Amazon Affiliate Orders But No Earnings: Why Is That And How To Solve Them?

As a blog or website owner, you look for several ways or methods you can take part in to generate income. There are a lot of ways you can venture in to monetize your sites with Amazon affiliates being the most common way of all. Amazon affiliate, also known as Amazon Associates is a platform where you create links for Amazon related products and earn referral fees when a customer purchases a product through your link. Referral links are often to a single product, a search result page, the Amazon homepage and any other pages related to Amazon. This affiliate method by Amazon is always the first choice when you think of monetizing your blog because It is a simple way to make money while doing something you love. But what happens when you get Amazon affiliate orders but no earning?

You are not receiving your earnings from your affiliate orders because the orders made have not been shipped to the buyer. The earnings or commissions you receive through a purchase with your referral link can only reflect on your Amazon affiliate account when the items bought have been dispatched. The shipping may proceed immediately or some days or weeks after but as long as they are shipped you will earn.

As a blog or website owner that makes use of the Amazon affiliations, it’s likely you experience Amazon affiliate orders but no earnings. In situations like that, it could become a hassle trying to figure out why you’re not getting your commissions from the orders made through your link, especially as a newbie. There are several methods to solve this particular problem. If you’re currently reading this article, then you’re facing a similar challenge or have faced it before and want to know more about it. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In the rest of this article, we will be listing out several common reasons as to why you’re experiencing this difficulty and how to solve them. Let’s get right into it!

Why my Amazon associates account shows ordered items but no earnings

There are a number of reasons why your associates account shows ordered items but no earnings. It can be a little frustrating when things are not going as you want especially with the issue of money. When we are dealing with money, we become serious and determined; it’s only normal. As long as you’re complying with all terms and conditions as an Amazon associate you are bound to receive earnings but just in case you have slight issues and not receiving payments, we have listed some of the reasons you are not getting your earnings and how to solve them below.

1. No reports of the canceled order

Canceled orders are one of the major reasons you’re not getting your Amazon affiliate earnings. Normally, when a customer orders a product via your affiliate link, the order automatically shows and your earnings are displayed after the order has been shipped. In this case, the customer may have a change of mind and cancel his/her order before shipping, therefore, leaving you with no earnings/commissions. It is challenging to know if canceled orders are the reason for no earnings because as an Amazon associate, you don’t get notified when an order has been canceled. To solve this issue, the ideal action to take is to contact Amazon customer care and confirm if this is the reason for no commissions or other reasons.

2. Invalid Credit Card information

In some cases, inputting the wrong credit card details can be the reason for your Amazon affiliate orders but no earnings. In this case, you probably wonder how you got your own details wrong but we all make mistakes, and sometimes these mistakes could cost us a lot. But not to worry there’s always a solution to everything; this included. To solve this problem and also prevent it from occurring in the future: 

• Go to the payments section and look for where you inputted your credit card information.
• Check if your details are properly typed (your first and last name, card number/account number, and expiry date)
• If not, then you ensure that you re-input the correct information so your earnings can be displayed on your order report.

Invalid credit card information is hardly the case. But it is always a great place to start. we are humans and not above mistakes. 

3. Item ineligible for commissions/earnings

A major reason you might be getting a lot of affiliate orders but no earnings is because the item or product you have created a link for is ineligible for commissions. Not all items displayed or sold on Amazon are eligible for earnings via affiliate links. Digital products are the major products that are not given eligibility for commissions and this is because these products can’t be shipped but simply downloaded to your device. Examples of some of these digital products are

• Kindle products (kindle books, magazines, blogs, newspapers, or newsfeeds)
•  eDocs
• Amazon software downloads
• Amazon MP3
• Game downloads and Amazon videos.

Amazon has listed a complete table that shows Amazon’s commission rate based on categories. Go for the category with a better commission rate. If you have created referral links for digital products then you’re likely not to be getting earnings from each order. To avoid this, ensure that all affiliate links are created for products that can be ordered and shipped to the customer’s residence. Only then can you gain your commissions. Sometimes, errors like this can be inevitable because you are not aware of the kinds of items qualified to give you commissions, especially among the newcomers. Over time, as you correct these errors you get the hang of it and earn a lot of commissions. 

4. Placement of personal orders

The purchase of items through personal referral links is a common mistake made therefore you don’t get any earnings. The aim of Amazon for providing affiliate business with them is to give you a commission when you refer customers that are unrelated to you. A lot of blog and website owners tend to constantly make this mistake by purchasing items from their own affiliate links, Amazon accounts, through personal computer logins, or any other ways tagged by Amazon that the order was made by them.

When you do this, Amazon doesn’t count it therefore not giving you any earnings.  Also, if family members purchase from your affiliate link, it will be counted as an order but it might not be counted as commission worthy by Amazon. 

It is recommended that the reach of potential customers you get should have no pre-existing relationship with you whatsoever. So, take note; the more purchases made by new or unrelated customers, the more earnings you get, and the more purchases made by family members and friends, the fewer earnings you receive.

How do I increase affiliate earnings?

When it comes to earnings and commissions, we are all alert and attentive. We are ready to take the extra mile when it comes to our finances. The same goes for bloggers and website owners with Amazon affiliations. They look for different strategies that can be used to bring an increase to their Amazon affiliate earnings. The list is countless as there are several ways to boost your earnings. Not to worry, we have listed below some of the most important ways used by affiliate earners to bring about positive results and an increase in their earnings.

The list goes as follows:

• Create Awesome Content: Creating better content will help you generate more traffic. If you provide value to the readers, they will surely buy products via your link. Stay trusted with the reader and tell all the pros and cons of the product so that users can make a better decision.
• Use Attractive Images: Attractive images increase the chances of sales. You can take the product images from Amazon and make them attractive using tools. Make sure to use non-copyrighted images. Many free tools are available such as Canva, to produce eye-catching images. These images will make your content more appealing to the reader.
• Include Call-to-action: You can increase the response rate of users by adding call-to-action. Use attractive terms in call-to-action for better results.
• Use Comparison Charts: Comparison charts will let users how to make a quick decision regarding all the products. Make a comparison table and compare the vital features of all the products.
• Add in-content Links: The links present within the content are the in-content links. These links can also help you generate sales. Do not include a lot of links in your content. Only add the link whenever necessary because adding too many links may impact the user experience. 
• Keyword strategy: Have an effective keyword strategy, read our article about it.
• Shopping guide: Offer a Shopping guide for related Amazon products is a good way to increase your earnings.
• Bestseller’s list: Create a bestseller’s list.

Once you’ve followed through the list above, all you need to do is sit back, relax, and watch your earnings increase.