My first arbitrage sale on Amazon changed my life. I'll never forget that feeling. It was such a small amount of money but it was so powerful. It gave me the confidence that what I was doing could work.
Flash forward nearly 10 years down the road and here I am, feeling the same way about the Amazon influencer program.
In this article, I want to explain why these two opportunities have more overlap than it might seem on the surface.
But first, let me explain what the Amazon influencer program is.
What Is the Amazon Influencer Program?
The Amazon Influencer Program is a new spin on the original Amazon Associates program.
The program's goal is to get influencers to drive conversion rates. Before, this was limited to things they did off of Amazon. We made money by creating our own traffic and then sending our audience to Amazon to hopefully purchase something.
But now, Amazon is putting the content that influencer program members create right on their product pages AND paying commissions when people watch the videos immediately before buying.
This new opportunity is called "onsite commissions" and it is an absolute game changer.
You're basically recording 45-90 second long videos showcasing products that are listed on Amazon that you have access to and getting paid for it.
Does this make sense so far?
Are you seeing how cool this is?
You've seen these videos all over the place to, you just might not have noticed. They're those videos that show up on a product listing page that say "earns commissions" on the bottom of them.
There is much more to the program than that, but I need to get on with this. Be sure to go read my blog post here for a much deeper explanation of the Amazon influencer program.
What Does This Have to Do with Amazon Arbitrage?
Arbitrage sellers can add the influencer program to their workflow to earn extra money and make sourcing decisions easier.
It's a new income stream and a new dimension of product sourcing.
Here's why it's such an awesome fit for Amazon sellers, especially arbitrage and wholesalers.
#1 Review Your Returns or "Death Piles"
Most Amazon influencers have a limit of the products they can get their hands on. Even if you review every item in your house (which is how most people start) you will notice you're hitting a wall at about 200 items.
Amazon sellers on the other hand, have an unfair access to products. They're buying things and getting returns constantly. Some returns that aren't sellable are perfect for reviewing on Amazon.
If you have 100s or 1000s of ASINs, you've been granted a cheat code.
#2 Your Knowledge of Amazon Gives You an Edge
Amazon sellers know things about the marketplace that the average person doesn't.
They understand returns, sales rank, seasonality, conversion rates etc. Also, we're used to using tools for sourcing and analyzing leads.
Just like Tactical Arbitrage, Keepa and BuyBotPro help sellers make buying decisions, there are tools for Amazon influencers to see which items have high earning potential.
Using a tool like Fluencer Fruit will show you which products can earn you big commissions and have low competition.
#3 Get More from Your Sourcing
If you know that you can review an item and quickly earn commissions, you can get more creative with what you buy and how many of them you purchase.
Let's say an item makes you $4 per unit with 35% profit margins.
That's decent, but what if you can make $16/month in commissions from reviewing it?
This isn't unheard of either, in fact, deals like this are literally everywhere.
Oh, and you don't have to keep buying it and restocking it to make sales. You get paid as long as your video review is up!
Some Amazon influencers actually buy products just to review them because they know which ones can earn them a profit. You have that opportunity plus your ability to resell items (just not the exact unit that you review).
Is This Against the TOS?
Amazon sellers can absolutely be a part of both programs (Amazon FBA and the Amazon affiliate program).
The things that get people in trouble are buying items on Amazon to review and returning them. Also, opening items to review and then listing them on Amazon as new will get you in trouble sooner or later. Don't do it.
How Do I Get Started
Again, go read my article here that explains the process more thoroughly. The good and the bad are outlined there.
Next, if you want to get serious about it, check out my program AIP Insiders. It's an incubator for aspiring Amazon influencers and it's currently open to new members.