Yes, Amazon Pays Me to Review Products — Here’s How It Actually Works
Disclosure: I participate in the Amazon Influencer Program and may earn commissions from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
One of the questions I get asked all the time when I tell people what I do is:
“Wait…Amazon actually pays you to review products?”
And the answer is yes. 😂
But probably not in the way you’re thinking.
I’m not getting paid by Amazon to sit at home giving five-star reviews to random products. And I’m definitely not spending my days posting Amazon links all over social media.
I’m a mom of five, our kids are constantly going in five different directions, and most days I’m fitting this work into the little pockets of time I can find.
But over time, I’ve built a library of simple product review videos that can continue earning me commissions on Amazon—even when I’m at baseball practice, doing laundry, making dinner, or not working at all.
And when I try to explain how it works to someone who has never heard of the Amazon Influencer Program, I usually get a LOT of questions.
Do you have to have a huge social media following?
Do brands send you the products?
Do you have to buy everything yourself?
Where do your videos even show up?
And how exactly do you make money from them?
So I thought I’d finally put it all in one place.
Not the complicated version.
Just what I actually do, how the Amazon Influencer Program works, and how it has become a small but meaningful source of extra income for our family.
“You don’t have to start with a house full of brand samples or fancy equipment. I literally started with things we already owned.”
First, What Is the Amazon Influencer Program?
The simplest way I can explain it is this:
The Amazon Influencer Program gives creators their own storefront on Amazon where they can share products they recommend and upload content like product videos.
And here’s the part that originally caught my attention.
Eligible videos can also be shown to shoppers on Amazon itself.
That means I’m not necessarily responsible for finding every person who watches one of my videos. Amazon may choose to show eligible content to shoppers who are already browsing products on Amazon.
If my content helps lead to a qualifying purchase, I can earn a commission.
That was the part where I thought…
Wait. So I can make videos about things we already own, upload them to Amazon, and potentially earn commissions from them?
Yep.
And that’s when I decided this was worth trying.
So…What Do I Actually Do?
This is the part that usually surprises people.
When I first started, I didn’t go out and buy a bunch of products to review.
I literally walked around my house. 😂
I looked for things we already owned that were also sold on Amazon.
Kitchen gadgets. Kids’ stuff. Things around our house. Sports gear. Random products we already used and had opinions about.
And here’s something a lot of people don’t realize:
The product didn’t necessarily have to be something I originally purchased from Amazon.
I would find the product on Amazon, make a simple video showing it and talking about our experience with it, and upload that video to my Amazon storefront.
Nothing fancy.
I’m not creating commercials.
I’m trying to answer the questions I would want answered if I were the person thinking about buying it.
What does it actually look like?
How big is it?
How do we use it?
What do I like about it?
Is there anything I’d want someone to know before buying it?
That’s basically it.
“The goal isn’t to convince someone to buy something. It’s to help them decide whether the product is right for them.”
Where Do My Videos Go?
Every approved video I upload can live on my Amazon storefront.
Once eligible for onsite commissions, Amazon may also choose to place creator content elsewhere on Amazon, including relevant product detail pages.
So imagine you’re shopping for a vacuum.
You’ve read the description and looked through the product pictures, but you really want to see what the vacuum looks like in someone’s actual house.
That’s where creator videos can be helpful.
You might see a video from someone showing the vacuum, demonstrating how it works, or talking about their experience with it.
That’s the type of content I’m creating.
Okay…So How Do You Actually Make Money?
This is probably the #1 question I get.
I earn commissions when my content results in qualifying purchases under Amazon’s program.
Amazon doesn’t simply pay me every time someone clicks play on one of my videos. For eligible onsite video content, Amazon has specific requirements around customer engagement and qualifying purchases.
And no—not every video makes money.
Some of my videos have done really well.
Some earn a little here and there.
And some basically sit there doing nothing. 😂
There are absolutely no guarantees.
But when you build up a larger library of helpful videos, those little commissions can start adding up.
That’s what made this so interesting to me.
I wasn’t trading one hour of my time for one hour of pay.
I could spend a few minutes creating a video once, upload it, and that video had the potential to continue earning afterward.
“I loved the idea of doing the work once and giving that work the opportunity to keep earning.”
Do You Need a Huge Social Media Following?
This is usually one of the first concerns I hear.
“But I’m not an influencer.”
And I totally understand that.
The Amazon Influencer Program is designed for qualifying social media creators, so there is an application and qualification process. Amazon describes the program as an extension of its Associates program for qualifying social media influencers.
But please don’t read the word influencer and immediately picture someone with hundreds of thousands of followers, a perfect Instagram feed and a ring light permanently attached to her body. 😂
That wasn’t me.
And the part that appealed to me most was what could happen after I got started.
Do I Have to Post on Social Media All Day?
No—and this is one of my favorite parts.
You certainly can share your Amazon storefront and product recommendations with your audience. That’s one of the things the Influencer Program is designed to allow creators to do.
But my entire strategy doesn’t depend on me constantly posting links to social media.
And as a busy mom of five, that matters to me.
I don’t want to spend my entire day trying to convince people on Instagram to buy things.
I can create helpful product videos, upload them to Amazon, and build my library over time.
That flexibility is a huge reason I’ve stuck with it.
In fact, not having to constantly post on social media is one of the biggest reasons this has worked so well for me. I shared more about how I make extra money with Amazon without posting all day on social media here.
Do I Have to Buy a Bunch of Products?
Definitely not when you’re starting.
This is one of the biggest things I tell people.
Before you start ordering products just so you can make videos about them…
LOOK AROUND YOUR HOUSE.
You would probably be shocked by how many things you already own that are also sold on Amazon.
That’s exactly how I started.
And remember, they don’t necessarily have to be products you purchased from Amazon.
You may already have plenty to work with.
Yep…these are products waiting for me to review. 😂
Do Brands Ever Send You Free Products?
Yes!
But this is something that came later for me.
I definitely didn’t start here.
I started by walking around my house and reviewing things we already owned. Over time, as I’ve created more content and grown my earnings, I’ve been able to scale this into something much bigger.
I’ve now reached Gold status in Amazon’s creator rewards program, which is based on points earned through things like sales performance and content engagement.
I’ve also been able to take advantage of Creator Connections, where I can find brand campaigns, opportunities for increased commissions, and sometimes receive products from brands to create content around.
I’ve even gotten to the point where I research products and sometimes purchase something specifically to review when I believe the earning potential makes sense.
But that’s not where I started.
I started with things we already had around our house — and that’s where I tell other moms to start, too.
But I don’t want you to look at where I am now and think:
“Okay, so I need brands sending me stuff and I need to start buying products.”
You don’t.
I started with things sitting around our house.
That’s why I keep coming back to this:
Start with what you have. Learn as you go. Then decide if you want to grow it into something bigger.
How Much Time Does This Take?
This is another reason it has worked well for me.
I can fit it around our family.
I’m not sitting at a desk from 9–5 doing Amazon reviews.
I can film a few videos when I have time, edit/upload them, and then move on with my day.
Some weeks I do more.
Some weeks life is crazy and I do less.
With five kids, sports, laundry, appointments, school schedules and everything else that comes with running a family of seven, I need something that can flex with our life—not something our life has to revolve around.
And Amazon has given me that.
How Much Money Can You Make?
There isn’t one answer to this.
And I would be very cautious of anyone who makes it sound like there’s a guaranteed amount you’re going to earn.
There isn’t.
Your results can depend on your content, the products you’re reviewing, Amazon’s placement of your content, qualifying purchases and a whole bunch of other factors. Amazon also sets different onsite commission rates for different product categories.
For me, this has become a way to bring extra income into our family while still having the flexibility I need as a mom.
And that’s really what I wanted.
Not another job that required me to be online 24/7.
Something I could build little by little in the pockets of time I already had.
Is It Worth Trying?
For me?
Absolutely.
But I also don’t want to make it sound like I uploaded three videos and woke up the next morning with thousands of dollars in my bank account. 😂
This has taken time.
I’ve uploaded a lot of videos. I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. I’ve made videos that earned well and plenty that didn’t.
And I’m still learning.
But when I think back to where I started—walking around our house looking for products I could make my first videos about—it’s pretty amazing to see what it’s grown into.
If you’re a mom looking for a flexible way to potentially bring in some extra money without adding another traditional job to your already-full plate, this is one option I think is worth learning about.
And if right now you’re thinking…
“Okay, but how in the world do I actually START?”
Don’t worry.
That’s the next part I’ll help you with. 🤍
You don’t have to figure everything out today. Sometimes creating more flexibility for your family starts with simply learning what’s possible.
Want to Keep Reading?
If you’re curious about what this looks like in my real life as a mom of five, I shared more about how I make extra money with Amazon without posting all day on social media.
