Amazon Associates program is more exclusive than a VIP club in Ibiza, and getting banned is the digital equivalent of getting kicked out by a bouncer. Want to know why Amazon bans affiliates more often than a bar bouncer on a Saturday night? Luckily, this is what you’re about to learn!
In this article, I’m going to share with you my own experience with the Amazon Associates program, discuss why it tends to ban Associate accounts and teach you how to avoid this from happening!
I’m also going to share my insights on why I think the Amazon affiliate program is NOT the best, and even give you 10 other alternative highest-paying affiliate programs so you can make more money in 2023.
Don’t be left outside in the cold. Grab a drink and let’s dive into the e-commerce giant’s elusive account suspension policies to help you avoid the banhammer and keep your commissions flowing!
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11 Reasons Why An Amazon Associate Account Might Get Banned
In order to be able to avoid getting your Amazon associate account banned, first you have to understand the main REASONS why an Amazon affiliate account might get banned. Some of which as put by AAWP:
- Not Generating Any Sales – Your application can be withdrawn if there were not enough qualifying sales for 180 days after your application was submitted. Your account cannot be reinstated after it’s been rejected.
- Using Your Own Affiliate Links for Purchases – Want the fastest way to get your Amazon affiliate account banned? Purchase something through your own affiliate link! Amazon can easily track purchase activity using your IP or through your account, so it’s generally not worth risking a ban.
- Having Multiple Accounts – Due to spamming issues, Amazon only allows one account for each individual. However, you can create different tracking IDs for each (up to 100 tracking IDs). So, instead of creating a new account, you may want to just create a new Tracking ID.
- Not Having an Affiliate Disclosure – As per Amazon’s terms and conditions, affiliates should disclose that they are affiliated with Amazon and that they earn a small commission on each sale. This disclosure should be visible on every single page that contains affiliate links from Amazon.
- Shortening Your Affiliate Links – Redirecting means more loading time that may lead to a bad customer experience, AKA affecting Amazon’s reputation. As an Amazon affiliate, you SHOULDN’T cloak, hide, or shorten your affiliate links as this will misdirect your customers.
- Adding Product Links on Adult Sites – As an Amazon affiliate, you can’t and shouldn’t be posting affiliate links on sexually explicit, porn, or any other adult sites. This is clearly stated in Amazon’s terms and conditions. For these types of websites, you can use targeted adult affiliate offers.
- Adding Product Prices – Amazon is a very huge platform with tons of resellers that keep adding new items and changing prices constantly. Amazon affiliates are not allowed to mention any prices unless using a plugin such as AAWP that automatically pulls the product pricing from the page.
- Sending Affiliate Links Via Email – I know, I know, the average return on investment of each $1 you spend on email marketing is $40! You can leverage email marketing to get more eyeballs on your pages, website, blog, or any other destination URL that contains your affiliate links.
- Copying Amazon Reviews on Your Site – Copying reviews from Amazon product pages to your site will most likely get you a permanent ban. As an affiliate, your job is to only recommend relevant products to your audience. Instead, prepare a list of positive points that you can talk about.
- Using Amazon’s Logo – Like any other company, Amazon takes anything that may infringe its copyrights very seriously! You are not allowed to use any of their brand assets and if you do and they found out, your Amazon Associate account will be banned right away, forever!
- Not Adding a Site to Your Associate Dashboard – This is a common mistake among amateurs and people who are just getting started as Amazon affiliates. The very first step you should be doing upon creating your account on Amazon is to link your website asset.
11 Ways to Avoid Getting Your Amazon Affiliate Account Banned
Now that we know the main reasons that may cause Amazon Associates accounts to get banned or deactivated, below are 11 actionable steps that will help you avoid getting your Amazon affiliate account permanently closed:
1. Only Apply When You Are Ready
I’m not a big fan of the Amazon Associate program, but if I were you, I would work hard on my site first, publish a dozen of handful articles of at least 1,000 words that contain long tail keywords, and once I have the necessary traffic, I would apply to the Amazon affiliate program and start monetizing my site.
2. Never Use Your Own Links to Purchase
You simply can’t game the system and make a neat commission for something that you need already! Amazon can easily track your purchase activity through your IP and account.
3. Avoid Having Multiple Accounts
As an Amazon Associate member, you’re only allowed to have one account, but you can create up to 100 different tracking IDs. Amazon does this to prevent spamming.
4. Always Have a Proper Affiliate Disclosure
You should always follow Amazon’s guidelines and have a proper affiliate disclosure on all pages that contain affiliate links from Amazon. The disclosure must include that you are an Amazon Associate and that you earn a small commission by recommending products, at no additional cost to them.
5. Don’t Shorten Your Links
Shortening your Amazon affiliate links may misdirect customers and indirectly affect Amazon’s reputation. Therefore, you need to stay away from cloaking, hiding, or shortening your affiliate links.
6. Stay Away From Adult Sites
Adult websites that contain sexually explicit materials are not the right place for placing Amazon’s products. For these websites, you need different types of affiliate programs.
7. Never Mention Prices
This is simply because Amazon’s prices keep changing. By mentioning the prices, chances are they will change by the time your readers watch your video or read your blog. This will lead to misleading information and potentially affect Amazon’s reputation.
Alternatively, if you desire to mention prices and think they can add value to your website, you can use a WordPress plugin like AAWP that helps you manage all product information and make sure that it’s always fully up-to-date and accurate.
8. Avoid Using Email For Sending Affiliate Links
Although you can’t use email for sending affiliate links, you can use email marketing as a bridge to redirect people to the videos, reviews, or pages that contain your Amazon affiliate links.
9. Never Copy Amazon’s Reviews
Unlike dropshipping from Aliexpress where sellers literally copy reviews from the vendors to increase authority, trust, and reputation, and give customers a strong reason to buy from their sites, YOU’RE NOT allowed to do this and copy any reviews as an Amazon Associate.
Same as prices, you can’t and shouldn’t manually add star ratings for products on your site because ratings keep changing as well. Ultimately, the best way to utilize reviews is to go through them and prepare a list of positive points that you can mention and talk about in your article, video, or review!
10. Never Use Amazon’s Logo or Any of Its Brand Assets
As an affiliate, you shouldn’t be aiming to copy a brand’s persona. Therefore, you are not allowed to use their logo or any other brand asset that may infringe on the company’s copyright, such as the logo or brand colors.
11. Always Add a Site to Your Associate Dashboard
The first thing you need to do after you set up your Amazon Associate account is to add all of your niche affiliate sites to your dashboard. This is used as authorization for getting sales from those websites.
Is Amazon Associate The Best Affiliate Program Out There?
The short answer is no, the Amazon Associate program is not the best affiliate program for beginners and experts alike, and here’s why! On April 14, 2020, Amazon sent notice to its affiliates regarding changes in commission rates taking effect on April 21st.
Although not all categories were affected, the changes were dramatic cuts to the affiliate payouts. Some categories like home improvement, furniture, and pet products dropped from 8% to 3%! It’s like Amazon saying to its affiliates: We don’t need you anymore!
Being said, the Amazon Associate program has many downfalls and disadvantages that may limit your earnings as an affiliate. Some of which are:
- Very low commission rates
- Short cookie duration (24 hours)
- Unethical behaviors with affiliates
- PayPal is not supported as a payment
In summary, no matter how much money you’ve brought to the company, you might still get banned and your account can easily get deactivated even without prior notice! This has happened to me personally and to a lot of people that I know.
What Makes a Good Affiliate Program?
Before discussing the best alternatives for the Amazon affiliate program, let’s quickly discuss some of the characteristics of a good affiliate marketing program:
- Long cookie duration – In simple terms, a cookie refers to a tiny data file that is saved on a user’s computer to identify visitors to a website. In affiliate marketing, cookies play a vital role in tracking affiliate referrals, but it’s important to note that they have a limited lifespan and will expire after a certain period. Thus, the longer the cookie duration, the better for the affiliate marketer.
- High commissions – Which option makes more sense to you, promoting a low-ticket affiliate program that pays you $5 or a high-ticket affiliate program that pays up to $997 per sale? I bet on option B; the high ticket offer. Affiliate programs with high commissions will allow you to have higher ROI in less time.
- Recurring commissions – Needless to say, high commission rates are a must in a perfect program. It’s even better if such a lucrative commission is recurring. This will allow you to do the hard work once and keep getting paid for months, or in some cases, for years to come.
- Solid value ladder – According to MightyNetworks, a value ladder (or sales ladder) is a marketing term or tactic you can use to help “ease” a customer into your final offer by offering a small fee or totally free trials that allow them to see your product/service in action. In many cases, it’s a growing relationship where the customer spends a little more at each level.
- Upselling and cross-selling opportunities – Successful companies don’t just have a single product. They understand the buying persona of their customers and know what they exactly need. By knowing that, they can offer more relevant upselling and cross-selling offers that can add up to their customer lifetime value.
- Top-notch marketing materials – You don’t need to create affiliate marketing materials, tools, or visual aids as this is supposed to be the vendor’s responsibility. Ad swipes, landing pages, logos, banners, images, and video assets are all marketing materials that constitute a crucial element of a perfect affiliate program.
- Solves a real problem or issue – People don’t buy products and services. They buy solutions for their problems. Therefore, a good affiliate program should have a solid program, service, or software behind it that solves a real problem.
- High brand recognition – As an affiliate, your job is to put the right product in front of the right audience at the right time. Promoting a well-established and highly trusted brand will increase the odds of people clicking on your links and completing a purchase. Reputation always matters!
- Dedicated dashboard and manager – A user-friendly panel shows comprehensive reports for monitoring account status and real-time earnings while having transparent access to insights is ideal for all affiliates. On the other hand, an affiliate manager is crucial for the success of any affiliate program as he/she provides support in managing and supervising the program.
10 Affiliate Programs That Are Better Than Amazon Associates
With that being said, below are the 10 best Amazon Associates program alternatives that you can leverage to monetize your website, blog, or even your faceless YouTube channel:
1. BottomLine ERC
Bottom Line is a cost reduction consulting firm based in Florida Miami, and it simply helps American businesses to improve their bottom lines and reinvest in themselves. One of the many things that BLC specializes in is maximizing the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) Program for businesses.
If you’re not aware, ERC stands for Employee Retention Credit, and it’s a stimulus program designed to help those businesses that were able to retain their employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This program was established by the CARES Act, and it is a refundable tax credit – that small and mid-size business owners can claim for their businesses.
The BLC ERC affiliate program is an invitation-based program, which means that you should be referred by someone who’s already affiliated with them in order to be able to promote their services. Luckily, I am, so you can sign up as an affiliate using the link below.
What Makes Bottom Line a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- There’s no selling involved – totally free money for businesses
- Big Fat Commissions – Up to $390,000 per qualified lead
- Helping businesses improve their bottom lines
- Strengthening the overall economy
- Untapped potential
Register as a BLC affiliate and make 10% off all deals you bring in.
2. Clickfunnels
Clickfunnels is the veterans’ and pro marketers’ secret weapon for building professional sales funnels and collecting leads the correct way. It’s basically a leading sales funnel builder and a whole marketing toolkit that helps you collect leads, build rapport with them, and potentially convert them into loyal customers.
It has one of the best and highest-paying affiliate programs in the industry. As a Clickfunnels affiliate, you can earn up to 40% on all subscription plans, recurringly, every single month.
You don’t need to be an active Clickfunnels user to promote their innovative software, but it will definitely help to promote something that you’re personally using and familiar with.
What Makes Clickfunnels a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- A leading sales funnel builder that’s used by top millionaires
- A generous affiliate program; Up to 40% recurring commissions on all subscription plans
- $100 bounty on all events, info products, and courses
- The top affiliate award; the dream car contest
- The potential of winning a 2 Comma Club award
- A solid value ladder of a 14-day free trial
- Tons of upsells, AKA, more commissions for you
- Sales funnels simply perform better than static websites
- High customer lifetime value
Check out Clickfunnels and claim your 14-day free trial.
3. GetResponse
Have you ever joined a newsletter or purchased a product online and received a confirmation email that confirms your subscription or purchase? Well, that’s 100% an email autoresponder that was set to automatically send when someone completes a certain action.
Email marketing is not dead, and it’s getting more popular each day. The reason is that the average return on investment (ROI) for every $1 you spend on email marketing tends to be something around $40.
Therefore, veteran marketers are convinced that there’s no complete marketing plan or sales funnel without a proper email autoresponder campaign in place.
GetResponse is a great autoresponder and email marketing toolkit that I’ve been personally using for years now. It has a very user-friendly email drag-and-drop builder and a very easy-to-use interface.
What Makes GetResponse a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- Two generous affiliate programs; 33% recurring or $100 bounty
- One of the leading email marketing software and toolkits
- Tons of value – Resources, lead magnets, educational content, and more
- A solid value ladder of a 30-day free trial
- High customer lifetime value
Check out GetResponse and claim your 30-day free trial.
4. Udimi
Udimi is a solo ad marketplace that connects email marketers with solo ad vendors. It’s the most well-known and trusted place for buying and selling solo ads online.
If you’re not aware, a solo ad is a form of email marketing where vendors or people who own mailing lists sell ad spaces or dedicated emails from advertisers.
So, if you wish to monetize your mailing list and become a solo ad vendor to make extra money online selling emails, Udimi is definitely your place to go.
What Makes Udimi a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- The best solo ad marketplaces in the market
- 15% recurring commission structure
- 25% commission on all Prime subscriptions
- A free landing page builder
- A solid value ladder of a $10 bonus to referrals
Check out Udimi and claim your free $10.
5. Super Affiliate System By John Crestani (Available On ClickBank)
Affiliate marketing is a 17-billion dollars industry and the number of people searching for the term “affiliate marketing” just keep tremendously increasing since 2016.
Although affiliate marketing requires no blog and the business model is super simple and straightforward, 95% of affiliate marketers fail to make money online and only 5% succeed in making a living online with this innovative model.
Hey, listen, almost everybody is looking to create a new stream of income and achieve financial freedom, right? Here’s where John Crestani can come into play and educate your referrals on how to make a living online with affiliate marketing. He’s good at it and has been doing it for years now!
Related: What You Need To Know About The [Super Affiliate System Pro] – My honest review
What Makes Super Affiliate System (SAS) a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- John is one of the best affiliate marketing mentors
- A generous 50% commission on the $997 front-end offer
- A recurring 30% on the one-time-offer (OTO) $247/m upsell
- Avg $/conversion of $972.45 according to Clickbank
- A webinar that sells and converts on COLD BizOpp traffic
- Tons of value, resources, materials, funnels, ad swipes, emails, and more
Check out the Super Affiliate System (SAS) and claim your free training.
7. Partner with Anthony
Anthony Morrison is another self-made millionaire who’s been doing affiliate marketing for years now. He paid his dad’s debt in full after losing it all in the stock market, contributed to his brother’s (Adrian) education, and achieved the life balance that everyone dreams of.
He’s one of the most well-known and veteran affiliate marketing mentors who’s been in this industry for over 15 years now, and has sold over 1M copies of his book The Hidden Millionaire! (Check his book on Amazon!)
PWA is a lifetime training that offers a business partnership with people who are serious about their financial situation and are looking forward to starting an insanely profitable online business that generates passive income for you, with multiple streams of income, while you sleep.
Anthony’s ecosystem allows you to make money when he makes money and let him do almost everything for you!
What Makes Partner With Anthony a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- Anthony is a self-made millionaire and affiliate marketing mentor
- PWA is a whole 8-figure ecosystem
- A recurring 50% commission structure on all products
- Very High $/conversion rate – Converts on COLD BizOpp traffic
- Tons of value, resources, materials, funnels, ad swipes, emails, and more
- Weekly training, webinars, and meetings
Check out the Partner With Anthony (PWA) and claim your free training.
6. Tube Mastery By Matt Par
While a lot of people are using ChatGPT and AI to write, rephrase, or optimize content, others are leveraging the learning machines to make money on YouTube without showing their faces.
I strongly believe that this is the smartest way to make money online especially since 95% of the work can be automated.
Matt Par is an online entrepreneur who’s cracked the YouTube code and figured out how the algorithm works! He is currently running 12 different Faceless YouTube channels and makes 7 figures with all of them.
Matt has a unique online training where he teaches his exact formula, all the resources he uses, and how he’s automating most of the work with AI tools.
What Makes Tube Mastery a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- Matt is the youngest YouTube professional in the market
- Tube Mastery is the best YouTube course on the market
- A generous 50% commission on the $997 front-end and coaching offers
- A solid value ladder – Allows you to offer your referrals a totally free webinar
- Very High $/conversion rate – Converts with cold traffic
- Tons of value, resources, materials, funnels, ad swipes, emails, and more
Check out Tube Mastery & Monetization and claim your free training.
8. Shopify
Shopify is the best eCommerce website builder by all means and it has one of the highest-paying affiliate programs! It’s the one-stop solution for everyone who wants to start selling online.
For as low as a $29/month subscription plan, Shopify allows you to create the online storefront of your dream even if you don’t have any coding skills or technical experience.
It also has a wide variety of apps, tools, and themes that can literally take your eCommerce store to the maximum levels and enhance your site’s functionalities with more advanced features.
Even for brick-and-mortar business owners who wish to create a new online point of sale, Shopify is the only solution they might need to scale their business and dominate their industry online!
What Makes Shopify a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- Shopify is the leading eCommerce website builder in the market
- A solid value ladder of a 14-day free trial
- A generous $150 commission on all plans
- A $500 commission on retail point-of-sale (POS) solutions
Check out Shopify and claim your free trial.
9. SEMRush
SEMRush is an all-in-one digital marketing tool used for SEO, PPC, content marketing, and competitor analysis. It provides a variety of features that help users analyze and optimize their online presence, such as keyword research, site audit, backlink analysis, social media tracking, and more.
What Makes SEMRush a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- Very popular SEO tool
- High ticket affiliate offer that pays $200 per sale
- As an affiliate, you will get paid $10 per trial
- Solid value ladder
Check out SEMRush and claim your free trial.
10. WPX hosting
Whether you want to start a blog, build a WordPress website, or create any other website idea you have in mind, WPX has got you covered! It’s a leading web hosting provider and one of the most premium services available in the market.
Although WPX is a bit costlier than other hosting providers out there, it’s worth every penny, especially if you take into consideration all the features it offers. (Check out my Hostgator, Bluehost, and WPX comparison article here.)
Some of WPX’s pros and features are unbeatable page loading speed, unbeatable customer support service, unlimited free site migrations, free malware detection and removal, free and fast technical fixes if any site goes offline, free custom high-speed CDN, free site speed optimizations on request, and more!
Creating a website is not rocket science anymore, thanks to WPX.
Side Note: My very first website was built using Bluehost for around $3/month. Although it’s a great and reliable service, it started to seem costly as my business started to grow and my websites multiply. I had to eventually migrate to WPX since its basic plan allowed me to host up to 5 websites for $21/month, that’s less than $5 a month per website. Having all of my websites under 1 roof is definitely better!
What Makes WPX a Good Amazon Affiliate Program Alternative
- WPX is a leading web hosting provider
- A generous up to $100 commission on all plans
- Offers free SSL certificate, CDN, and money-back guarantee
- Unlimited business emails
Check out and consider migrating to WPX ASAP – Highly recommended.
Amazon Associates Account Frequently Asked Question
Below are some of the most frequently asked questions and answers about Amazon Associates:
Is Amazon Associates Free?
In the words of Amazon, there’s no charge to apply, and there’s no minimum referral requirement or quota you must reach before earning referral fees with our program. If you have decent traffic, you can start earning right away!
Is Amazon Associates Worth It?
Amazon Associates can be worth it for some people, but whether or not it’s worth it for you depends on your specific situation and goals. Some reasons why Amazon Associates might be worth considering are the low barrier of entry, diverse product offerings, trusted brand, and already existing traffic.
However, there are also some potential drawbacks to consider, such as the very low commission rates, short cookie durations, and the fact that the program’s terms and conditions can be complex and subject to change.
Additionally, depending on your niche and audience, you may find that other affiliate programs offer higher commissions or better products for your specific audience.
Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to join Amazon Associates will depend on your individual circumstances, goals, and preferences.
What is The Difference Between Amazon Affiliate And Amazon Associate?
The terms Amazon Associates and Amazon Affiliate are often used interchangeably to refer to the same program offered by Amazon. However, Amazon Associates is the official name of the program and it allows website owners, bloggers, and social media influencers to earn commissions by promoting Amazon products on their platforms.
Can You Purchase Through Your Own Amazon Associate Affiliate Link?
No, you can’t, and this can potentially get your Amazon Associate account permanently closed! The reason is that you will be earning a neat commission for something you already need!
Gaming the system wouldn’t work with an eCommerce giant like Amazon. They can easily track your IP and your account, and penalize you for that.
So, even if you are buying products from another user ID, or your family members are buying anything from their respective IDs, but using the same system, be it a laptop, mobile, or desktop, you will not get the commission and will be risking getting your account banned!
Can You Appeal The Amazon Associates Account Closure?
Based on my own experience and the experiences of people whom I’ve interviewed regarding this matter, I can confidently suggest you save your time appealing it and just move on!
The first thing I did after receiving Amazon’s email was to call the Amazon customer support number and ask what was going on. I asked whether or not I was able to have the account re-enabled.
The Associate customer support rep said:
“You’d have better luck just starting a new account as the appeal’s process only has about 1% success rate”.
Although Amazon states that you may correct the violation and appeal by providing the information they require in a warning response, that’s unfortunately not true! Most of the time, the decision is permanent.
Can I Reapply For The Amazon Affiliate Program?
Yes, you can. If, for any reason, your application got withdrawn or your Associate account got banned, you are allowed to reapply when you have established your site and take Amazon’s policies into consideration. However, Associate IDs can never be reinstated, so you would need to register under a new email and user ID.
Can I Be Part of Multiple Affiliate Programs at Once?
Yes, you can be part of multiple affiliate programs at once and there’s no limit to the amount of affiliate marketing offers that you can join and promote.
Even on a single webpage, you can promote multiple affiliate offers, even if they were direct competitors. In fact, this is how bloggers and YouTubers do product comparisons and reviews.
I’m personally affiliated with over 1,000 companies and brands, some of which are in the same niche and have the same target audience. Affiliate marketing is not hard. It’s all about recommending different products and putting them in front of the right target audience, at the right time!
What is The Best Affiliate Marketing Program For Beginners?
If you’re a complete beginner and are overwhelmed with the amount of affiliate marketing offers available in the market in a way that you can’t even decide what to promote, the Partner With Anthony (PWA) program could just be the perfect starting point for you!
It will allow you to literally promote multiple affiliate programs through one single gateway. I highly highly recommend you click the image below and go check it out!
Conclusion
All in all, if you want to maintain a healthy and successful Amazon affiliate account, it’s essential to play by the rules and avoid any practices that could result in a ban or suspension.
By following the 11 tips we’ve outlined in this article, you can ensure that your account stays in good standing and that you continue to earn commissions for your hard work.
Remember to always disclose your affiliate relationship, avoid incentivized reviews, and stay up to date with Amazon’s policies and guidelines. By doing so, you’ll be well on your way to building a profitable and sustainable affiliate business on the world’s largest online marketplace.
Want to learn how my friend John Crestani went from working as a “Human Guinea Pig” to making over 22 million dollars online and firing his boss? Click below to watch his full story!
Thanks for going this far! If you found this post inspiring and useful, share it with your friends, please! (Virtual high fives and hugs to all my sharers out there!)
Cheers,
Odeh Ahwal
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