My Week as an Amazon Affiliate

During the holidays, I spent a significant amount of time looking at deal sites that offered promo codes for misc items.  I saved a TON on my holiday shopping, was exposed to unique gift ideas, and bought way too much.  If you've ever been a deal shopper, the hunt is addictive.  But also time consuming!  However, I figured, there are SO many Amazon Affiliates out there, why not give it a shot, and so I did.

The process for Amazon goes like this....you have to fill out an application, and then they give you temporary approval for seven days, and then they review your site, and in many cases, ding you for small issues and shut you down.  I've read lots of other reviews on it (because we all know I over research when I am interested) and found the main things to watch out for - make sure you identify yourself as an affiliate everywhere, take down posts once the deal is no longer valid, use a URL shortener that still identifies the site is taking you to an Amazon posting, and on and on.   One of the pages I follow, the girl was owed $3000 and wasn't going to get paid for it because a "large" item that yielded a 10% return that thousands purchased, she had not taken down the posting or notified her followers that it was a "dead deal" when Amazon looked at her page.  So she didn't get that huge payout she was expecting. I poured over the TOS and made sure I was in compliance, constantly changing  my posting "template" and ensuring I was in compliance, b/c that was not something I wanted to happen to me.

This morning I woke up to an account cancellation letter.  My downfall?  I did not have 500 followers.  The letter told me I would still get paid for any purchases made under my account, however, they instantly locked me out of the account so I am unable to review what is actually owed to me.  The letter they provided was generic and did not include any reporting to show what I was owed.  Seems shady to me. However, I was invited to reapply once I reach 500 followers.

Don't get me wrong, I love Amazon. I've been a loyal shopper for 10 years, I am an Amazon Flex delivery driver and love getting my orders the next day.  But I have heard the stories of their policies and their tactics and am routinely a little hesitant (I recently learned that their "Amazon Basics" line is comprised of items that they tracked sales for the "big"  manufacturer's on to see if it was worth it, once they see the sales are significant, their teams develop a near identical product and undercut the other manufacturers.  Brilliant, but shady to use that data.  Ahh, data is everywhere).

I will say that the Amazon Affiliate website is garbage.  For a company as large as it is, the lists you have to dig through of promo codes to offer your readers anything that 1) has reviews b) isn't coming from a random store called "7777" or "BuyMe55" c) has sizing that isn't Asian and is going to show up the size of a doll's outfit and d) isn't marked up massively so they can offer am 80% discount is a full time job, due to poor organization.  Sellers can mark the items under any category they want (clothing under electronics?  kitchen items under clothing?), and post the same item 50 times with different promo codes.  There is no preview picture and the same sellers might be notorious for crappy clothes but great electronics.  It's a chaotic free for all.

Regardless, it was a learning experience, I love a good learning experience.  But, my time with Amazon as an affiliate is over.  That doesn't mean I am done with the blog though, there are so many great deals out there that I would love to share with you all, because it's fun.  But I also will be focusing more on individual content....stories, recipes, etc.  So stay tuned :)