You can make money on Amazon in South Africa in thanks to the global reach of the internet. Amazon is the world’s biggest online store and also one of the biggest companies in the world. It sells more than 600 million products to people all over the world. One of the ways that this can be done is through Amazon sellers who are verified to sell on Amazon. But you don’t have to be a direct seller to make money on Amazon. Another popular way of making money on Amazon is through the Amazon Associated Program. As an Amazon associate, you get paid a commission for referring buyers to Amazon to buy products.
Related: 12 Best Affiliate Programs in South Africa
Table of Contents
How Does Amazon Associates Program Work?
Amazon Associates is an affiliate program, whereby approved affiliates can promote products through a unique link and get paid a commission on every sale that a referral buys in a session. It is the biggest affiliate program in the world. The great thing is that anybody anywhere in the world can become an amazon associate and make money by promoting anything that is sold there.
There are various ways to be an associate but in summary, the best way to do it is to be a content creator who can drive traffic in large numbers to Amazon with an intent to buy. There is just a bit of information you need to learn to start. For a run-down of the basics, you can view a 10 lesson video series on what you need to put in place and to be able to start a platform that you can use to drive traffic to Amazon.
How To Get Started
If you are starting from scratch, you can start on the journey by creating a free website on SiteRubix. By the end of the training, you will have started a website, published your first few posts, and have learned the fundamentals of growing a profitable platform for Amazon Associates. If you already have a large audience, you can jump right to the application on Amazon.
How Much Can You Make
This is always a tricky question to answer because the truth is that “it depends”. But what you can do is look at other affiliates who have gone through the same path and look at what they are making and the timelines that it takes to reach those financial milestones.
The average is that many people who work properly at it make an earning of around $500 per month within 6 months This will vary depending on how frequently you put out content and how aggressively you are marketing
If you follow the full programme on Wealthy Affiliate, one of the benefits is that you can be taken through the whole journey and see people who are at various stages, from beginners, to 6 months up to years old who are making anywhere from R5000 to over R100,000 a month. The potential to make money is only limited by how much effort you put into it. There are Amazon sites that are taking in $10,000 a month. You can look at the marketplace on Empire Flippers, which is the one of the popular website selling sites, and see how much the Amazon Associate sites make and how long it took
What Can You Promote To Earn
You can promote almost any product you are interested in on Amazon. Whether it is health supplements, books to read, or clothing, the list of products is almost endless. And all you will be doing is advising people on products, just take advice from online sources to make your purchases.
What Do You Need To Qualify As An Amazon Affiliate
There aren’t any special requirements to being an Amazon Affiliate, other than to have a way to drive traffic. They do have a rule that in order to remain on the platform, you need to have one sale from a referrer within 3 months. This is pretty easy, and once you make your first sale, the numbers will only increase over time.
There are things that you need to know about how to set it up and how to build a website that will attract traffic that you can refer to amazon products, and these will be explained in the video training series.
Is Amazon Associates Open To South Africans?
You can join the Amazon affiliate program from South Africa with no problems. There are several South African content creators who are making money there. In fact, you can join the Amazon affiliate program from anywhere in the world. The only thing than can hamper people is the ability to receive the money in countries where there are a lot of obstacles.
How Will I get Paid By Amazon In South Africa?
Amazon pays Associates by one of two methods. The first is through a cheque in the mail. This is one you will probably opt out of because of the time it would take to receive the money and the issues we have with our postal system. The other way available to get paid is through Payoneer, which is an online payment gateway you can use to pay people and to receive money from abroad. They are the official payment gateway partner of Amazon.
You will need to open a Payoneer account which is free to do. Then you can withdraw the money to your bank account through an EFT, or if you have ordered a Payoneer bank card, you can use it at all ATMs and speed points that support MasterCard.
Pros and Cons
The pro of promoting products as an Amazon affiliate are plenty. You can make a living providing information on something that you are passionate about. Whether you are a fitness enthusiast, a gamer or a hiker, you can make a career out of it.
The products are easy sells – It is very easy to sell from Amazon because people who come to your website are people who are already interested in what you are promoting. All you are doing is giving them further information and then pointing them in the direction they need to go to buy what they already want.
No Inventory Costs And Risk – You are not involved in any handling of the stock or shipping of products to your referrals. And any warranties and guarantees that the client is entitled to rest with Amazon and their sellers. You take on none of the risks of selling and you enjoy profits from it.
Location Independent – Being an Amazon Associate is an online business so you can do it from anywhere in the world. You can go stay on an Island country on the other side of the world, all you will need when your business is rolling is an internet connection and a laptop.
Get Paid In Dollars – As a South African, getting paid in dollars means you benefit a lot as our currency is not doing as well as it did in past years. Getting paid in dollars is also good as it means that the value of your money is preserved against currency fluctuations.
Cons
There aren’t many cons to talk about with regard to being an Amazon Associate. The only thing close to a con is the early building of the site for the first few months. You will just need to be a little patient while building your platform and traffic starts to accumulate.
Must be US-centric – In order to make the most money in the most easy way, you must target a global audience, with the US being the optimal audience. You can still market locally if you want, but you will have to be more strategic in your products.
For example, would be better to market digital products to South Africans, than something like a TV that would have to be shipped. The buyer will be more inclined to buy such a product locally unless they really want it and it is not sold in South Africa, like Sony TVs for example.
(If you know of further gripes that people might have, please share them with us in the comments in case we missed them and we will update to include them.)
Conclusion
Amazon Associates is a very good way to generate passive income stream. To purse a business on the Amazon affiliate program does not need large startup capital and the profit potential is very high. If you are interested in being an affiliate marketer through this program then I highly recommend getting into it. You can build a profitable business that can earn you a passive income indefinitely.
Start Your Amazon Affiliate Journey
What do you think of Amazon Associates as a way of making money? Share your questions or comments, and any other programs you know of in the comments below.
hi i just want to know why the video training series on amazon affiliates is opening up in wealthy affiliate?
Hi Lindiwe, that is where the training is.
Amazon does not have its own training program or web hosting services (where you create your website) that you need to promote their affiliate program. Amazon just sells the products. If you already have a website that brings in traffic and aren’t interested in the training, you can just go to the Amazon Associates program directly.
Here is the link.
Hie Greg great article, thanks alot. If possible can I have your email address if that’s ok with you, inbox me tongesai22@gmail.com
hi im interested in starting my own affliate with amazon but concerns are taxes do i pay taxes to america?
No. Amazon pays you your commissions, and after you get the money, you must pay the tax to SARS at the end of your financial year as you would with any other business.
Hi Greg
Can you please give more info on how to do taxes Via Sars, As im a beginner, and never had my own Business? Please
That’s not something that can be explained in a website comment. The is because there are several steps even before you submit your taxes i.e. getting financial statements prepared. If you have an understanding of accounting, you can do this yourself, otherwise you’re best off getting someone with the expertise to do that for you. What might save you, is if you didn’t make any money; in that case, you just file a zero return (no calculations required).
Personally, I do all my taxes through Tax Tim (https://www.taxtim.com/za/services/) as I no longer have the youthful exuberance to want to master everything. The submission process asks you questions step by step and at the end of it, the tax form is automatically filled in for you.
Hi. Great article. I have two questions if you don’t mind.
1. When signing up for Amazon Associates, it states that ” Payment options are Gift Card, Check or Direct deposit (direct deposit is only available to US residents)
Does Payoneer fall under the direct deposit category?
2. When you skip to the next section where you need to add your website or apps, Amazon states that “This application is only for the Amazon Associates Program in the US (amazon.com). You will need to apply separately for each international Amazon Associates Program” (There are about 13 other countries of which South Africa isn’t one).
Are those countries only for your targeted audience? How does one go about the above process?
Thanks in advance.
Hello RJ
1. Here is the official Payoneer guide on how to set up.
2. That is correct. The country doesn’t pertain to which country you are from, but rather the Amazon store that you will be selling on or whose products you will be marketing. If you don’t know which one, the answer is probably US. That is where most of the traffic on the web will come from so it’s the best one to promote.
Thanks for your help and speedy reply, Greg. Much appreciated. Cheers.
But how then do you set-up the payment is you select the US and you don’t have the US bank account but South African one?
Hi Sindisa,
When you have created an Payoneer account, you will have 3 checking accounts within the Payoneer account. One for USD, one GBP and another for Euros. So if you are signed up to the US Amazon Associates, you will use the account details for the USD checking account as your banking details.
Hi Greg Im also a member at Wealthy Affilliate. I started out a while ago, I left and went back. Its a great platform and I love it. If I may ask, what has your personal experience been. You can email me at marvi.barnes@gmail.com . Im from Paarl in Western Cape and actually just need some personal experience from a fellow BOK.
Hi Marvin, discovering wealthy affiliate has been the best thing to happen to me in recent years, but it wasn’t a cakewalk.
I work on my websites full-time now and I manage all of them through WA. The most difficult part was exercising patience and trusting the process. Funny enough, I had abandoned this website and started working on an Amazon site instead because I wasn’t seeing any traction and was losing faith.
Then suddenly traffic started to trickle in when my posts started to rank, and now it is increasing every month from posts that I wrote months ago. You have to follow the training. Create content the way that you are taught at WA with SEO and SiteContent guidelines, and the results will come.
As you can see now, I have posts that are ranked on the first page Google and that bring me daily traffic which equals money.
My advice to anyone new to WA, however, would be to focus on an Amazon niche site if you are on WA. I started one at the beginning of this year and it started to make money much quicker than my MMO website. Over time as you get comfortable with creating content, it is much easier to create content about something that you are really passionate about.
I am gonna start taking cooking lessons soon and I am going to start a cooking website as well and create content around everything that I learn while honing my cooking skills. 🙂
Hi Greg
I was doing a little keyword research and happened to come across a few of your posts .It is a true testament that perseverance and following the training really pays off .
I am excited to see your posts as I have just begun my journey .Your inspiration and content is great .
Keep up the good work and look forward to bumping into you in the community at WA .
WELL DONE .
Congratulations on getting started! Diligence is the key and if you put the effort in, it will pay off. I’m glad that you found the article useful? What’s your name on WA? I’ll add you next time I’m on.
Did Amazon has a store a store in south Africa, where we can buy his products ?, if yes , where your store is located here in south Africa
Nice post Greg
looking to creating a couple of amazon niche sites soon.The payoneer advice came in handy,amazon didnt say it right on their website.cheers
Hi David. Excuse the late reply.
Thank you for the kind words and I am glad that you found the information helpful. And all the best with the Amazon niche sites. It’s an excellent way to make good money from South Africa and can set you up well in a year or two.
Hi Greg
Can I be affiliate on Amazon from South Africa?
Yes you can. Amazon Associates is open to people from anywhere in the world.
Where is Amazon store in south Africa,
I’m interested with your store…??
Hello Albert. Amazon is an online store. There is no physical store anywhere in the world. You can buy Amazon products on Amazon.com.
Hi Greg,
Thanks for the info – so is it ok to use my current amazon account to sign up even though my address is a south african one?
Sorry for the late response Liza. I have not being getting notifications. Amazon Associates is a separate account from your Amazon buying account so you would register from scratch.
Hi Greg,
Thank you for this post. Do I have to have a website or can a youtube channel suffice to drive traffic?
YouTube certainly works if your channel has enough traffic. But the conversion rate is higher on a website as less viewers tend to go to the video description to find a link.
Hi guys can youll help me with the set up on amazon, i am not sure what to put for Intermediary Status
Great article Greg, the payment method also trowed me off they don’t really explain it as Clickbank does.
Thank you
Charlene
After singing, in terms of the the account, how do yòu fill in the information of the account in SOUTH AFRICA that they should deposit in to?
You can’t draw directly into a South African bank account. You will have to use Payoneer. Here is the guide on how to set that up. https://onlinebusinessguide.co.za/payoneer-south-africa-how-to-set-up/
Thank you
Is anyone having success with the program after they slashed the earnings? I trialled it for a while and the returns were ok, but haven’t been on the platform recently
It hit some harder than others. Some lost 20% while others lost 70% or more of their income overnight. You can still make money from it but the fact that they slashed earnings like that means that you can’t bank on Amazon for the long term and you should definitely diversify your income streams in case one of your major affiliate income sources do something like that.
Does Clickbank also work with Payoneer to pay South African Affiliates?
I am getting good queries from Africa for leather jackets ,but not able to set amazon affiliate program for Africa. Please help . Because of budget issue i am using only facebook for affilate marketing .
Hi Greg
Does clickbank work for Sourh Africans ? Because as soon as I opened an account it got suspend. My daughter tried too and the same happened or are we doing something wrong?
Thanks for the wonderful content on Amazon it makes a lot of sense.
South Africa is not a supported country on ClickBank. But it is possible to use ClickBank. Here is a the article about how. https://onlinebusinessguide.co.za/clickbank-in-south-africa/
I’ve also tried numerous times to register on Clickbank and I also at the end get a message to say it has been suspended. You are not alone?
The payoneer page is not working, pls help. And can l use PayPal as the payment method for the Amazon affiliate program
No you can’t. They only pay out with Payoneer or through bank transfer (which is not available in South Africa).
I was on Payoneer today. It’s working just fine.
Thank you Greg for such a useful post.
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear that you found it useful.
Hi Greg
I want to start with the business and I need a mentor for all this journey. Will you be able to mentor me?
Hi Greg
Wonderful article. I too want to start business with Amazon as I am new too all of this. Could you guide me through this .
I also wanted to know when the product is shipped to the Amazon warehouse how do brand the product with our name .
Thank you
Hello Greg,
Thanks a million for the post. Not only is it great but to see the interactions with other people who are looking to start has been eye opening and awesome for clarification.
The issue I am hoping you can shed some light for me is getting the link that has my store ID. I have read and watched You Tube videos and sure the method of getting the link is simple enough. My trouble though is after clicking on product linking >> product links, the area where I should be inputting the ASPIN number isn’t actually showing. I haven’t managed to find any content that shows what causes this and how to overcome it.
Kindly advise if anything comes to mind.
Hi Nothando.
I am having the same issue. The widget for generating links is not showing. It is a new issue that only started happening in the last two or three weeks so that’s why there is no content about it. Those having the problem haven’t found a solution yet.
The problem is must be on Amazon Associates’ side so hopefully they fix it soon.
Got to the root of the issue. Amazon has changed the process. So what you need to do now is open Amazon while logged into your Associates profile. On any page you go to, there will be a bar at the top of the page that says Sitestripe. You will see the button there to create a link with.
Hi, I’d like to know why Amazon can hire people in South Africa for the affiliate program and pay them, but not for ACX, the audiobook narration site.
I would appreciate any knowledge you might have on this, if any.
Thank you
Hi Greg
Wonderful article. I too want to start business with Amazon as I am Very new Could you guide me through ,you have any platform for training?
Kind Regards
Hi Greg,
So happy to have found this article it is very insightful.
Please tell me, how do you complete the tax section as it only showing options for US citizens or aliens?
Hi Greg,
I want to know some details about open an account to amazon associate program, My question is that Amazon associate work in south Africa market as i didn’t find that region while sign up.
My biggest problem as a South African is getting my payments. They post the cheques but for the last three years, I have not been getting them as the postal services are so bad. I think Amazon has posted the same cheques to me multiple times with none getting to me.
I wonder why they can’t do bank transfers for us like they do for many of the other countries.
Hi Michel. Why are you using cheque? You should be using Payoneer. It works just like PayPal an you can withdraw your money to a South African account. It’s what AirBnB owners use to receive their payments as well. I wrote an article on it 5 years ago. Here is the link if you want to now how to set it up.
https://onlinebusinessguide.co.za/payoneer-south-africa-how-to-set-up/
Hi I’m from South Africa is Amazon mall shopping online real or is it a scam