How to Make Passive Income On Amazon (5 Quick Tips)

Most operators treat Amazon as a single revenue channel. It is not. Amazon is a platform with five distinct monetization models, each with different capital requirements, time horizons, and compounding potential. We have built seven-figure affiliate portfolios on Amazon Associates. We have also watched sellers scale FBA and publishers stack KDP royalties alongside content sites. The common thread: pick a model that matches your skills and treat it as infrastructure, not a one-off project.

This post maps the five paths we see operators use most often, plus the conversion tactics that move the needle once traffic is flowing.

Updated 2026.

1What Is Passive Income?

Passive income is revenue generated from a system requiring little or no ongoing active effort.

Some examples of passive income are:

• Dividends from stock market investments

• Ad revenue from YouTube videos

• Rent payments from real estate tenants

2Can You Really Make Passive Income On Amazon?

Yes. Earning on Amazon is straightforward when you know which model fits your stack.

For content operators, the highest-leverage path is Amazon Associates. You recommend products your audience already wants, embed tracking links, and earn commission on qualifying sales. No inventory. No fulfillment. The conversion infrastructure is Amazon’s problem, not yours.

3How to Make Passive Income On Amazon

Here are five Amazon business models you can use to build recurring revenue:

1. Amazon Associates

Amazon Associates is Amazon’s affiliate program. Publishers monetize content with unique tracking links. When someone clicks your link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission.

Amazon Associates remains the best fit for content operators because conversion rates on Amazon are exceptionally high. Commission rates have dropped over the years. The tradeoff still works for most publishers because Amazon closes the sale better than almost any other retailer.

Once content ranks and traffic compounds, you add affiliate links where buyer intent is highest and let the system run. That is the operational definition of passive revenue for a content business.

Sidenote: Our niche site Giftlab earned $1.2M in affiliate income almost exclusively through Amazon Associates in under five years.

The five-step process:

• 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. The barrier to entry is low, which makes it the default starting point for beginners. The main monetization play is product reviews, comparison lists, and buyer guides. Insert affiliate links. When readers purchase through them, you get paid.

This is exactly how our founder Andrew has built niche sites. Since January 2018, two of his sites generated over $2.6M in affiliate revenue alone. That averages $51.4k per month for more than four years. The playbook is documented in his Twitter thread from June 2022.

For operators who want link infrastructure that scales with content production, Lasso handles Amazon link creation, displays, broken link detection, and out-of-stock alerts. It is the layer we built because managing thousands of affiliate URLs by hand does not compound.

For deeper tactics on scaling Associates earnings, read our guide on 9 tips for earning more Amazon affiliate income.

2. Amazon FBA

FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon) is an ecommerce model where Amazon manages your product listings, sales, payment processing, inventory, and order fulfillment.

Put another way, it is 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.

When a customer buys one of your products from Amazon, they take care of everything, and you just keep the profit.

Here is how you start:

• Find products

• 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 money.

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 will fulfill any orders you receive and send you your royalty payments.

There is no upkeep or input required from you beyond the initial setup for each book. That is 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.

Next, choose a product where you will display it (e.g., coffee mugs or t-shirts).

Finally, write a product description.

Amazon handles the rest. You will 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 is the classic adage: buy low, sell high. Doing this on Amazon is pretty simple.

To start, you will need to:

• Find products to sell

• Create an Amazon seller account

Next, you will want to get the Amazon seller app. This lets you scan products you find in retail stores. Then, it will populate your feed with product data, including its sales rank and whether you are 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.

Once you have enough products in inventory, all you have to do is wait for the sales to start coming in.

4Tips for Making More Passive Income On Amazon

When building your revenue stream, there are tactics that boost earnings regardless of which model you choose. Since our primary method is affiliate marketing, this section focuses on strategies we have tested at scale.

Sidenote: 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 will see Best Sellers, New Releases, and Movers & Shakers when you click it.

Chances are, you will find products here related to your niche.

Once you have sourced products, create a Best Sellers page. It can be a real revenue booster. Much like the Resources page on our site, Listen Money Matters generates 10% of our affiliate income.

A best sellers or popular products page serves the same function.

Sidenote: The Movers and Shakers are the biggest gainers in sales, updated every 24 hours.

Run an Opportunities scan on your site to surface undermonetized product mentions in content that already ranks. It maps programs and placements to pages you already have live.

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 is enough, you could create a best list of these online classes and workshops in your niche.

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 have tested methods like this against millions of impressions, so we know what converts best. This is one you can adopt on list posts to boost conversions. For the full breakdown, read our guide on 15 proven ways to boost Amazon conversion rates.

Omit the Price to Capture the Click

If people are interested in your product, they will click to get more details (e.g., the price). This lets you capture the tracking cookie, so even if they do not buy that product, it is 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 does not buy immediately), it extends the window to 90 days (as opposed to 24 hours).

Takeaway: You have 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 are 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.

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%.

5Amazon 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.

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.

Do not have a blog or website yet? Read our guide to starting affiliate marketing with next to no money.

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.

6Making Passive Income on Amazon: Final Thoughts

Learning how to make money online takes structure when you are first starting. Even as a beginner, there are frameworks you can follow. Research your niche. Pick the right products. Build content that matches buyer intent.

Revenue streams 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 income layer.

We focus on affiliate marketing because that is what we know best and where we have found financial success at scale. For operators building content businesses, the link layer is where revenue compounds. Lasso is the infrastructure we built for that job. Get started with Lasso and see how organized Amazon links change what your content earns.

Sean Brison

Lasso Team

Sean Brison is a dad, writer, business owner, and Content Lead at Lasso. He's spent the past several years in cahoots with Lasso's founder, Andrew, creating awesome things for people. He's also addicted to perfectly-balanced cocktails, the outdoors, and John…