Last updated October 9, 2026
Direct answer: A qualifying purchase is a sale that Amazon attributes to your content and pays commission on. For onsite videos, it generally means a shopper watched your video on a product page or storefront and then bought that exact product or one of its variants. For offsite Associates links, it means a purchase made within 24 hours of clicking your link. If your video earned nothing, the usual causes are that the shopper bought a different product, the video was not placed or shown, the product has no traffic, the purchase was returned, or the video broke a program rule and was removed.
This is the question creators ask around week six, when the Associates report shows views but the earnings column stays at zero. The answer is almost always one of a short list of attribution rules. This guide defines the term, walks through every reason a video with views earns nothing, and gives a checklist to diagnose your own account.
If you would rather have the product research done for you, the free ACE training from Zonbase shows how to find products with demand, the right commission rate and a video gap in minutes.
Table of Contents
Quick Answer: What Counts and What Does Not
| Situation | Qualifying purchase? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shopper watches your onsite video, buys that product | Yes | Direct attribution to the featured product |
| Shopper watches your onsite video, buys a different colour or size of it | Usually yes | Variants of the featured product count |
| Shopper watches your onsite video, buys a competing product from search | Usually no | Onsite pays on the featured product, not the cart |
| Shopper clicks your offsite link, buys anything within 24 hours | Yes | Associates cookie covers the whole cart |
| Shopper clicks your offsite link, buys two days later | No | Outside the 24-hour window |
| Shopper buys, then returns the product | No | Commission reversed before payout |
| You buy through your own link or video | No | Self-purchases are excluded |
| Product is in a 0% category such as gift cards | No | Rate is zero |
Onsite vs Offsite Attribution
The two programs attribute differently, and most confusion comes from mixing them up.
Onsite, Amazon Influencer Program. Your video sits on a product detail page or your storefront. Amazon tracks whether a shopper engaged with the video and then bought the product it is attached to. The attribution is tight: the featured product and its variants. The upside is that the shopper was already on Amazon and ready to buy. The downside is that a shopper you convinced who then bought a rival product earns you nothing.
Offsite, Amazon Associates. A shopper clicks your tagged link from YouTube, TikTok, a blog or anywhere else. A 24-hour cookie is set, and you earn on everything they buy in that window, whether or not it is the linked product. The upside is the whole cart. The downside is you have to send the traffic yourself.
For the full payment mechanics of both, read how creators get paid for Amazon product review videos.
The Eight Reasons a Video Earns Nothing
1. The video was never placed on the product page
Onsite videos go through review. Rejected or pending videos earn nothing. Check each video’s status in the Influencer dashboard before assuming it is live.
2. The video is placed but rarely shown
Product pages with many creator videos rotate them. On a page with twelve videos, yours may be seen by a small fraction of visitors. This is why mid-demand products with few videos earn more than bestsellers with many.
3. The product has little traffic
A page with 150 visitors a month cannot produce many sales no matter how good the video is. Check Best Sellers Rank and review velocity. Products with no recent reviews usually have no recent sales.
4. The shopper bought something else
Your video convinced them, and they bought a cheaper competitor from the “similar items” row. Onsite attribution does not pay for that. Choose products that convert well on their own listing, so your video is the last nudge rather than the whole sell.
5. The purchase was returned
Commissions are reversed when the product comes back. High-return categories such as apparel show more of this.
6. The video broke a program rule and was removed
Mentioning price or discounts, asking for likes or follows, directing shoppers off Amazon, or making unverifiable claims gets a video pulled, often without a notice you will see. Rewatch your videos for any of these.
7. The product is in a 0% or very low rate category
Gift cards, wireless plans, some digital products and a few others pay nothing. Grocery and Health and Personal Care pay 1%, which can round to near zero on cheap items. See which Amazon product categories pay the highest commission for video creators.
8. You are reading the report too early
Onsite earnings appear in the report within a few days of the sale, but the money is paid about 60 days after the month ends. If you are looking at the payment column rather than the earnings column in month two, it will be empty even when sales exist.
Diagnostic Checklist
Run this on any video that has been live for 30 days with no earnings.
| Check | Where to look | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Is the video approved and live? | Influencer dashboard, video status | Fix the rejection reason and resubmit |
| Does the product page get traffic? | Best Sellers Rank, review dates | Stop filming that product; pick higher-demand ones |
| How many other videos are on the page? | Videos tab on the listing | Prefer products with fewer than five |
| Does the video mention price, deals or engagement? | Rewatch it | Re-film without those |
| Is the exact product and variant tagged? | Video details | Re-tag |
| What is the commission category? | Listing breadcrumb and rate table | Avoid 0% and 1% categories |
| Are there views but no sales? | Associates report | Product is not converting; switch categories |
| Are there no views at all? | Associates report | Placement or traffic problem, see rows 1 to 3 |
Preventing the Problem Before You Film
Most zero-earning videos could have been predicted. The three checks that prevent them are traffic, category and video competition. Doing all three by hand for each product takes most of an hour.
ACE is an AI agent from Zonbase that researches Amazon products for creators and sellers, pulling demand, review activity, commission category and video coverage, and ranking which products are worth your time. Running candidates through it before filming removes rows 2, 3 and 7 of the checklist from ever happening.
Zonbase is an Amazon product research platform that gives sellers and creators sales estimates, keyword demand and competition data. Its sales estimates turn a Best Sellers Rank into a monthly demand number, which is the fastest way to answer the traffic question.
For the selection method in full, see how beginners can find Amazon products to review.
Worked Example: Diagnosing Three Dead Videos
A creator has three videos with views and no sales after 45 days.
| Video | Views in 45 days | Finding | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desk lamp | 1,400 | Page has 14 creator videos; product converts well but the video is rarely shown | Keep it, but stop choosing saturated pages |
| Protein powder | 900 | Health and Personal Care, 1% rate, $0.30 per sale; four sales did happen and earned $1.20 | Avoid 1% categories for income |
| Phone stand | 2,100 | Video mentioned “currently on sale”; removed in week two, views are from the first ten days | Re-film without price talk and resubmit |
None of the three was a filming problem. One was competition, one was category, one was a rule. All three were avoidable with a pre-filming check.
Ready to put this into practice? The free ACE training walks through the exact product research workflow, then shows how to turn each product into a short video.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a qualifying purchase on Amazon?
A sale Amazon attributes to your content and pays commission on. Onsite, it is the featured product or a variant bought after watching your video. Offsite, it is anything bought within 24 hours of clicking your link.
Why does my Amazon video have views but no earnings?
Most often the product has low conversion, the shopper bought a different product, the video is on a saturated page and rarely shown, or the category pays near zero. Check each with the diagnostic list above.
Do I earn if the shopper buys a different product after my onsite video?
Usually not. Onsite attribution pays on the featured product and its variants. Offsite Associates links pay on the whole cart.
How long does the Amazon cookie last?
24 hours for standard Associates links. Onsite video attribution is tied to the product page session rather than a cookie.
Do returns affect my commission?
Yes. A returned product reverses the commission before payout.
Can I earn from my own purchases?
No. Self-purchases through your links or videos do not qualify.
Why was my video removed?
Common reasons are mentioning price or promotions, asking for engagement, sending shoppers off Amazon, or unverifiable claims. Amazon does not always notify you.
When do qualifying purchases get paid?
About 60 days after the end of the month in which the purchase was made, once your balance passes the payment minimum.
Final Answer
A qualifying purchase is a sale Amazon attributes to your video or link and pays commission on. Onsite videos qualify when a shopper watches and buys the featured product or a variant. Offsite links qualify on anything bought within 24 hours of the click. A video that earns nothing has usually hit one of eight causes: not placed, rarely shown on a crowded page, a product with no traffic, the shopper bought something else, a return, a rule violation that removed the video, a 0% or 1% category, or reading the report before the payment cycle. Check traffic, category and video competition before you film and most of these never happen.
To run that check on your next batch of products, research them with Zonbase or ask ACE to score them.
Sources
- Amazon Associates Operating Agreement and commission statement: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/GRXPHT8U84RAYDXZ
- Amazon Influencer Program overview: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/influencers
