How to Make Money on Amazon

The online economy has only been getting bigger. Amazon is a huge player in the e-commerce space. It offers a wealth of products, many subscription services (many of which you can try for free!), and opportunities for you to make money. Here are 18 ways you can make money on Amazon. Let’s begin!

1. Sell items that you own

Do you own any items that you do not use? Amazon could be a good place to list them to make some extra money. Note that Amazon is not a flea market and it does not allow just any used item to be listed; however, it does allow certain categories of items, such as books and electronics, to be sold second-handed.

Here are the categories that only allow new products to be listed. Make sure you do not list them on Amazon:

  • Baby
  • Beauty
  • Grocery & Gourmet Food
  • Health & Personal Care
  • Jewelry
  • Luggage & Bags
  • Toys & Games (Collectible also allowed)
  • Watches

Amazon has released comprehensive condition guidelines to help you understand what conditions can and cannot be sold by category. You can start selling right away!

2. Use retail arbitrage and flip items you find through thrift stores

Retail arbitrage refers to the act of buying products in your local retail stores and then selling those same products through Amazon for a profit.

This option to make money on Amazon may not be for everyone, but for people with good eyes or knowledge of a certain niche, it can be a very lucrative way to make some money, relatively easily.

Before you decide to use this arbitrage technique on Amazon, make sure you follow the condition guidelines above to make sure that you only flip items that are allowed to be sold as used.

3. Take advantage of online arbitrage and flip items on Amazon

Online arbitrage is similar to retail arbitrage. The difference is that instead of finding products through local stores, you purchase products from one site and sell them on the other site. For example, you can find items on eBay or AliExpress and sell them on Amazon for a profit.

4. Join the Amazon Associates Program

If you have a blog or a website, or if you have a decent social media following, you can consider signing up for the Associates program and make money on Amazon by becoming an affiliate. The Amazon affiliate program is one of the largest affiliate networks in the world. By becoming an affiliate of Amazon, you can monetize your traffic.

With millions of products to choose from on Amazon.com, you can easily direct your readers to products and earn from qualifying purchases.

A nice feature of the affiliate program is that not only do you earn commission on products you refer traffic to, you may also earn on other products your readers may purchase on Amazon. As an associate, you’ll have full access to a suite of reporting tools to help you learn what resonates best with your readers.

Of course, you want to make sure that the items you are recommending not only fit your blog or website or your image, but are likely to be purchased by your audience. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you do some Amazon product research first.

Interested in starting a blog? You may find my blogging tips helpful!

5. Sell your craft through Amazon Handmade

Are you passionate about DIY projects? Are you proud of your own craftsmanship? Do you want to reach a wide audience around the world? If so, Amazon Handmade can be the perfect program for you.

The Handmade store is available for artisans like you to sell your handcrafted products to millions of Amazon customers all over the world. So far, artisans from over 80 countries are selling their craft on Amazon.

Note that to be accepted into the program, you do have to submit an application and get approved. Amazon currently only allows the categories listed below:

  • Accessories
  • Artwork
  • Baby
  • Beauty & Personal Care
  • Clothing, Shoes & Handbags
  • Home, Outdoor & Home Care
  • Jewellery & Watches
  • Kitchen & Dining
  • Pet Supplies
  • Sporting Goods
  • Stationery & Party Supplies
  • Toys & Games

If you don’t see your category listed, this means we do not allow the sale of those items in the Handmade store. Popular categories not currently available include Digital or Downloadable Products, Food & Grocery items, and Electronics. You may consider registering to sell and listing your products in another Amazon store, or check back in the future to see if the category becomes available on Handmade.

6. Publish your book on Kindle Direct Publishing

If you love writing, you can choose to self-publish for free with Kindle Direct Publishing. You will make book lovers around the world very happy.

The publishing process is super easy. The entire publishing process (assuming you have finished the manuscript, obviously) takes less than 5 minutes, and your book appears on Kindle stores worldwide within 24-48 hours. You can choose to self-publish either just eBooks or paperbacks or both!

In terms of royalty, you can expect to earn up to 70% on sales to customers in major markets such as the US, Canada, UK, Germany, India, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia. You may also increase your earning potential by enrolling in KDP Select and earn through Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

7. Sell your own private-label products

Private label products are those manufactured by one company for sale under another company’s brand. Private-label goods are available in a wide range of industries, such as cosmetics, toys, etc. Popular examples of private label products include Walmart’s Great Value brand, Target’s Mainstays, and Amazon’s Amazon Essentials.

Private-label products are not exclusive to big stores. You can have your own as well! Once you have your product, you can leverage Amazon’s Fulfillment-by-Amazon (aka “Amazon FBA”) network to get exposure to the large market of Amazon shoppers. Thanks to FBA, Amazon is able to deliver your products (typically in two days or fewer — what you likely know as Amazon Prime)

All you have to do is send your inventory to Amazon. From there, Amazon employees store, pick, pack, and ship your goods for you. They also handle the customer service for you.

Try Amazon Prime with a 30-day free trial by clicking here!

8. Sell wholesale goods on Amazon

If you aren’t particularly interested in selling your own private-label products, you can also sell wholesale on Amazon. The primary difference is that you are selling other companies’ products vs. selling your own. The benefit is that you do not need to worry about the manufacturing and branding steps of the products, which may be easier for you as an online business entrepreneur.

Similar to selling private-label products, you can also leverage Amazon’s Fulfillment-by-Amazon (or FBA) network when you sell wholesale goods. Simply purchase items in bulk and send the inventory to Amazon. Amazon will help you sell the items to individual customers.

9. Earn royalties through Merch by Amazon

Are you great at designs but lack the resources to translate the designs into actual products? Don’t worry, you can still earn royalties through Merch by Amazon. Amazon will sell your designs as Amazon products so you can reach millions of customers worldwide with no upfront investment or costs to you. This is a great way to earn passive income.

Simply upload your artwork, choose a product type (e.g., a T-shirt) and colour, and add a product description. Amazon will then create a product page for you. When customers buy your product, Amazon will also handle production, shipping and customer service, and you can collect royalties after the product has been successfully delivered.

10. Sell your own apps

If you are good at coding and have a unique idea, you can develop an app and sell it on the Amazon Appstore. You can reach millions on Kindle Fire, Amazon Fire TV and select Android devices.

11. Take advantage of Amazon’s Trade-in program

The Amazon Trade-In program allows customers to receive an Amazon.com Gift Card in exchange for eligible items including cell phones, Kindle e-readers, tablets, video games, and more.

To find out if your item is eligible, simply head to the Amazon Trade-In program page and follow the instructions. The process is straightforward and convenient.

12. Deliver goods for Amazon as a Flex driver

If you are looking for a side hustle, you can deliver goods for Amazon through Amazon Flex. The concept is simple: You use your own vehicle to deliver packages for Amazon as a way of earning extra income.

Amazon estimates that you can earn between US$18 and $25 per hour.

13. Join the Customer Service team and work from home

If you enjoy speaking to customers, you should consider applying for an opening position on Amazon’s customer service team. Amazon has plenty of virtual roles available, which makes it ideal if you want to work from home.

14. Join the Mechanical Turk program

Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a crowdsourcing marketplace that enables individuals and businesses to outsources their jobs to a virtual workforce. As such, this is the perfect place for you if you are looking to make money on Amazon. The tasks you perform may include data validation, content moderation, data research, etc.

15. Sell professional services through Amazon Home Services

Amazon Home Services is made up of a network of high-quality service providers like you, who fulfil products and services sold by Amazon. You can apply to help with Assembly service, Home Theatre services, and Appliance Installation services. By becoming a member of the Amazon Services team, you can offer your expertise to people in need while earning a decent income.

16. Work in an Amazon fulfillment center

Another way to be employed by Amazon is to work in the fulfilment centres. These warehouses not only store products, but also serve as distribution centres where associates pick, pack, and ship orders quickly and efficiently. You will be working alongside Amazon robotics, scanning machines, and advanced computer systems to ensure that the products are delivered to the customers on time. By working in an Amazon warehouse, you can make some money.

17. Join CamperForce

Another way to make money on Amazon is to join the Amazon CamperForce program. This program brings together a community of enthusiastic RV’ers for seasonal workamping job opportunities. CamperForce offers jobs in warehouses, grocery stores, and buildings with forklifts and other equipment. They have both full-time and part-time opportunities.

Know someone who may be interested in joining? You can refer him/her and get a $125 bonus!

18. Work as an Amazon employee

Amazon is an exciting and dynamic place to work. It serves millions of people, and it also needs support from tens of thousands of employees.

If you are interested in working for Amazon, you will want to bookmark their jobs page. Search for your job of interest by locations, business categories, job categories or keywords. Once you find one, click the “Apply Now” button next to the title of the role at the top of the page and follow the directions. Good luck!

How to sell on Amazon?

As you can see, a lot of the methods above require that you sell something on Amazon, whether it is to sell products or professional services.

To start making money, you need to follow the key steps below to sell successfully on Amazon:

Decide on the selling plan you

Amazon offers two selling plans, an Individual plan and a Professional plan. The Amazon selling fees differ depending on which plan you choose.

As an individual, you pay a fixed amount per sale. If you are using the Professional plan, then you pay a fixed amount per month, no matter how many items sold. It is recommended that if you sell more than 30 items a month, you should go with the Professional plan.

Information to provide to complete your registration

Getting started is not difficult. In order to complete your registration, you need to provide the following information:

  • Bank account number and bank routing number
  • Chargeable credit card
  • Government issued national ID
  • Tax information
  • Phone number

Access Seller Central

Once you register as an Amazon seller, you’ll have access to your Amazon Seller Central account. This is your go-to place for selling on Amazon.

Here is a sample of tasks you can do in your Amazon seller account:

  • Keep track of your inventory and update your listings from the Inventory tab
  • Download custom business reports and bookmark templates you use often
  • Use customer metrics tools to monitor your seller performance
  • Contact Selling Partner Support and open help tickets using the Case Log
  • Keep track of your daily sales for all the products you sell on Amazon

Final Words

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to make money on Amazon. Which ones have you tried?

Interested in learning more ways to make money from home? You may want to check out my posts below:

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