How to support AAR via Amazon
Recently we ran into yet another problem with our affiliate links at Amazon, our main source of income. In the process of solving that problem, I got ACTUAL FACTS from Amazon about how to make sure that purchases you buy from Amazon support AAR. Here’s what they said:
Please note that your Associate links need to be embedded into your website or social media platform in order for any clicks to start a session window for qualifying referral fees. This includes clicks from mobile devices when opened in the device browser. Associate links can only be used on approved websites and are not permitted to be used in e-mails, newsletters, messenger apps, or in any other manner where they can be saved offline. You may earn an advertising fee for any qualifying items placed in a customer’s shopping cart during a 24-hour session window. This window begins at the time a visitor clicks through your Associates link. However, the session window will close if the customer submits their order or reenters Amazon.com through another Associate’s link. Once the session expires, any additional purchases will not earn advertising fees for your Associates account. If the customer returns to Amazon.com through your Associates link, this will generate a new session window. As long as the item was added to the shopping cart during the session window, you’ll earn advertising fees on this item even if the actual order is placed several weeks later.
For Example: Let’s say one of your customers clicks on a book on your site but they decide not to buy the book, and decide to buy a pair of shoes instead. As long as your customer did not leave Amazon.com after the first initial click from your site, you will receive an advertising fee for the pair of shoes purchased within that shopping session.
Got that? In order to support AAR, you must click through to Amazon FROM OUR SITE and purchase whatever it is you’re buying IN THAT SESSION. You can leave your window open for up to 24 hours, but even if you put something in the cart and then leave Amazon and then come back and buy the product, we will not get credit.
As I’ve said six hundred million times, AAR earns, on average 4 cents on every dollar you spend. Books are so inexpensive that they really aren’t what sustains us. For example, yesterday readers bought 24 copies of After Dark with the Duke and we made $1.90. Besides Long’s book, our readers bought $199.00 worth of goods, including books, and we earned $7.68. (Amazon’s earning rates vary–on food items, we make 1 cent for every dollar.) Over the last month, we’ve brought in $390.12 on sales of $11,700.73. Our biggest single earner? A nail dipping kit that garnered us $4.19.
That’s where we are and how it works! Thank you for your support.
Do you get more for hardbacks than for eBooks? If the eBook is $14.99 and the hardback is around $26.99 but discounted to around $18.99 (or less), then I might as well buy the hardback…
If you had a Patreon (maybe you do and I don’t know?), I wonder if that might increase donations. That’s an easy set it for x per month and forget it. I, personally am not a fan of PayPal, so it’s a mental hurdle to have to use it.
I’m the same way, and I think Patreon is a great thing to consider. It wouldn’t mean putting the website behind a paywall but you could set up a discord for discussions and maybe offer some other benefits for patrons.
Yes! I don’t even need extra content (but won’t say no to it), just a lazy way to set and forget lol.
I just can’t do anything that requires a lot more work on my part! We looked at Patreon several years ago and there were lots of steps. Maybe it’s changed?
It’s become very popular and a lot of creators are turning to Discord for private discussions and to be able to post NSFW content.
The thing with Discord – which I’ve used occasionally – is that IMO, it can be quite confusing for newbies to use. I’ve been around it a little bit and I STILL don’t really know what I’m doing; I mostly follow narrators who live-stream, which means there’s a specific time to ‘gather’ there. Another channel I follow/belong to seems to just be a case of people log on and chat to whoever’s there at the time in whatever ‘room’ they’re in (book chat, general discussions etc.) Again fine, but not something I personally have the time for. (Being in a different time zone to so many of the other people on there probably doesn’t help, but there’s not much I can do about that!)
I know people who use it a lot and love it, but – and I’m speaking purely personally and not with my AAR hat on – I just don’t have the time to figure it out, or just pop in and out randomly. It’s not a platform that really appeals to me – but then I’m not a big SM person anyway, so maybe it’s just me.
Why do you prefer Patreon to PayPal? Patreon is more expensive for creators to use for donations over 5.00.
100% just what I’m used to. But you’ve lit a fire under me and I’m getting set up on PayPal for a recurring donation. Ah, the things we do for romance. ;) In all seriousness, I really do appreciate this site.
I will no longer use Paypal for buying certain things like ordering food online after they messed up a payment and I was out some money. (It had to do with the tip. I basically ended up tipping twice. At least the right people got the extra money.) But I use it to transfer money to my kids when needed, and I really like it for recurring charitable giving. It’s easy to set up and easy to cancel.
I use it for everything. They actually have superb customer service and work hard to make their platform work for small businesses. I use Venmo with my kids!
Here are the things we’ve earned the most commission on in the last day.
Have you been able to check, whether you do get money from other Amazon sites, provided the session originally started with your affiliate link. Did you for example receive money from Amazon.de in the last months?
Because the explanation above talks only about amazon.com.
I think Amazon limits the countries it works with.
It looks like the countries it works with are these:
Sink or swim, huh?
How many AAR readers donate? Bet it’s less than the ones who occasionally buy. I guess that’s the future for the site if the numbers here are the norm.
It’s great you can get money this way, but I also want to encourage people to give a monthly gift as the best way to support AAR. I buy my Amazon stuff through Amazon Smile to support the riding therapy center where I volunteer, so I prefer giving AAR a little money each month directly through Paypal.