Your Amazon Kindle Affiliate Earnings Just Crashed

Did your Amazon Kindle earnings crash? Why are Amazon  Kindle affiliates removing Kindle Ads on websites and blogs? Why did you see lots of Amazon Kindle banner ads across the web earlier? The simple reason was Amazon Kindle sales program offered a higher affiliate commission at fixed rate of 10% which has now been reduced to a general 4% rate!

Kindle is an amazing wireless ebook reader and often proclaimed as the #1 bestselling, most-gifted, and most wished-for product at Amazon.com, and surely a lot of this was driven by thousands of Kindle banners scattered across websites.

Regular QOT visitors might have noticed the Amazon Kindle banners prominently displayed on our site for many months, and we did earn some good affiliate sales from those banners. It was because Amazon Kindle affiliate sales earned the huge commission of 10% per sale! This was much more than the general 4% commission earned for most other products.

This is what our earnings looked like per referred sale – a huge $25.90 per Kindle sold through our banner.

kindle sale earnings

Lower Amazon Kindle Advertising Fee Rates

But now Amazon reduced the affiliate commission for the products to its general rates

Also effective May 1, 2010, Kindle devices have a new advertising fee. Kindle devices will be included in the “General Products” category and are eligible for 4 to 8.5% in advertising fees depending on the number of qualifying products you refer. Kindle newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other subscriptions will also be included in the “General Products” category.

If you look at the current advertising fee structure of Amazon sales,  most products would earn a commission of 4% but if you can push sales you can earn as much as 8.5%, but that is not easy.

Amazon performance rates

Then there are the high affiliate commission at fixed advertising fee rates for select products of which Amazon Kindle used to be once a part. Now though Amazon MP3 and Amazon video on demand can earn you 10% commissions, but since they are cheaper, the commissions are also low per sale. Of course you can get 15% with Endless, but thats for a selected niche of shoes and accessories.

Amazon fixed rates

So undoubtedly webmasters saw the Kindle might not be worth promoting and started removing affiliate banners.

Earn Money Selling Kindle books

But the interesting thing which has happened is that now Amazon affiliates can earn advertising fees on Kindle books. If you check our earnings screenshot above, we were earning nothing for Kindle ebook sales earlier. But now with over 500,000 books, this is a new opportunity for Amazon affiliates to make money online. Check our recent sales report.

Kindle ebook sales earnings

We are earning 6% rate rather than 4% because the Kindle ebooks sold raised our fee rates!

Though our commission for Kindle sales have dropped, referral sales of Kindle ebooks seems like a good deal. Since it is easier to sell Kindle ebooks than a Kindle, which are much cheaper, you can easily push sales, raise your volumes and  raise your fee rates, so that your total earnings might actually rise!!!

Are you removing your Kindle banner, or promoting it more aggressively now?

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About the Author: P Chandra is editor of QOT, one of India's earliest tech bloggers since 2004. A tech enthusiast with expertise in coding, WordPress, web tools, SEO and DIY hacks.