Amazon has dominated the online marketplace, offering access to hundreds of thousands of items all across the globe. Notoriously known for their quick turnarounds and delivery through Amazon Prime, the ecommerce giant has penetrated almost every industry.
Whether you’re shopping for groceries, purchasing a t-shirt, or streaming movies, you can do it all through Amazon. While most of your time on their site might be allocated towards spending, there’s also lots of ways to make money directly on Amazon. In this article, we’re explaining different ways you can make money online and offline through Amazon, helping you earn passive income with no full-time job required. As an added bonus, you can also read some of our favorite tips to earning Amazon gift cards.
Make Money Online
Sell Products with Amazon FBA
What is Amazon FBA? FBA is just a fancy term for “fulfillment by Amazon”. Essentially, this allows you to:
- Become an Amazon seller
- Create or purchase wholesale products
- Ship your inventory to Amazon fulfillment centers
What makes FBA so convenient is that as a seller, all you need to do is ship your inventory to Amazon’s warehouse. They take care of shipping your products for you, so you don’t need to worry about the hassle. You may choose to ship the products yourself, to avoid extra fees from Amazon, but FBA makes it easy for you to sell without having to deal with all the logistics.
You can get involved in a few different ways. The first is online arbitrage, which is reselling items at a higher price after buying them from online stores like Ebay or Alibaba. The second is retail arbitrage, or reselling after buying from a local retail store like Walmart. The third option is private labeling, where you buy a finished product and brand it under your own name.
Here are our tips to get started with Amazon FBA:
- Choose your plan. — Individual plans will cost you $0.99 with every item sold but Professional plans will cost $39.99 every month, no matter how much you sell. On top of these fees, Amazon will charge you a referral fee on each sale, which varies depending on the category and amount you’re selling.
- Select a strategy. — Think about which option works best for you before getting started. Are you more interested in creating your own product, private labeling products, or purchasing finished products from retailers and reselling them?
- Create an Amazon seller account. — Create a business email and an Amazon seller account associated with that email. Navigate to the FBA section and follow the steps listed to complete the process.
Do Affiliate Marketing (Amazon Associates)
The Amazon Associates program is an affiliate program that rewards you through commissions without making you invest any money. Here’s how it works. You promote an Amazon product to your friends, family, or social media following. Every time that product is purchased through your affiliate link, you get paid a commission.
This is a great option for bloggers and influencers interested in sharing products with their fan base. Even if you don’t have a blog, you can still join using your Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube channel.
You’ll probably have the most success as an Amazon affiliate promoting products that are relevant to you. For example, if your blog is about fitness and lifestyle tips, you can promote workout gear or healthy snacks. And the best part? This is a completely doable work from home option.
Publish a Book
If you love writing, then consider publishing a book on Amazon. Home to one of the largest online bookstores, Amazon is a great place to get your name in front of millions of people worldwide.
You can publish ebooks directly through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing or KDP. It’ll take only a few minutes to publish, but then your book will be available all across Kindle stores within 24 to 48 hours! Additionally, you may choose to create printed versions of your book if anyone is interested in purchasing a physical copy.
Create Custom Merch
Ever wanted to sell your designs but didn’t know where to start? Now, you can start a side hustle selling your designs on all kinds of products with Merch by Amazon. From t-shirts and hats to mugs and bags, Merch will print your designs on almost anything! All you have to do is upload your designs into the Amazon database, select your colors, and choose a price.
Amazon will take over the process from there. Each time a sale is made, Amazon will print the product, pack it, and ship it for you. Plus, they’ll handle customer service requests and any issues that may come up. What’s the catch? Amazon will charge you a royalty fee with each purchase.
To get started, you have to apply to join Merch by Amazon. The process to get approved can take up to three months, so it’s better to apply early if you have a specific timeline in mind. Joining the program comes at no cost, but you will need to fill out an application.
You don’t need to be a professional designer to sell your designs. In fact, you can use free platforms like Canva, where you can easily drag and drop elements together to create a design of your own. It’s a lot easier than you may think!
Amazon Dropshipping
Amazon dropshipping is a great option if you want to make money online with no investment. While it may sound similar to Amazon FBA, Amazon dropshipping is a little different. Let’s explain.
With Amazon FBA, you’re responsible for delivering your products in bulk to the Amazon fulfillment centers, which then ship out your items. With dropshipping, you don’t need to purchase any item in bulk, which means no investment upfront.
As a dropshipper, you will have to display the product on your Amazon store. When you receive an order, you then have to notify your supplier to deliver the product to your customer. The customer will pay you and you will pay the supplier. The difference is your profit.
Mechanical Turk
Probably one of the easiest ways to make money online is through Amazon Mechanical Turk (also known as MTurk). MTurk is a platform where companies can outsource tasks to people all over the world. This means you can get paid extra money doing super easy tasks completely virtually.
What types of tasks will you be asked to complete? You could be asked to do data validation and duplication or content moderation. MTurk is a crowdsourcing platform, which means a larger project may be broken down into smaller more digestible parts for users to complete all across the internet.
It should be noted that you won’t make a lot of money on MTurk, since most tasks will earn between $0.10 to $1. Considering how simple and easy the tasks are to complete, it’s not a bad idea if you have extra time on your hands. After you complete the work and the “Requester” approves it, you can access your money through bank transfer.
Create Unique Goods
Do you love browsing through Etsy? Are you artistic or skilled in handmade crafts? Amazon Handmade makes it easy for you to sell products you make entirely by hand.
This is an especially smart way to make money if you have a keen eye in identifying trends and seasonal items that may be in demand. Amazon Handmade has sellers from over 80 countries across the world. It helps smaller artisans gain better brand awareness and their products in front of potential customers.
You will have the option to deliver the product yourself or ship the product to an Amazon fulfillment center, where they can deliver the product for you. There are no fees to list your product, but you will have to pay a 15% referral fee to Amazon for every sale you make.
Join the Amazon Accelerator Program
The Amazon Accelerator program allows manufacturers to create their own brands with unique products. You can sell those products as a private brand supplier directly on Amazon’s site.
With guidance from Amazon and helpful tools, you can create your own brand from start to finish. Plus, they’ll provide marketing and customer support as well as manage product testing.
Make Money Offline
Deliver with Amazon Flex
Have you ever heard of Amazon Flex? This is Amazon’s delivery service, which helps make their rapid operations possible. This is a great option for those looking for a part-time job making deliveries in their neighborhood.
You’ve probably seen Amazon drivers deliver packages in your city. If you want to make money doing the same thing, then Amazon Flex is for you. Packages are picked up from the nearest Amazon station to be dropped off locally.
You can track all of your earnings through the Amazon Flex mobile app plus, you get to set your own schedule. You can claim delivery blocks (or shifts) when you want to work, which makes this the perfect part-time job for those who need flexibility.
It should be noted, however, that you are considered a contractor. This means you’re responsible for your gas, parking, tolls, etc.
Amazon CamperForce
If you live in the US (and on-the-go), then you can apply for Amazon CamperForce. CamperForce is perfect for those who sold their homes to move into a bus, tiny house, van or RV — living carefree on the road!
If this sounds like you, then you can make money with Amazon CamperForce. All you do is help Amazon pick, pack, store, and receive merchandise orders. If you’re an enthusiastic traveler who’s ready for seasonal work-camping jobs, then this one’s for you.
Save Money on Amazon
Interested in keeping more money in your wallet? Here are some tips to help you save money on Amazon.
Credit Card Perks
If you’re like most people, then you probably have multiple credit cards in your wallet. If you shop a lot on Amazon, then you should take advantage of the Amazon Rewards credit card. With the Amazon credit card, you can get 3% cashback on all your Amazon purchases. Better yet, if you’re an Amazon Prime member, your cashback increases to 5%!
Amazon Pay
Periodically, Amazon will provide offers that help you save money on purchases that you would’ve made regardless. Did you know you can get cashback just by loading money into your Amazon Pay? A previous offer provided a 10% savings on your purchase — which can add up! Be on the lookout for similar offers so you can take advantage of these deals as well.
Amazon Prime
Being an Amazon Prime member does have its perks. Faster shipping access to more products — you name it! Sure, you’ll have to pay for your yearly membership. But, if you’re a regular shopper on Amazon, it’s definitely worth the money. Extra perks include Prime shipping, 30-minute early access to lightning deals, Prime-only promos, and unlimited access to video streaming.
