How-To Make Passive Income on Amazon in 2023

So, you want to make passive income on Amazon? Well, there’s no better time to start venturing out into the business world than now. We will be discussing how you can start your own business on Amazon to make some passive income. It requires some upfront work to get the business set up and operating, but once it’s running, it requires very little to maintain and in some cases it requires zero effort to maintain. That’s the beauty of building a business on Amazon. These could be good businesses for anyone looking to build extra income streams or for someone looking to dip their toes into the world of online business. We provide a brief overview of how you can get started with everything Amazon has to offer.

Passive Income on Amazon with Amazon KDP

Do you have an interest in writing and want to make passive income on Amazon? Have you ever thought of publishing your own book but was held back by the thought of how much that would cost? Worry not, with Amazon KDP – Kindle Direct Publishing – you can now publish your own eBook, paperback, and hardcover book online for free. With Amazon KDP, authors can get royalties with every sale that they get through Amazon, in perpetuity (that means forever). You read that correctly, your books will sell for as long as Amazon continues to be Amazon.

That means you only have to do the work, correctly, one time for them to sell on their own, forever. The beauty of this is that you literally just list the books and Amazon does everything else. No worries about inventory or customer service, just list, run ads, and relax. It’s very simple, but like any other business, you will need consistent effort and optimization over an extended period of time to find success and create the passive income stream.

But wait, what if you aren’t a writer? That’s fine because hiring a ghost writer is an option as well. And honestly, outsourcing the whole business is an option, but we’ll save all of the finer details of this beautiful business for you to check out at our more in depth Amazon KDP business article. Feel free to check out some of these books as well. We also have offer a review of an Amazon KDP course right over here.

Passive Income on Amazon with Amazon Merch On Demand

Amazon Merch on Demand is, kind of like the name suggests, a print on demand business that allows you to simply upload designs onto apparel and/or accessories. It’s the much bigger and much better Teespring. After you’ve been approved for your Amazon Merch account you can start uploading your designs. So, if you’re someone with a creative mind, have an eye for trend spotting, have one of those two traits/both, you can likely find success with this business over time. You can either submit designs that you create or commission an artist to create designs for you. And again, this is another business that will have your products selling in perpetuity with no hassle of inventory or customer service. That means if you upload tons of designs you will undoubtedly be making passive income on Amazon. You can find some more info here and for a more in depth overview, over at our Merch by Amazon business article.

Semi-Passive Income on Amazon with Amazon FBM

If you already have products on hand that you want to sell through Amazon, Amazon FBM – Fulfillment by Merchant – is the way to go since you will essentially be registering yourself as a seller on Amazon and will be handling every order that you receive through Amazon. Its basically Amazons version of being a seller on Ebay. Amazon FBM is recommended for sellers that want to run a business day in and day out. This is not a build it once and let it run type of business like we’ve previously touched on. I repeat, this is not a passive income on Amazon kind of business. You’ll have to “show up” to work every day and manage everything from inventory to customer service. If you’re the type who wants to be hands on throughout the life of their business, this could be a good place for you to start. You can find more information at some of these resources as well as our Amazon FBM business article.

Semi-Passive Income on Amazon with Amazon FBA

This is the passive income on Amazon version of Amazon FBM. You will be selling your own products through Amazon but with Amazon FBA – Fulfillment by Amazon -, you will be handing over your products to Amazon where they will handle fulfillment and customer service. With this business you will need to ensure you have enough inventory sitting at Amazons warehouse, making this a semi-passive business once you get it all set up and stabilized. Though unlike the Amazon FBM business model, there is a monthly subscription fee to sell through Amazon FBA. You can find more in depth information at our Amazon FBA business article as well as right over here.

Passive Income on Amazon with Amazon Associates

If opening up your own shop isn’t something that you’re ready or willing to do, you can also try your hand at being an Amazon Associate, which is a tried and true method to earning passive income on Amazon. This can be entirely passive once its set up. Being an associate means that you can get a commission on a sale if two parameters are met. Someone must first click your associate link and if after clicking your link, a sale must be made within a certain amount of time. With being an associate, you will essentially be in the affiliate marketing business.

With this business model, you earn money by monetizing traffic that you lands on your platform and clicks your link. You can use such affiliate links on your blogs, videos, or any modern social media pages such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and whatever else you can think of. If you already have an existing social media brand that has a good amount of consistent traffic, this will be the easiest and most straightforward way to make money with Amazon. We have some great resources for you, but you can also find more in depth information at our Amazon Associates business article.