Making passive income on Amazon can feel daunting when you’re first starting. But, with some work, you can generate a modest income (or one that even lets you quit your full-time job).
We’ll show you how to find more financial freedom with a profitable online business because we’ve done it ourselves.
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What Is Passive Income?
Passive income is revenue generated from a system requiring little or no ongoing active effort.Â
Some examples of passive income are:
- Dividends from stock market investments
- Ad revenue from YouTube videos
- Rent payments from real estate tenants
Can You Really Make Passive Income On Amazon?
Yes, earning passive income on Amazon is very simple when you know what you’re doing.Â
The best way to earn passive income on Amazon is through the Amazon Associates affiliate program. All you need to do is recommend products you like to your audience using special links, and you’ll earn a commission fee for any sales.Â
How to Make Passive Income On Amazon
Here are five Amazon business models you can use to make passive income:Â Â
1. Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates is Amazon’s affiliate program, where publishers can
The reason Amazon Associates is the best way to make passive income on Amazon is that the conversion rate is so high. Even though Amazon often cuts its affiliate commission rates, it’s worth it for the extra conversions.
Once your content starts getting traffic, you just add the Amazon affiliate links where they make sense, and wait for your site to start earning
Sidenote: Our niche site, Giftlab, earned $1.2M in affiliate income almost exclusively with Amazon Associates in under five years.
How Does the Amazon Affiliate Program Work?
We wrote a step-by-step Amazon Associates guide, but here’s the 5-step process in a nutshell:
- Create your Amazon Associates account
- Get your tracking ID
- Create affiliate links
- Promote Amazon products on your site
- Earn commissions every time someone clicks your affiliate link and makes a purchase
Becoming an Amazon affiliate is easy and is a perfect route for beginners because the barrier to entry is low. But how do you make
The main way you make
This is exactly how our founder Andrew has made
I have built two niche sites that have generated over $2.6M million in *just* affiliate revenue since Jan 2018.
— Andrew Fiebert (@andyfieb) June 6, 2022
That’s an avg of $51.4k/month for 4+ years. 🤯
I’m going to share what I’ve learned.
My first thread 🧵👇
Want to make it even easier to make
Lasso is a WordPress plugin for affiliate marketers that makes it easy to add Amazon links and displays to your niche site.Â
It also scans your site for broken links and out-of-stock products, so you can have peace of mind knowing Lasso is maximizing your site’s earning potential.
Lasso is the best WordPress plugin for affiliate marketing. If you want to earn more affiliate income and grow your niche site, you need Lasso!
Further Reading:
2. Amazon FBA
FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon) is an ecommerce model where Amazon manages your product listings, sales, payment processing, inventory, and order fulfillment.Â
Put another way, it’s a done-for-you ecommerce business.
All you need to do is send Amazon your inventory, which they store in their warehouses, and create your product listings.Â
When a customer buys one of your products from Amazon, they take care of everything, and you just keep the profit.
Here’s how you start:
- Find productsÂ
- Locate a supplier
- Order the products
- Package and ship them out
All you have to worry about is product sales and keeping your inventory stocked.
Sidenote: Discounted shipping rates are another perk of using the FBA model. Amazon is a shipping behemoth, so using its network costs less
3. Amazon KDP
Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is an easy, low-cost way to become a published author.
KDP lets you self-publish ebooks, paperbacks, and hardcover books for free. You only pay a fee after someone buys your book.
After you publish your books with Amazon, they’ll fulfill any orders you receive and send you your royalty payments.Â
There’s no upkeep or input required from you beyond the initial setup for each book. That’s the definition of passive income.
4. Amazon Merch On Demand
Merch by Amazon is a print-on-demand business model that lets you create unique designs and sell them.
To get started with Amazon Merch On Demand, just create an account and upload your designs.Â
Next, choose a product where you’ll display it (e.g., coffee mugs or t-shirts).Â
Finally, write a product description.
Amazon handles the rest. You’ll have a product page on Amazon so people can buy directly, and they will automatically print and ship the products as soon as a customer orders it.
All you need to do is upload the design, write the description, and wait for sales. Then the passive income will start rolling in.
5. Retail Arbitrage
Retail arbitrage is buying inexpensive products and selling them for a profit.
For example, buying an item for $2 and selling it for $10. It’s the classic adage: buy low, sell high. Doing this on Amazon is pretty simple.
To start, you’ll need to:
- Find products to sell
- Create an Amazon seller account
Next, you’ll want to get the Amazon seller app. This lets you scan products you find in retail stores. Then, it’ll populate your feed with product data, including its sales rank and whether you’re allowed to sell it on Amazon.
But its most attractive feature is determining the profitability of your item based on how much you pay for it.
Then, you buy the item and send it to Amazon to handle through FBA.Â
Once you have enough products in inventory, all you have to do is wait for the sales to start coming in.
Tips for Making More Passive Income On Amazon
When creating your passive income stream, there are other things you can try to boost earnings. Since our primary method is affiliate marketing, this section outlines a few strategies you can use.
Sidenote:Â Some of these tactics work regardless of the business model you choose, so keep reading.
Find Desirable Products In Amazon’s Trending Section
You can find this section by clicking “Best Sellers” in the upper left corner across the top menu bar. You’ll see Best Sellers, New Releases, and Movers & Shakers when you click it.
Chances are, you’ll find products here related to your niche.
Once you’ve sourced products, create a Best Sellers page. It can be a real revenue booster. Much like the Resources page on our site, Listen
A best sellers or popular products page serves the same function.
Further Reading:
Sidenote: The Movers and Shakers are the biggest gainers in sales, updated every 24 hours.
Leverage “Amazon Explore” In Your Niche
Amazon Explore offers live streaming experiences. In addition, the platform provides an assortment of virtual classes and experiences from the comfort of your laptop.
The commission is currently 10% which is the second-highest rate.
Tip: Find high ticket experiences by setting the filter to “$75 and above.” If you find ones your audience will love, you can promote them. And if there’s enough, you could create a best list of these online classes and workshops in your niche.
Further Reading:
Increase Clicks with More Affiliate Links Per Post
Boost your chances of someone clicking your affiliate link by giving your readers more opportunities. Instead of only using text links, add links to images, buttons, and header tags (h2s and h3s).
Our gift site uses three affiliate links per list item with great success, adding them to our h3s, images, and buttons.
We’ve tested methods like this against millions of impressions, so we know what converts best – and this is one you can adopt to your list posts to boost conversions.
Further Reading:
Omit the Price to Capture the Click
If people are interested in your product, they’ll click to get more details (e.g., the price). This lets you capture the tracking cookie, so even if they don’t buy that product, it’s still attached to your reader’s browser for 24 hours.
Something else worth noting is when a website visitor adds an item to their cart (but perhaps doesn’t buy immediately), it extends the window to 90 days (as opposed to 24 hours).
Takeaway: You’ve just increased your odds of earning a commission.
The alternative to hiding the price would be showing the discount with the higher original strikethrough price. This way, your reader sees they’re getting a bargain.
In one study between Claremont Graduate University and Coupons.com, displaying discounts to shoppers boosted oxytocin levels and reduced stress, driving more sales.
Further Reading:
Target Products Featuring the Amazon’s Choice Badge
Amazon’s Choice badge attracts more clicks because shoppers trust it. Therefore, the more significant amount of these products display in your posts, the likelihood your conversions will increase.
Look for the badge appearing alongside your products like this one:
 This study revealed the “Amazon’s Choice” badge increased conversions by 25%.
Amazon Passive Income FAQs
Can I Make Passive Income on Amazon Without Selling Physical Products?
Yes, you can make passive income through Amazon’s affiliate program, Amazon associates. All you need to do is promote Amazon affiliate links to your audience.
You can also make passive income through Amazon KDP or Amazon Merch without ever managing a physical inventory.Â
How Can I Get Started With Making Passive Income on Amazon?
You can start making passive income on Amazon by joining their affiliate program and adding their links to your blog content.
Don’t have a blog or website yet? Read our guide to starting affiliate marketing with next to no
How Can I Optimize My Amazon Affiliate Website for Better Earnings?
Using Lasso is the easiest way to increase your Amazon affiliate earnings. Our Displays and Tables have been proven to double or even triple affiliate conversion.Â
Click here to read more about how Lasso can increase your affiliate income.
Making Passive Income on Amazon – Final Thoughts
Learning how to make
Passive income ideas come in all shapes and sizes, from real estate investing to self-publishing to selling products on eBay; any of these can become a new revenue stream.
We focus on affiliate marketing because that’s what we know best and where we’ve found financial success.
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We've built multiple six-figure online businesses that our moms are proud of.
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