If you’re interested in making money online, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better avenue for success than through Amazon. Whether you’re dreaming of building a multi-million dollar brand or simply looking for a profitable side hustle, anyone can learn how to make money on Amazon and turn that dream into reality.
Each method we’ll discuss below has been proven to be a way of making money on Amazon. No matter your background, education, or experience, these ways to make money on Amazon can be utilized to earn Amazon side income. However, not all methods are created equally, and your background knowledge or experience may make certain methods more appealing.
With that in mind, we’ll discuss 14 different ways covering how to make money with Amazon, highlighting the big idea, how it works, and potential strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to help you examine the best ways to make money on Amazon and determine which of the Amazon income strategies is best for you.
1. Start Your Own Private Label Business
What Is Private Label on Amazon?
Imagine owning a brand that reaches millions without the hassle of manufacturing or shipping. That’s the power of private labeling on Amazon. With access to a staggering 200 million Prime subscribers and the revolutionary Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program, you can focus on growing your business while Amazon handles the nitty-gritty of inventory management, shipping, and customer service. It’s like having a retail empire with a built-in logistics powerhouse at your fingertips.
Thousands of entrepreneurs have turned their Amazon dreams into reality, and there’s no reason why you can’t do the same! While private labeling requires effort and investment, it’s accessible to anyone ready to take the plunge.
Steps To Start a Private Label Business
- Product Research: Finding a high-demand, low-competition product is key. Tools like our Product Discovery feature help you filter and identify promising items.
- Finding Manufacturers: After selecting a product, use platforms like Alibaba to secure a manufacturer and negotiate shipments. Always request samples to ensure quality.
- Listing and Marketing: Once your inventory is ready, craft a strong listing with optimized images, compelling copy, and strategic keywords. Leverage Amazon PPC to boost visibility.
Benefits and Challenges
As our top way to make money through Amazon, private labeling offers complete control over branding, pricing, and product selection, with Amazon’s vast marketplace providing excellent scaling opportunities. However, the competition is fierce, and success requires upfront investment, detailed research, and strong marketing skills.
Take Anker, for example. This electronics brand started on Amazon in 2011 with replacement laptop batteries. Through diversification and a focus on quality, Anker has expanded into major retail chains like Target and Best Buy, generating billions in revenue—most of which still comes from Amazon.
All things considered, private labeling on Amazon is a lucrative, scalable business model ripe for the entrepreneurial-minded. While there are challenges, Amazon’s infrastructure and audience make it possible and more accessible than ever to run your own business from your computer.
Pro Tip
Before jumping headfirst into private label selling, sign up for our free How to Sell on Amazon course. It’s the ultimate step-by-step guide for how to sell on Amazon and make money, complete with a curriculum tackling everything hopeful sellers should know and do as they start an Amazon business taught by those who have climbed the ranks for success.
2. Resell Goods Through Retail Arbitrage
What Is Retail Arbitrage?
Retail arbitrage involves buying discounted products from retail stores and reselling them at a higher price on Amazon. Whether shopping secondhand stores like Goodwill or Plato’s Closet, clipping coupons for cheap products to be sold at retail prices or higher, or hounding garage sales as Gary Vaynerchuk has popularized in recent years, there’s plenty of money to be made in retail arbitrage.
How To Get Started With Retail Arbitrage
- Finding Products: Use apps like the Amazon Seller app to scan barcodes and check profit margins in real-time while shopping.
- Listing on Amazon: Create listings or match your product to existing ones, ensuring competitive pricing.
Pros and Cons
Retail arbitrage is easy to start and requires minimal upfront costs, but competition can be fierce, and margins may be thin. Finding hidden gems that can be flipped for a profit can be incredibly rewarding, but there’s never a guarantee for success. Depending on your product knowledge and ability to find products that can be resold at a marked-up price, it may not be worth your time. However, if you love searching for deals and know product markets well, it can be the perfect avenue to harness your knowledge and skills to supplement your income and generate money in Amazon.
3. Find a Wholesale Distributor and Sell Products From Established Brands
Understanding Wholesale on Amazon
Wholesaling on Amazon involves purchasing products in bulk directly from manufacturers or distributors at a discounted rate and then reselling those products at a higher price. Unlike private labeling, where you create your brand, wholesaling focuses on selling well-established brands with built-in customer demand. Essentially, you’re profiting by acting as a middleman, using Amazon’s massive marketplace to sell branded products.
For many sellers, wholesaling on Amazon offers a reliable way to generate revenue without the need to build a brand from scratch or invest heavily in marketing.
Steps To Start Wholesaling
- Product Research: Use tools like Viral Launch’s Keyword Research and Market Intelligence to identify high-demand products that aren’t being sold by Amazon.
- Finding Distributors: Source reputable wholesalers through platforms like Alibaba or directly contacting brand distributors. Build strong supplier relationships for consistent stock and competitive pricing.
- Listing and Compliance: Create or optimize Amazon listings, ensuring compliance with platform guidelines, especially for regulated categories.
- Shipping and Fulfillment: Utilize FBA to streamline logistics, improve Buy Box chances, and enhance customer service.
Benefits and Drawbacks
Wholesaling on Amazon offers several key benefits, making it an attractive option for sellers. By selling established brands with proven demand, there’s less risk involved compared to launching a new brand from scratch. It also allows for a quicker setup since you don’t need to manufacture or design your own products. Additionally, wholesaling can be scaled relatively easily if you have reliable suppliers and sufficient capital, enabling sellers to expand their product offerings and increase profits over time.
However, there are also challenges to consider. Competition can be intense, especially when vying for the Buy Box, leading to pricing wars and fluctuating margins. Wholesaling requires a significant upfront investment to buy products in bulk, which may be a barrier for some. Furthermore, maintaining strong supplier relationships is crucial—any disruptions, like stock shortages or price hikes, can negatively impact your business.
4. Start Dropshipping on Amazon
What Is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping on Amazon is a business model where you sell products without holding inventory. Instead, when a customer places an order, the supplier ships the product directly to them. This eliminates the need for warehousing and upfront inventory costs, making it an attractive option for sellers looking to start with minimal investment.
Steps To Dropshipping
- Product Research: Dropship sellers must conduct thorough product research to find high-demand, low-competition items.
- Partnering with Suppliers: Next, they must partner with reliable suppliers who can handle shipping and meet Amazon’s standards.
- Managing Listings and Customer Service: Properly managing listings and customer service is crucial, as maintaining a good seller rating depends on product quality and fast delivery.
Pros and Cons
While dropshipping offers low overhead and easy setup, it has its challenges. Profit margins are typically thin due to the supplier’s cut, and sellers have little direct control over product quality or shipping times. Managing customer expectations and handling returns can also become complicated, especially when relying on third-party suppliers.
While dropshipping has become one of the more popular Amazon business models due to its low cost, low maintenance structure, lack of control over products and shipping, and relatively low profit margins, its appeal is often matched by drawbacks. However, if you can find the perfect dropshipping opportunity, it can be a low-effort, high-opportunity endeavor.
5. Author Your Amazon Success Story With Kindle Direct Publishing
What Is Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)?
Once upon a time, getting published was an elusive dream for aspiring writers. Now, Kindle Direct Publishing allows anyone to self-publish written works for free on Amazon. Amazon famously began as an online bookstore. Since then, it’s continued to look for ways to revolutionize bookstores.
With KDP, you can bypass traditional publishing gatekeepers and bring your literary creations to market quickly and efficiently. This self-publishing service allows you to upload your books in digital (e-book) and print formats, setting your own prices and earning up to 70% of royalties. Whether a seasoned author or a first-time writer, KDP democratizes the publishing process, giving you total creative control over your work.
Steps To Publishing on KDP
- Writing: Polish your manuscript and format it for Kindle. Amazon provides free templates to ensure your work meets its publishing standards.
- Publishing: Upload your book, choose pricing and royalty options, and publish it on Amazon’s Kindle store.
- Marketing: Promote your book using social media, blogs, or Amazon’s advertising services to drive sales and gather reviews.
Benefits and Considerations
KDP allows you to publish quickly and reach a global audience with minimal costs compared to traditional publishing standards. However, success depends heavily on your marketing efforts and ability to produce high-quality content. The competition is fierce and generating buzz for a book and reaching an audience of readers can be difficult, so standing out will require an effective marketing plan and consistent engagement with your readers.
6. Show Off Your Design Skills With Merch by Amazon
What Is Merch by Amazon?
Merch by Amazon is a print-on-demand service that allows you to create and sell custom t-shirts and other merchandise without upfront costs.
How To Get Started With Merch by Amazon
- Application Process: Apply for an account on Merch by Amazon and wait for approval.
- Designing and Uploading: Create unique designs and upload them to Amazon. You can choose the product types, colors, and pricing.
- Managing Sales: Amazon handles production, shipping, and customer service while you earn royalties on every sale.
Advantages and Challenges
Merch by Amazon is perfect for creative individuals looking to monetize their design skills without any upfront costs or inventory. However, with thousands of designers on the platform, competition can be stiff. Success relies on creating compelling, unique designs that resonate with an audience.
7. Flex Your Marketing Muscle With Amazon Associates
What Is Amazon Associates?
Ever wished you could earn money by recommending products you love? Amazon Associates is Amazon’s affiliate marketing program, allowing you to earn commissions by promoting Amazon products on your website, blog, or social media. As an affiliate, you link to products, and when someone purchases through your referral, you earn a percentage of the sale.
How To Get Started With Amazon Associates
- Signing Up: Create an account on Amazon Associates, get approval, and start promoting products immediately.
- Creating Content: Write reviews, blogs, or guides with affiliate links to Amazon products. The more relevant and useful your content, the higher the chances of earning commissions.
- Earning Commissions: Promote your content through SEO, social media, or email marketing. Amazon tracks clicks and sales, paying you a percentage of each referral.
Pros and Cons
Affiliate marketing requires minimal investment, making it a great side income. However, you need consistent traffic to generate significant revenue, and commissions can be relatively low compared to other income streams.
8. Monetize Your Following With the Amazon Influencer Program
What Is the Amazon Influencer Program?
The Amazon Influencer Program allows content creators to build their own Amazon storefront and earn commissions by recommending products to their followers. It’s similar to Amazon Associates but specifically designed for influencers with large social media followings.
Steps To Monetizing With the Influencer Program
- Application Process: Apply with your social media accounts. Approval depends on your follower count and engagement.
- Creating a Storefront: Curate a personalized storefront with your recommended Amazon products. Share your store link on social media to drive traffic.
- Earning Commissions: Like the Associates program, you earn commissions on any purchases made through your storefront.
Benefits and Drawbacks
The Influencer Program offers a simple, streamlined way for influencers to monetize their followers. However, you’ll need a significant and engaged audience for substantial earnings.
9. Be A Part of Amazon’s Fulfillment Process
Working With Amazon’s Fulfillment Network
Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program allows third-party sellers to store products in Amazon’s warehouses. When an order is placed, Amazon handles the packaging, shipping, and customer service. For those looking to be part of the fulfillment process, Amazon also hires laborers to help with its logistics.
How To Get Started
- Finding Jobs: Amazon offers warehouse, delivery, and managerial roles within its fulfillment centers. Apply through Amazon’s job portal for full-time or part-time positions.
- Understanding Roles: Amazon’s fulfillment network offers a range of jobs, from entry-level warehouse workers to logistics managers, with opportunities for growth.
Pros and Cons
Unlike most retail businesses that open and close daily, Amazon is open 24/7, allowing for flexible scheduling for warehouse workers and delivery drivers. Whether looking for full-time or part-time work during the day or night, there’s a shift for you at Amazon. While most of the other jobs are a little more unconventional, being a part of Amazon’s logistics team provides a more traditional way to earn money for your time.
While many will look for how to make money selling on Amazon or generating passive income on Amazon, there’s nothing wrong with a good, old-fashioned shift to build up your bank account. You could even use money made from shifts at Amazon to fund your personal startup capital and parlay your shifts worked into one of these other opportunities!
10. Craft A Worldwide Business with Amazon Handmade
What Is Amazon Handmade?
Amazon Handmade is a platform for artisans to sell unique, handcrafted products. For business owners selling do-it-yourself crafts on Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, or Shopify, maintaining a presence on these platforms can pay off exponentially.
How To Start Selling on Amazon Handmade
- Setting Up Your Shop: Apply to sell on Amazon Handmade and create your storefront.
- Marketing Your Products: Use high-quality images and storytelling to attract customers.
- Managing Orders and Customer Service: Handle order fulfillment and customer inquiries.
Advantages and Challenges
Amazon Handmade offers access to a global audience, but competition is fierce, and pricing needs to reflect the handmade nature of your products. However, Amazon shoppers generally shop for low prices, so getting customers to pay for the time and effort of artisanal products can be a heavy burden. Because of this, Amazon Handmade can be a handy way to expand your audience in addition to an existing way of selling your handmade goods.
11. Publish and Sell Audiobooks With ACX
What Is ACX?
The Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) is a platform that connects authors with narrators to produce and distribute audiobooks on Amazon and Audible. Once your audiobook is created, it’s distributed on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes, giving you access to a massive audience of audiobook listeners.
How To Get Started With ACX
- Creating or Converting a Book: Write or adapt an existing book into an audiobook format. You can choose to narrate your own book or hire a professional narrator through ACX.
- Partnering with Narrators: Use ACX to find a suitable narrator or voice actor if you choose not to record yourself. ACX offers options for royalty-sharing deals, minimizing upfront costs.
- Publishing: After recording, edit the audiobook, then upload it to ACX for distribution. Set your royalty preferences and get your audiobook published across multiple platforms.
Pros and Cons
Audiobooks are growing in popularity, and ACX provides an accessible way to tap into this trend. You can expand your readership by offering an alternative format for your work. However, audiobook production can be costly if you hire a professional narrator, and mastering the technical aspects of audio production might require additional skills or investment.
12. Level Up Your Income Through Streaming on Twitch
Twitch is an Amazon-owned live-streaming platform, primarily focused on gaming, where content creators broadcast their gameplay or other creative content to a live audience. With millions of active users, Twitch offers streamers a chance to build a loyal following, engage with viewers in real time, and monetize their content through various revenue streams. Since Amazon purchased Twitch in 2014, it’s been integrated more into the Amazon universe with free and discounted subscriptions for Prime members and with advertisements for Amazon products shown during streams.
Streamers broadcast live content, which viewers can watch and interact with through chat. As a Twitch streamer, you can earn money through Twitch’s Affiliate or Partner programs, which allow you to monetize through subscriptions, donations (bits), ad revenue, and sponsorships. Twitch’s model heavily relies on community engagement, so building a dedicated audience is key to earning more.
How To Get Started
Set Up Your Channel: Create an account on Twitch, customize your profile, and set up your streaming software.
Choose Your Niche: Decide what type of content you’ll stream, whether it’s gaming, music, or just chatting. Narrowing your niche can help attract a targeted audience.
Invest in Streaming Equipment: At the very least, you’ll need a good microphone, webcam, and stable internet connection. Quality equipment helps create a more professional-looking stream, which can lead to faster growth.
Build Your Audience: Consistency is key. Regular streaming schedules, engaging content, and interaction with viewers through chat can help you grow your following over time. Promoting your stream on social media is also crucial for visibility.
Join the Twitch Affiliate Program: Once you reach 50 followers and stream for at least 8 hours across seven days in a 30-day period, you can apply for Twitch’s Affiliate program, which opens the door to earning money on Amazon through subscriptions.
Pros and Cons
If you enjoy video games, podcasting, or creating videos, Twitch can be a great way to monetize your hobby. Setting up an account is relatively easy and affordable, especially if you already own the equipment, such as a gaming system and recording devices. Twitch streaming is a fun, interactive way to earn money, especially for those passionate about content creation and gaming. However, you’ll need persistence, patience, and a commitment to growing your audience to turn it into a reliable income stream.
13. Sell Customized Products With Amazon Custom
What Is Amazon Custom?
Amazon Custom is a program that allows sellers to offer customizable products to customers. With Amazon Custom, buyers can personalize items by adding text, images, or selecting specific design options. This is particularly popular for products like engraved jewelry, personalized clothing, and custom-printed items, allowing sellers to offer unique, one-of-a-kind products that appeal to individual tastes.
How To Get Started With Amazon Custom
Register as an Amazon Seller: Before listing custom products, you must create a Professional Seller account on Amazon if you don’t already have one.
Enable Amazon Custom: After setting up your seller account, enroll in the Amazon Custom program through Seller Central. You can list products with customizable features, such as text, images, and product configurations like materials, colors, etc.
Choose Products to Customize: Pick products that lend themselves well to personalization, like clothing, accessories, or home goods. These are often popular for gifts or personal use.
Set Up Customization Options: Use Amazon’s customization tool to allow customers to personalize your product. You can offer options for text engraving, monograms, or even image uploads, depending on your product.
List and Market Your Products: Create a captivating product listing with high-quality images, clear descriptions, and an emphasis on unique customization features. Consider leveraging Amazon PPC advertising to target customers looking for personalized items.
Selling on Amazon Custom is an excellent opportunity for sellers who want to tap into the growing demand for personalized products. While there are challenges related to production time and complexity, the ability to stand out in a competitive marketplace and command higher prices makes it a compelling business model.
Benefits and Challenges
Amazon Custom items can often be sold at a premium due to the personalized nature of the products, which can be seen as a benefit and a challenge. Handling customizable products generally presents more margin for error and mistakes while being harder to scale as each item requires personalization, making it more difficult to scale.
14. Offer Professional Services on Amazon
What Is Amazon Home Services?
Amazon Home Services allows professionals to offer in-home services, such as cleaning, home repairs, installation, and more, through the Amazon platform. Like a mixture of Angie’s List and Best Buy’s Geek Squad, Amazon Professional Services connects people looking for home services with local professionals who can get the job done.
If you’re good with your hands or have a specific skill, such as assembling or installing home goods, this can be a great way to profit off of Amazon’s gargantuan customer base.
How to Offer These Services
- Apply for Amazon Home Services: Create an Amazon seller account and apply to list your services on the platform. You will need to meet Amazon’s requirements, which include background checks and proof of expertise.
- Set Up Service Listings: Create detailed listings for your services, such as appliance repair, home cleaning, or furniture assembly. Make sure your descriptions are clear, pricing is competitive, and services are easy to book.
- Fulfill Orders: Once a customer books your service, complete the job to their satisfaction. Positive reviews and ratings will help build your credibility and attract more clients.
Pros and Cons
Offering services through Amazon gives professionals access to a massive audience of homeowners needing help. The platform’s trust factor can make it easier to win new clients. However, Amazon takes a percentage of each transaction, and you must maintain high standards to avoid negative reviews, which can impact your visibility and success on the platform.
Final Thoughts on How You Can Make Money Through Amazon
As you can see, Amazon’s massive marketplace provides numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs to earn income even from the comfort of their own home. Whether you’re interested in selling products, offering services, or creating content, there’s a pathway for you on Amazon.
Each method of making money off Amazon comes with its own set of challenges and rewards, but with the right strategy and tools, you can carve out your niche in this global marketplace. Ultimately, the choice is yours to identify the right opportunity for you, given your preferences, resources, and goals. Once you’ve decided upon which to pursue, implementing the most optimal strategies will put you in the perfect position for success.
For anyone who could use some extra money, don’t miss out on these ways to generate revenue on Amazon and Amazon side hustle opportunities! Looking to get started? Check out Viral Launch’s comprehensive resources, like our guide on how to start selling on Amazon in eight simple steps, to help you start a thriving Amazon business—from finding the right products to Amazon seller tips to mastering marketing strategies.
