Amazon affiliate program is a great way for bloggers, content creators, and blog owners to generate revenue through their websites.
While there are other sellers that offer affiliate programs, Amazon is among the pioneers of affiliate marketing.
Not only is it a favorite shopping destination for many, but it is also the best way to earn money online. Once you become an affiliate, you receive a commission every time someone uses your link to make a purchase from Amazon.
But what happens when a buyer shops from Amazon using your link but the earnings don’t show up in your account? If you have faced that issue often, it’s time you find out why it happens in the first place.
Before we get into the details, let’s first answer the question in a few lines so that you can understand the most common reason why earnings are not showing in your Amazon Affiliate account:
The reason why your earnings are not showing up in your Amazon account is that your order hasn’t been shipped yet. The commission and earnings that you receive through your Amazon referral link are only displayed when the order is dispatched to the buyer’s location.
Now, let’s go deep and talk about the other details:
Reasons Why Your Earnings Are Not Showing In Amazon Affiliate Account
You received an order on Amazon through your affiliate link? You’re excited and happy only to see that your earnings don’t appear in your account. We know exactly how confusing and frustrating that can be.
The next time you come across this problem, here are a few reasons that would explain why.
1. The Order Was Canceled
If the buyer cancels their order before it is shipped, you will not receive a commission. As an affiliate associate, you don’t have access to check if an order has been canceled, which makes it challenging to identify the reason why some items don’t appear in your Earnings Report even after an order is placed.
2. Shipping Time For An Order
As mentioned earlier, you will receive a commission after an order is shipped, not immediately after it is placed. This means that you have to account for the shipping time from the point of purchase to the actual delivery.
Your earnings will be updated once the product is shipped to the customer’s location; however, the time taken to reflect your earnings will depend on the shipping method and the location of the buyer.
3. The Ordered Product Is Out Of Stock
Once Amazon receives an order, they check the availability of the products and ship the items to the buyer.
Sometimes, Amazon might not have the ordered item in stock, and they cannot fulfill the order. In such a case, one of two things can happen: the order can be canceled, or the shipping time increases.
If the order is canceled, you will not receive a commission, but if the shipping time extends, you will eventually receive your earnings once it is shipped.
4. Pre-Orders
Amazon allows customers to pre-order products that haven’t been released yet, such as computer games or movies.
You will receive a commission after the customer receives the products following the launch day, not when they place an order. So, just be a little patient and things will finally look good for you.
5. Order Is Ineligible For Commission
Certain products on Amazon are not eligible for commissions, and you will not receive any earnings for such types of orders.
Products that don’t qualify for commissions include gift cards, wireless service plans, alcoholic beverages, digital kindle products purchased as a subscription, food prepared and delivered from a restaurant, Amazon Appstore, Prime Now, or Amazon Pay Places.
You can check the commission rates on Amazon products here: Associates Program Standard Commission Income Statement
6. Orders Placed By Close Relations
The intent of the Amazon Affiliate program is for associates to attract and refer unrelated customers to Amazon.
According to Amazon’s policies, you will not receive a commission if a family member, friend, or close acquaintance places an order using your referral link.
There are several ways Amazon can track if someone who places an order through your link is closely associated with you. In the following cases, you will not earn affiliate commission:
- If you and the buyer share the same IP address.
- If the order is shipped to an address that was previously linked to you.
- If both you and the buyer share the same address.
- If you share the same credit or debit card that the buyer uses to complete their purchase.
- If you have sent gifts to someone through Amazon, they are considered your close relative.
How Much Time Does it Take to Reflect Ordered Items as Updated to Shipped Status in an Amazon Affiliate Account Dashboard?
It usually takes around 4-6 working days for an ordered item to be updated as ‘shipped’ depending on the product, buyer’s location, and shipment policy. For items that are out of stock, the shipping time may be longer.
I mean you will just have to have common sense
Similarly, if the order has been placed for an item that is only available on pre-order, the total time before the status is changed to ‘shipped’ will include the time remaining before the product’s launch plus shipping time.
How Can You Solve The problem?
Amazon affiliate programs are an ideal choice for newbies since it is a reliable and trustworthy source of income.
But what can you do if your earnings don’t show up on your Amazon affiliate account even after an order has been placed? Having discussed the reasons why this might happen to you, let’s talk about how you can avoid it.
There is very little you can do if your referral link was used for a pre-order or the items from the order were unavailable. However, there are some ways you can solve the problem.
1. Friends And Family Referral
If you want to increase your earnings through your close relatives, you can ask them to order it from a different address than yours.
You can also encourage your friends and family to use their own devices and a different IP address when placing an order.
If Amazon is unable to create a valid link between you and the buyer, you will qualify to earn commission through the referral link.
2. Select Products That Qualify For Commission
Affiliate marketing is a fool-proof way to make money, provided you play your cards right. If you want to increase your affiliate earnings, select products that qualify for higher commission and use their referral link on your blog and websites.
To diversify your earnings portfolio, you can also consider other affiliate programs like ShareASale, eBay Partners, Clickbank, and Shopify Affiliate Program.
3. Check Product Availability
Before you plan on promoting a particular product, make sure you check whether the product is available (in stock) or not.
Sometimes, all of your marketing efforts get wasted just because of a simple mistake. You should double-check the stock before promoting.
In Conclusion
Undeniably, affiliate marketing is one of the most attractive means of generating income online, and its earning potential is massive as long as you use smart marketing strategies.
Amazon’s affiliate program is an excellent place to start because of its simplicity and user-friendly features, but as a newbie, you are bound to get confused by the process from time to time.
We hope this article helped clarify why your earnings don’t show up on your Amazon affiliate account and how you can work around that.
Once you understand Amazon policies and user tips and tricks, making money through your referral link will become a breeze.
Well, I hope you found this post helpful. Please use the comments section down below to ask any questions or provide any kind of feedback.
