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Make money on Amazon with these 3 hidden ways

We take a look at how to make money on Amazon using some lesser-known methods, from selling journals to selling your skills.

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Sandy Kenrick
Sandy is the lead credit cards expert at The Motley Fool Personal Finance and has been writing personal finance articles for just over a decade. Her work has appeared in Bankrate, The Simple Dollar, and I Will Teach You To Be Rich.
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Amazon is like the Mary Poppins’ handbag of earning opportunities. Some time ago, we covered mainstream ways to make money on Amazon. However, it seems like the platform has more to offer. Let’s take a look at three hidden ways you can make money on Amazon.

1. Amazon KDP

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a treasure trove for those who have a knack for self-publishing books. The platform is designed to afford authors the opportunity to put their books up for sale without the hassle of going through a traditional publisher.

What makes Amazon KDP great is that there are a number of categories for authors to choose from. While the usual romance, action, and thriller genres are still there, authors can also opt for non-fiction.

A category that’s quickly gaining traction in the self-publishing world is low-content publishing. This means journals, planners, and calendars. These don’t require a lot of content and are easy to put together with the help of apps such as Book Bolt, Canva and Tangent Templates.

How to get started with Amazon KDP

It’s fairly simple to set up a profile with Amazon. If you’re already an Amazon member through shopping or selling products, you can simply carry on with your existing profile.

    • Login/register: Sign up or sign in to your Amazon profile. Choose the KDP option and complete the information as requested. Note that you will need to add your banking details and tax information in order to finalise the profile.
    • Create: This is the part where you create your book. The KDP site has a wealth of information depending on the type of book you’re looking to sell. Simply work your way through these resources to get the best results.
    • Sell: Once your product is up there and you’re happy to start selling, remember that you also need to focus on marketing. Make sure that you have the right tags and that you’re promoting them on appropriate platforms. Market, market, market!
    • Repeat: Once you’ve got that first book out there, be sure to get the next one ready so that you can create a brand and to increase your chances of sales. If you’re selling journals, expand to different interiors, styles and sizes. If it’s a novel, how about a series?

2. Amazon Mechanical Turk

If you’re a sucker for microtasks and you want to earn some money while you’re at it, you can make money on Amazon with Mechanical Turk (AMT). Similar to services such as Remotasks, you simply go to the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform. Your AMT password is the same as your Amazon password. So all that’s left to do is complete your financial information and get started.

Common tasks include completing surveys, social media and website moderation, and more. The site is designed to break down time-consuming tasks into tiny bites to allow website owners and sellers more freedom to focus on sales. While this is by no means a way to get rich, but it can pay up to $15 an hour if you’re focused.

3. Make money on Amazon as an Amazon Affiliate

Affiliate marketing is one of those passive incomes that can be a great little stocking stuffer. How this works is that those who already have an established website, YouTube channel, or social media presence simply need to add an Amazon Affiliate code to the products they’re already promoting.

This affiliate code is found on the Amazon Affiliate Marketing site and, as always, your Amazon password will get you access. Simply fill out the necessary details, follow the link instructions, and get selling.

Something to note is that Amazon requires affiliate marketers to let their readers or followers know that they’re earning a commission from the sales of those products. So remember to dot your i’s and cross your t’s.