Discover innovative ways to sell on Amazon without inventory! Learn to leverage digital products, affiliate marketing, and more to earn royalties!
Choosing your own schedule, working from anywhere in the world, having no boss to answer to…Making money online sounds pretty nice, huh? But who wants to deal with inventory management, shipping mishaps, and providing customer service to someone yelling at the other end of a phone?
Thanks to online marketplaces like Amazon, you can start a business and earn royalties without selling physical products.
Between their publishing leg, trade-in program, and influencer market, there are dozens of ways to start getting paid for your ideas right now, and we’ve gathered a list of them down below for you.
Amazon’s Marketplace is your golden ticket to reaching millions of customers in over 100 countries.
Here’s how it works: As a third-party seller, you list your products on Amazon’s platform, making them instantly available to the massive customer base that’s always in the mood to go shopping.
You have two seller plans to choose from: the Individual Plan and the Professional Plan.
The Individual Plan costs $0.99 per sale, and it’s perfect for those just starting out. The Professional Plan is a bit more expensive at $39.99 a month, but it’s great if you plan to sell a lot and scale your business.
There are five main categories for making money on Amazon without selling physical products:
We’ll cover ideas from each in the next section!
If we could scream it from the rooftops, we would, but we’ll settle for sharing everything we know about making publishing and other side hustles more accessible in this blog.
Kindle Direct Publishing is a service by Amazon that lets you self-publish eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcovers from within a single dashboard. You upload your completed manuscript and book cover, choose your publishing rights, and set your list price. Then, boom!
Your book will appear in Kindle stores in as little as 72 hours. You retain ownership of your content and can update it or remove it at any time. You’re totally in charge 24/7/365. The amount of time it takes to make money on KDP depends on factors like your promotion strategy, niche, reviwes, etc.
KDP also offers a complimentary print on demand service, meaning it handles 100% of the printing and shipping for you, and it only prints a new copy when a sale is made. This is better for the planet and your wallet because there’s less waste and zero upfront costs, which might not always be the case with a traditional publishing house.
Through KDP, you can earn up to 70% royalty on eBook sales. The royalty rate depends on factors like book pricing and which countries you decide to list your book in.
You get what you put into it!
The Amazon Affiliate Program is Amazon’s commission-based program.
Think of affiliate marketing as getting paid to play matchmaker and share your favorite finds.
You get paid to promote products you love. No inventory, no shipping, no customer service headaches—just a sweet, passive income stream.
Once you join Amazon's Affiliate Program, you get special links to Amazon products that track traffic from your content. When someone clicks your affiliate link and buys the product within 24 hours, you earn a commission.
Amazon’s tools make it easy to create these links, as well as promotional banners and widgets for your own brand or site to reach even more customers. You also get detailed reports showing what your audience is buying, which you can use to tweak your content and earn even more.
If you’ve ever thought about selling t-shirts, hoodies, or phone cases, this is a solid opportunity.
First, you’ll apply for an account and need to get approved. Then, you’ll upload your artwork directly to the portal and choose your products—shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, you name it. Last, you’ll set your prices and let Amazon handle the rest while you watch the royalties start rolling in!
You’ll also need to promote your merch on social media platforms, blogs, or apps to keep getting new eyes on your products, but with no upfront costs, it’s a low-risk way to generate income and turn your creativity into cash.
Ever dreamt of narrating and producing audiobooks? Amazon's Audiobook Creation Exchange makes that possible.
Looking for an easy gig that works with a busy schedule? Work from home and help Amazon sellers grow their businesses, handling tasks that save them time.
As an Amazon virtual assistant, you'll manage inventory, handle customer service, help with product listings, and manage marketing efforts like ads and social media campaigns. Your work lets sellers focus on growing their business and scaling faster.
Amazon Home Services offers a way to connect with customers who are looking for help with assembly, cleaning, handyman work, and more.
How to get started:
Still reading? We appreciate you.
Enjoy 11 more ideas for making money online!
Is It Hard to Start Your Own Business on Amazon?
Starting a business on Amazon is a lot easier than you might think!
With Amazon’s user-friendly platforms and resources, you can get up and running in as little as a few hours, and they all link back to your main Amazon account, so you won’t have to worry about juggling one thousand different passwords.
The trick is to start small. Do your own competitor and product research first and take advantage of Amazon’s support. You don't need a huge budget or a warehouse full of products to unlock a new income stream. You don’t even need a college degree for most of the ideas on this list.
What do you have to lose?
How to Sell on Amazon for Beginners
If you're new to the Amazon game, don't worry! There are plenty of beginner-friendly ways to start earning money.
Here are a few ideas:
Can You Be Successful Selling on Amazon?
Your success as an Amazon seller depends on a lot of moving parts, but the good news in you can influence or control many of them. You choose how much you invest of yourself into your publishing. You choose your marketing efforts and collabrators. For some, exceptional success has been possible.
Just ask Michael, an Aussie who went on to start making even more than that even after his first book was unsuccessful and totally flopped:
Results will vary, and we don’t guarantee financial outcomes. Many students don’t apply our strategies and make little to no money. Based on a 2024 survey, students who actively publish books earn an estimated average of $1,800/month in royalties. They also invest in advertising and book creation. Your results depend on effort, market conditions, and skills.
Here’s how they do it:
All businesses and side hustles take time and effort. It’s just a matter of whether you’re willing to put in the work. The choice is yours!
Why not try something new? Check out our video introduction to see if self-publishing is right for you!
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