amazon will pay you with free products to try out and review for future customers. You get to keep these products, even if you don’t write a positive review.
12. Resell Refurbished Products with Amazon Return Pallets
Earnings: Up to 50% profit margins
If you’ve ever completed an Amazon return, you might wonder where those products end up. Would you be surprised to know that they’re sold in pallets for entrepreneurs to refurbish and profit from?
Most return pallets sell for anywhere from $100 to $20,000, depending on what’s inside. A larger investment can potentially earn you more in a quicker fashion, but it’s also a bigger risk.
If you plan on selling refurbished Amazon returns for the long haul, you can join the Amazon Renewed Program. With membership, you’ll make up to 50% profit and be listed as a qualified supplier of refurbished products.
You can purchase used products from Liquidations.com and Bulq, as well as any other source of opened or returned packages. Fixing these items can be tedious, but with the right niche and resources, you could make quite a chunk of money.
13. Represent with Merch by Amazon
Earnings: Royalties typically range from 13% to 37%
Merch by Amazon is a print-on-demand service that lets you earn money by creating custom T-shirts, coffee mugs, hats, and more. You design the items and advertise them while Merch creates them and ships them directly to your customers.
A higher-priced item tends to earn more royalty income than a lower-priced product, but you’ll have to balance profit with your audience and niche. However, it’s free to upload your design and sell it, though Amazon does take a percentage of your profits.
14. Become an Author with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Earnings: 70% of royalties on total sales
Publishing a book could be a lifelong dream, but with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, that dream can become a reality. KDP offers authors the chance to sell their books in physical or digital form and still retain 70% of the royalties from total sales.
We’ve highlighted reselling eBooks as a way to make money fast illegally but creating your own books to sell isn’t a crime. Instead, you can earn money for every purchase made in a truly passive fashion.
Many newbie authors start with a low-content book, otherwise known as a planner, workbook, or even coloring book. These books cost less than $10, some less than $5, but offer authors a way to break into the market and get their feet wet.
The key to earning additional passive income from KDP is to continue creating books. Gain popularity and you could become a full-time author earning a living from your writing.
15. Get Your Hands Dirty at Amazon Distribution Centers
Earnings: About $40,000 per year
Going behind the scenes at Amazon can be an awesome way to see how it all works. Apply for a position at one of many Amazon distribution centers to start earning $15 per hour minimum or about $40,000 per year, with benefits for full-time workers.
Apply for a distribution center position by navigating to the Amazon Jobs page. If you’re accepted, be ready to pick, pack, and ship products across the globe.
16. Deliver the Goods with Amazon Flex
Earnings: $18 to $25 per hour
Rather than driving a brown delivery van or wearing a FedEx uniform, you can deliver Amazon packages with Amazon Flex. Join the fleet to earn anywhere from $18-$25 per hour.
Most Amazon Flex jobs are split into five-hour shifts. If you get done early, you can still get paid for the full five hours.
To apply for the Amazon Flex program, simply answer a questionnaire and download the app once you’re accepted. You can easily earn around $100 or more per day with this type of flexible work.
17. Represent Amazon
Earnings: $19 per hour minimum wage or about $40,000 per year
Working directly for Amazon can be a great way to earn a full-time income while still working remotely. Most jobs pay about $40,000 per year, depending on the position you apply for.
Amazon recently set its minimum wage to $19 per hour. Most jobs at this rate include customer service representatives and data entry clerks.
18. Get Started with the Amazon Accelerator Program
Earnings: Unlimited
If you have a product but aren’t sure how to get it on the market, the Amazon Accelerator Program can get you in front of audiences to start generating revenue. You’ll sell exclusively through Amazon without having to worry about setting up your own ecommerce website.
Most companies within the Amazon Accelerator Program establish their brands with innovative products. It’s a bit like going to a verified flea market (i.e. Amazon) to sell your products to customers worldwide.
19. Travel the Nation with Amazon Camperforce
Earnings: $120 per week plus hourly wage
Life on the road has become a common living situation for many people. With Amazon Camperforce, you can earn money as you travel without having to stay in one place for very long.
Most Camperforce arrangements last anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks at a time. You’ll get paid at an hourly rate to pick, ship, and pack at a distribution center near where you’re staying, in addition to a weekly $120 stipend for your living situation.
Amazon may also offer certain benefits for enrolling in this program, including medical benefits. Most often this type of work increases during the holiday season when extra hands on deck are needed to ship out orders on time.
FAQs
There are several ways you can make money on Amazon. You can create digital products to publish and sell, advertise your professional services, work in a distribution center, or even deliver packages directly.
Amazon pays out depending on what role you play in the company. For example, you can earn a full-time income from working at a distribution center or even delivering packages through Amazon Flex.
Working for Amazon can be worth it if you enjoy what you do and you get the benefits you’re looking for. Selling on Amazon can be a great way to work from home and achieve a better work-life balance.
Supplement Your Income with Amazon
There’s no denying that Amazon is a powerful force when it comes to online sales. We hope this article has helped you to see that you can easily leverage this vast resource to grab your own slice of the retail pie.
From creating your brand on Amazon and offering professional services to trading in your belongings for Amazon credit, there’s seemingly no limit to how much money you can make with Amazon. It’s up to you to figure out how your products and services fit in so you can scale up for greater rewards.
