- Why is there a deduction for personal use of the program?
- What items qualify for commission income, and how are the commissions calculated?
- How much do I earn for generating sales through my links?
- How long do visitors have to add an item to their Shopping Cart after clicking on one of my Amazon.com links until I no longer earn commission income on their purchase?
- Why do I have a negative account balance?
- What happens when I generate qualifying purchases on products or games in "Pre-Order" status?
Why is there a deduction for personal use of the program?
We do not pay referral commissions for products you purchase through your own links. This includes orders for customers, orders on behalf of customers, and orders for products to be used by you, your friends, your relatives, or your associates in any manner. Due to the proprietary nature of the way we determine if the order was personal, we can't share the full list of criteria by which we detect these ineligible orders.
The reason behind this is that the Amazon.com Associates Program is an advertising program rather than a discount program. Our goal is to have our associates refer new customers to us in return for commission income. Associates are not eligible for commission income when they place orders themselves, or ask people they know to routinely place orders through their links so they can earn commission income. (Refer to the Operating Agreement Section 7 for more details.)