Amazon Side Hustle: 15 Ways To Boost Your Income

If you're looking to sell products on Amazon… Amazon FBA is one of the most popular side hustles on Amazon—in fact, 73% of Amazon sellers use FBA. If you want an easy way to make money online, then look no further.

With Amazon FBA, you send the products you want to sell to an Amazon warehouse, and they handle the fulfillment, which includes storing, packaging, and shipping orders. An additional perk is that they handle customer service in the case of any returns or customer complaints. 

The other good news is that the fees you pay for FBA storage include shipping costs, and your products may be eligible for Amazon Prime free shipping, which can save money. 

To get started, you'll want to create an Amazon account and go to Seller Central. From there, you can create listings for your products and prepare them for shipment. 

Then, you'll ship your products to an Amazon fulfillment center, paying attention to Amazon's shipping instructions. 

That's all it takes! Pretty simple, right? But now that you know about the perks of using Amazon FBA, you may be wondering what products to sell. 

The following section will outline four different methods for acquiring inventory and making sales using Amazon.

If you love writing… Try your hand at self-publishing on Amazon's Kindle platform. You can publish your work for free and earn up to 70% on royalties through sales on the Kindle online bookstore. 

To get started, all you have to do is upload your manuscript, include book details (like the title, authors, and a description), and set the price for your Kindle book. 

Do keep in mind that there is a lot of competition with self-publishing on Amazon. If you want to make a profit, you'll have to employ an efficient marketing strategy or garner a social media following to advertise to potential readers.

If you're a professional narrator or want to narrate your Audible book… ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) is an Audible platform where you can record audiobooks for publication. If you're the author of a book, you can record an audio reading through it. Additionally, Kindle authors can hire you on other projects if you're a professional or aspiring narrator. 

If you narrate your audiobooks, you earn a royalty depending on which distribution program you choose: you can either select non-exclusive royalty, which means you can distribute your book elsewhere (for 25% royalty), or exclusive royalty (for 40% royalty), which limits you to selling your book on Amazon platforms. 

If you want to be a narrator, you’ll have to create a profile on ACX to audition for projects. If you are selected, your payment will either be an hourly rate or shared royalties with the rights holder of the audiobook.

If you're a voracious reader… Another awesome (book-related) side hustle on Amazon is selling books. Similarly to retail arbitrage, you may have to find books locally, whether from garage sales or used book stores. You can use tools like BookScouter to compare prices to listings on Amazon. 

You'll have to set up an Amazon seller account to list and price your books to get started. You can either fulfill the orders yourself or use FBA to ship them out to buyers when they sell. 

Of course, the market price for any given book will vary slightly based on its condition and demand, so be sure to do your product research using the Amazon seller app if you want to make extra income reselling books.

If you're a graphic designer or brand-owner… Merch by Amazon is a t-shirt printing service that allows you to sell your own branded products. All you have to do is upload your artwork and designs, and Amazon handles the production of the t-shirts. 

In addition to printing, Amazon handles the fulfillment and customer service. They act as the middleman, so you don't have to deal with the hassle of packaging and shipping yourself. All you have to do is create the design, which gives you all of the creative freedom with none of the hassles.

However, Merch by Amazon is an Amazon business that is invitation-only, so you may be placed on a long waiting list before you are accepted.

If you're crafty… Amazon Handmade is an Etsy-Esque website that gives crafters and artisans a platform to sell their handmade goods. Amazon Handmade gives you the tools to make your storefront look professional and also helps sellers reach a large audience, making it a great side hustle.

To get started, you'll need to submit an application that involves uploading pictures and descriptions of your work. If approved, you can create your artisan profile, build your digital shop, and start listing and selling your products! 

If you choose to use Amazon FBA, they will handle all shipping and handling. They won't charge you to list your products, but they have a 15% fee per sale. 

Keep in mind that they have a limited amount of categories under which you are allowed to sell. Before signing up, ensure that your handmade goods fall under the approved product types. 

If you have old Amazon electronics laying around the house... Try exchanging them through Amazon's Trade-In Program. The payment will be in Amazon gift cards or, in some cases, credit toward new products. 

While getting Amazon credit as compensation may not be ideal, the Amazon trade-in program doesn't take much hard work. All you have to do is check that your device is eligible for exchange and if it is, answer a few questions about the condition of the product. Amazon will provide you with a shipping label, and you can send it in. 

Once you ship your electronic device, Amazon will appraise it and notify you whether they accept or reject the product - all within two business days. Don’t  worry if your tech products don't meet the standards—in that case, Amazon can recycle them at no cost to you. 

If you're a content creator or blogger… Look into becoming an affiliate partner on Amazon associates. If you already have a platform or website, you can make money online by referring customers to buy items on Amazon through your personal referral link. 

By driving traffic to Amazon and creating sales through your affiliate links, you can receive up to 10% commission. 

This fantastic side hustle doesn't require any initial investment since you'll already need to have a blog or website set up to qualify. All it takes is partnering with Amazon to make recommendations, and you'll make an easy extra income. 

One common sticking point that holds people back from this type of business is not having a website. If you’ve ever had that concern (whether it came from feeling you are not a technical person or setting up your own site seemed like it involved hundreds of steps), rest assured that you can do Amazon affiliate marketing without a website. All it takes is having alternative methods to get your products across to potential customers.

If you have a significant social media presence… Consider becoming an Amazon Influencer. As a member of the Amazon influencer program, you'll create unique content on how to use Amazon services and promote products for your audience.

Once selected, you will build a digital storefront and create content to recommend products to your audience. Like with the Amazon affiliate partner program, you'll gain commission through your affiliate links when people buy something after clicking the links under your videos or blog posts. 

To qualify, you'll need to have a significant social media following on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, or TikTok.

If you want to complete small tasks for money… Amazon Mechanical Turk uses crowdsourcing to outsource jobs virtually. Different options include transcription services, editing audio, or collecting information for surveys, which are all great ways to make a few extra bucks on the side. 

There are hundreds of tasks that pay relatively little but can be completed quickly and fit into your schedule. Therefore, Amazon mechanical Turk is a great side hustle if you're tech-savvy and looking for additional work you can do in your free time.

If you've developed an app… You can make extra money by becoming an Amazon Appstore developer. By publishing your app on the Amazon Appstore, you will gain the broad reach that comes with any Amazon business—Amazon claims that 67% of developers saw an increase in audience after using their platform. 

To begin, you'll have to create an Amazon developer account. Registration and publishing your app is free, and there are a few options to make money: you can get paid for targeted ads, enable in-app purchases, or set a download fee.

If you want to get creative with AI… Amazon Alexa is a voice-powered assistant that helps you control other smart devices around your home. Through Amazon, you can create custom skills for the Alexa system that Alexa users can download. 

Of course, this is a more technical skill that requires programming experience, but it's another fun way for people with relevant knowledge to make some extra money. You have the flexibility to set your price and will earn up to 70% of revenue if someone purchases your skill.

If you're a software developer or vendor… The AWS (Amazon Web Services) Marketplace is a platform where you can make money by uploading your software. 

Like many Amazon side hustles, this is an efficient way to increase your reach to new users and let Amazon handle billing and customer service. To get started, you'll have to register as a marketplace seller and build your listings, determine the software delivery option, and complete product forms. 

If you want to build and manage a delivery team… Try becoming an Amazon Delivery Service Partner. Although the upfront investment makes this a more serious business venture (Amazon states that the startup cost is $10,000 at the lowest), you'll have the support of Amazon every step of the way. 

Becoming an Amazon delivery service partner is a long-term business venture. In the position, you will be responsible for hiring and coaching delivery employees and managing the delivery vans. Still, the average profit makes this a worthy gig—Amazon claims as a delivery service partner, you can make as much as 300k in annual earnings.

If you want to deliver packages with your own vehicle… Amazon Flex is an on-demand delivery service that allows you to be your own boss. With Amazon Flex, you can get paid to deliver packages for Amazon. 

Drivers make between $18-25 dollars an hour depending on location, the time it takes for them to make the deliveries, and tips. Additionally, as an independent contractor, you can work whenever you want, making this a great side hustle if you want to set your own schedule. 

You can download the Amazon Flex app to sign up and get started.