Amazon Associates is where most Indian bloggers and creators start with affiliate marketing, because almost every reader already shops on Amazon.in. Here is how to sign up and get started without breaking the rules.
Before you apply
- Have a website, blog, YouTube channel or active social account with some original, helpful content already published.
- Add a privacy page and an affiliate disclosure page or line.
- Keep your PAN and bank details ready for payments and tax.
Step by step
- Go to the Amazon.in Associates site (affiliate-program.amazon.in) and sign in with an Amazon account.
- Enter your account and payee details.
- Add every website and app where you will use links. You can add more later.
- Describe your site, its topics and how you drive traffic.
- Choose your store ID. This becomes your tracking tag.
- Complete the tax and payment details.
- Start creating links with the SiteStripe bar shown at the top of Amazon.in pages when you are signed in.
Getting approved
New accounts are reviewed after you make your first few qualifying sales within a set period. If you don’t, the account may be closed and you can reapply later. Check the current rule on the programme site, as it changes.
Tips: write genuinely useful posts, link only to products that fit, and share your content where your readers already are.
Key rules to know
- Disclose clearly that you earn from qualifying purchases.
- Don’t show Amazon prices unless you use Amazon’s official tools; prices change constantly.
- Don’t use links in offline material such as printed flyers or ebooks, or in private emails.
- Don’t ask friends and family to buy through your links just to qualify.
- Don’t use Amazon’s logos or product images except through allowed tools.
Always read the current operating agreement; it is the final word.
What to do next
Write your first gift guide. Our guide on how to write a gift guide that actually helps walks you through it, and affiliate disclosure rules in India explains how to stay on the right side of ASCI.
This guide is part of our holiday series. For the bigger picture, read Beginner Affiliate Marketing Setup for the Holidays.
