Last updated October 9, 2026
Direct answer: The highest-paying Amazon categories for video creators are Luxury Beauty at 10%, Amazon Games at 20% but with few reviewable products, then Physical Books, Kitchen and Automotive at 4.5%, Apparel, Jewelry, Luggage and Watches at 4%, and Home, Furniture, Toys, Pets, Sports, Tools and Beauty at 3%. Grocery and Health and Personal Care pay only 1%. Onsite video rates are lower than these offsite rates, so check both before choosing a product.
Commission rate is one of the three numbers that decide what a video earns, alongside product price and page traffic. A $40 kitchen tool at 4.5% pays $1.80 per sale. The same $40 in Health and Personal Care at 1% pays $0.40. Same filming effort, more than four times the income. This guide gives the full rate table, explains the onsite versus offsite difference, and shows which categories actually make sense for short video reviews.
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: Amazon Commission Rates by Category
These are the published standard rates for Amazon Associates offsite links (Amazon Associates commission statement). Amazon changes them, so confirm in your account.
| Rate | Categories |
|---|---|
| 20% | Amazon Games |
| 10% | Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty, Amazon Explore |
| 7% | Amazon Haul |
| 5% | Digital Music, Physical Music, Handmade, Digital Videos |
| 4.5% | Physical Books, Kitchen, Automotive |
| 4% | Amazon Fire Tablet and Kindle devices, Amazon Fashion, Jewelry, Luggage, Watches |
| 3% | Toys, Furniture, Home, Home Improvement, Lawn and Garden, Pets, Pantry, Headphones, Beauty, Musical Instruments, Business and Industrial, Outdoors, Tools, Sports, Baby |
| 2.5% | PC, PC Components, DVD and Blu-ray |
| 2% | Televisions, Digital Video Games |
| 1% | Amazon Fresh, Physical Video Games and Consoles, Grocery, Health and Personal Care |
| 0% | Gift Cards, Wireless Service Plans, Alcohol, Kindle subscriptions, Vehicles, Pet prescriptions, Restaurant delivery, Prime Now |
Onsite Rates Are Different
Videos placed on Amazon product pages through the Influencer Program pay from a separate onsite rate card. Onsite rates are generally lower, running from under 1% to about 5% depending on category, with most everyday categories between 1% and 3%. The onsite card is visible inside the Associates dashboard once you are approved.
Two consequences for video creators:
- A category that looks strong offsite can be middling onsite. Always check both numbers.
- Because onsite rates are lower, onsite income depends even more on page traffic and price than on rate. For how the two programs compare overall, see the Amazon Influencer Program versus Amazon Associates comparison for beginners.
The Best Categories for Short Video Reviews
Rate alone does not make a category good for video. The product also has to demonstrate well, sell at a reasonable price and have shoppers on the page. Scoring the main categories on all four:
| Category | Offsite rate | Demonstrates on camera | Typical price | Verdict for video creators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | 4.5% | Excellent, before and after | $20 to $80 | Best all-round category |
| Home and Home Improvement | 3% | Excellent | $15 to $100 | Strong, huge demand |
| Tools | 3% | Very good, show it working | $25 to $150 | Strong, higher prices |
| Beauty tools | 3% | Good, results visible | $20 to $60 | Strong |
| Luxury Beauty | 10% | Good | $30 to $150 | Best rate, but onsite rate is much lower and competition is high |
| Sports and Outdoors | 3% | Good | $20 to $120 | Strong |
| Pets | 3% | Excellent, pets on camera | $10 to $60 | Strong, low competition in niches |
| Toys and Baby | 3% | Very good | $15 to $80 | Good, seasonal |
| Automotive accessories | 4.5% | Good, in-car demos | $15 to $60 | Good, under-served |
| Apparel, Luggage | 4% | Good, try-on and packing | $25 to $150 | Good |
| Headphones, small electronics | 3% | Moderate, sound is hard to show | $20 to $150 | Moderate |
| PC components | 2.5% | Poor | $50 to $500 | Avoid for short video |
| Grocery, Health and Personal Care | 1% | Poor, no visible result | $10 to $40 | Avoid |
| Gift cards, subscriptions | 0% | None | Any | Never |
What a Rate Difference Means in Money
Here is the same video effort across three categories, assuming 1,000 monthly views and a 2% purchase rate.
| Category | Price | Rate | Commission per sale | Monthly earnings per video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen tool | $40 | 4.5% | $1.80 | $36 |
| Home organizer | $40 | 3% | $1.20 | $24 |
| Personal care item | $40 | 1% | $0.40 | $8 |
Fifty videos in Kitchen earn about $1,800 a month. Fifty videos in Health and Personal Care earn about $400. Nothing about the filming changed.
How to Check a Product’s Category Before You Film
Amazon assigns the category, not the seller, and it is not always obvious from the listing. A “kitchen” gadget can be filed under Home, and a “beauty” device under Health and Personal Care at 1%.
- Find the product’s browse node in the “Product information” section or the breadcrumb at the top of the listing.
- Match the top-level category to the commission table.
- Check the onsite rate card for the same category in your Associates dashboard.
- Multiply price by rate to get commission per sale. Below $1 per sale, the product needs very high traffic to be worth filming.
Doing this for every candidate, along with demand and video-gap checks, takes about an hour per product by hand. 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. It reports the category and rate alongside demand so you can see commission per sale and traffic in one place.
Worked Example: Choosing Between Two Products
A creator is deciding between two products to film this week.
| Silicone baking mat set | Electric toothbrush heads | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Kitchen | Health and Personal Care |
| Offsite rate | 4.5% | 1% |
| Price | $22 | $28 |
| Commission per sale | $0.99 | $0.28 |
| Estimated monthly page views | 4,000 | 12,000 |
| Demonstrates on camera | Yes, batch of cookies, no sticking | Barely |
| Sales at 2% purchase rate | 80 | 240 |
| Monthly earnings from the video | about $79 | about $67 |
The toothbrush heads have three times the traffic and still earn less, and the baking mat makes a far better video. Category rate turned the decision.
Zonbase is an Amazon product research platform that gives sellers and creators sales estimates, keyword demand and competition data. The monthly page view estimates in this example are the kind of number its sales estimator produces from a product’s Best Sellers Rank.
Categories to Avoid for Video Income
- Anything at 0% or 1%. Gift cards, grocery, health and personal care, consoles. The math does not work for short video.
- PC components and televisions. Low rates, hard to demonstrate, and buyers research elsewhere.
- Products that are miscategorized. A beauty gadget filed under Health and Personal Care earns 1%, not 3%. Always check the breadcrumb.
- Categories with ten or more creator videos per product. Rate does not help if your video never gets shown.
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 the highest commission category on Amazon?
Amazon Games at 20% offsite, but it has few products a video creator can review. Among physical products, Luxury Beauty at 10% is the highest.
Are onsite commission rates the same as Associates rates?
No. Onsite video rates come from a separate card and are generally lower, mostly 1% to 3% for everyday categories. Check both in your Associates dashboard.
Which category is best for a beginner video creator?
Kitchen. It combines a 4.5% rate, strong demand, products priced $20 to $80, and demonstrations that work in 30 seconds.
Does the commission rate change if I am in the Influencer Program?
Your offsite links pay standard Associates rates. Your onsite videos pay onsite rates. The same account earns both.
Can Amazon change commission rates?
Yes, and it does, sometimes several times a year. Treat any published table as a snapshot and verify in your account.
Do I earn commission on the whole cart?
Offsite links pay on everything bought within 24 hours of the click. Onsite videos pay on the featured product and its variants only.
How do I find out which category a product is in?
Look at the breadcrumb at the top of the listing or the “Product information” section. Match the top-level category to the rate table.
Is a higher commission rate always better?
No. A 10% rate on a product with no traffic earns less than a 3% rate on a product with thousands of monthly views. Rate, price and traffic together decide income.
Final Answer
The Amazon categories that pay the highest commission for video creators are Luxury Beauty at 10%, Kitchen, Automotive and Physical Books at 4.5%, Apparel, Jewelry, Luggage and Watches at 4%, and Home, Tools, Pets, Sports, Toys and Beauty at 3%. Grocery and Health and Personal Care pay 1% and are not worth filming for income. Onsite video rates are lower than these offsite rates, so check both. For short video reviews, Kitchen is the best combination of rate, demand, price and demonstrability.
To see category, rate and demand for any product in one place before you film, research it with Zonbase or ask ACE to score your shortlist.
Sources
- Amazon Associates Standard Commission Income Statement: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/GRXPHT8U84RAYDXZ
