Amazon Is Doubling Commissions for Influencers During Prime Day

Ahead of Prime Day, Amazon is dangling high commission rates for sales driven by influencers.

Amazon is offering higher commissions—up to double—for influencers from July 1 through July 20, according to a communication sent via Amazon Associates, Amazon’s affiliate program that pays influencers for driving sales from links. Influencers earn a percentage of each sale when consumers purchase products through unique links.

The commission bump coincides with Amazon extending Prime Day from two to four days, which can be a significant revenue opportunity for influencers.

Higher rates apply to 13 product categories like jewelry, beauty, kitchen and dining, and home goods, according to a page on Amazon’s website for the influencer program. Commissions for beauty and grooming, business and industrial supplies, and power and hand tools have doubled from 3% to 6%. Commission rates for jewelry have also doubled from 4% to 8%. Rates for other categories like premium beauty products have increased from 10% to 12.5%, and toys and games have increased commission rates from 3% to 5% during the time period.

“Amazon offers a variety of creator incentives during and around Prime Day, as well as during other key shopping moments throughout the year,” said an Amazon spokesperson. “Some of these incentives include increases on the standard rate card, bounties, and gift cards. Creators work hard in the lead-up to Prime Day, and these are just some of the ways we can reward their commitment.”

Prime Day boom

The increased commission is welcomed by influencers. Amazon-specific influencers build an audience by curating their favorite products from the retailer year-round. When it comes time for Prime Day, influencers earn big from recommendations that their audiences turn to them for.

“My audience trusts the products that I recommend, so being able to receive a higher commission is great,” Lonni Smith, an Amazon-focused influencer, told ADWEEK. July, anchored by Prime Day, is typically her highest-earning month.

Creators can also boost earnings through Amazon Creator Connections, a separate program linking creators with brands.

Even creators who don’t base their content and earnings around affiliate links are incentivized to post more for July’s Prime Day. For example, Kellyn McMullan tends to only drive her audience to her Amazon storefront if someone asks where she bought an item in one of her TikTok videos in a comment. The only time she creates Amazon-specific content is around Prime Day. 

McMullan says she makes 10 times what she normally does on her Amazon storefront during Prime Day.

“I have a full-time job, so it’s a lot of extra work for someone who’s not a full-time creator,” McMullan told ADWEEK. “But when the commission is higher, I do get motivated.”

In one example, McMullan said Amazon may offer a 20% commission, and brands can offer an additional 10% to 15% commission for promoting specific products. As long as the items are high quality, McMullan said that the stacked commission rates make it appealing to use the program.

Madison Weaver, co-founder and CMO of influencer marketing firm The Creator Society, said that Amazon’s increase in commissions bucks the industry trend of retailers cutting commission rates.

“Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen brands like Amazon step back their commissions and bonus programs which has been defeating to a lot of creators—it’s encouraging to see a commission increase,” she said.

Giving influencers more creativity

The extension of Prime Day from two to four days gives creators more freedom to post a variety of products. When Prime Day was just two days long, influencers felt rushed to post as many products as possible, creator Frankie Tevares told ADWEEK.

“Prime Day is such a blur of influencers trying to get as many products out there,” said Tevares, who focuses on fashion and beauty content. “We promote so many products throughout the year that it’s impossible to show our audience everything that’s on sale.”

Tevares plans to post fashion links on the first day of Prime Day, home links on the second day, beauty links on the third day, and a wrap up on the final day. McMullan and Smith are utilizing similar strategies. 

The longer Prime Day also allows creators to incorporate unboxing videos into their content strategy. McMullan said that she plans to make unboxing videos about the products that she buys during Prime Day.

“Prime shipping is so fast that you still have time to film an unboxing—and people love an unboxing,” McMullan said. “You can buy a product [on] day one, tell your audience you’re buying it, and then day two or three is when you film the unboxing, and they still have a day to purchase it.”

The Creator Society’s Weaver is advising creators to stay true to what their audience is interested in and that they know sells well. 

“Just because a sale is on doesn’t mean you need to share it,” she said.