i had planned to do my second affiliate post from Amazon for Mother’s Day. Something simple and sweet, you know, special gifts for Mother’s Day, some of the best gifts I have bought my Mom for Mother’s Day. Great Tech Gifts for Mom. Et cetera.
I only recently joined Amazon’s affiliate program and I haven’t really made it part of my blog, yet. have only done one affiliate post. But, among my other goals, I have decided to take advantage of the opportunity offered by Amazon to try to add a smaller revenue stream to my annual income.
Therefore, a second post. Then a third, a fourth, etc.
But, Amazon has just changed its terms of service (in this case, its payouts) for its affiliate members, which I found out by accident when looking for advice on how to write a good affiliate post. Whereas, the company used to offer 6%-10% for certain categories of products, as of April 20, 2020, those categories now only to pay out at 3% or less.
This was the payout before April 20:
This is the payout, now.
This is a huge drop and I feel bad for long-time affiliate members. In some cases, their revenue from Amazon is going to drop by at least 50%, which is a huge betrayal from a business they have made so much money for over the years. According to every news source I read, there are over two million Amazon affiliate members. I can’t find a breakdown of Amazon’s annual revenue that includes how much they make from their affiliates.
So…this is a surprise, quite a surprise. I was trying to work Amazon into my plan to ultimate be self-employed, supporting myself off my writing.
It’s too bad. I hate it when companies I view positively do something that damages or ruins my opinion of them. I hate it when I can see the bottom line-minded executives so clearly.
Mark Earnest Johnson 