Commission rules
How long does the Amazon affiliate cookie last? 24 hours, an 89-day cart, and three things that end it early.
Amazon does not call it a cookie. It calls it a session, and its own wording explains exactly which sales you are paid on. Here it is, in plain English, with the cases that catch people out.
24-hour session
89-day cart
6 real scenarios
The short version
- 24 hours from the click. Anything the shopper buys in that window can pay you, not just the product you linked.
- The 89-day cart. If they add an item to their cart inside the 24 hours, it still counts when they check out, up to 89 days after the click.
- Three things end it early: 24 hours passing, the shopper placing an order for a physical product, or the shopper clicking another associate’s link.
- The order must then ship and be paid for within 180 days of the purchase.
Every affiliate programme has a “cookie length”, and Amazon’s is famously short. But the 24 hours is only half the rule. The other half, the 89-day cart, is where a surprising share of commission comes from in gift season. And one of the three things that end a session early is not in most guides at all. Everything below comes from Amazon’s Commission Income Statement, part of the Program Policies last updated on 14 April 2026.
What Amazon’s rule actually says
Amazon pays commission on a “Qualifying Purchase”. In summary, that happens when a customer clicks your link, and then during a single session either buys through 1-Click, or adds a product to their cart and completes the order no later than 89 days after their first click. The product then has to be shipped and paid for within 180 days of the purchase.
The session is the part people call the cookie. Amazon says it begins at the click and ends at the first of these three:
| What ends the session | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| 24 hours pass from the click | The outer limit. Nothing added to the cart after this counts. |
| The customer places an order for a physical product | One order closes the session. A second order later the same day is not yours. |
| The customer clicks another associate’s link | The newest click wins from that moment on. |
Digital products are treated differently. Amazon lists items such as Kindle books, Prime Video and Amazon Music as digital, and ordering one of them does not end the session. The shopper can buy an ebook and then a physical product, and both can count.
Six real situations, and whether you are paid
| What the shopper does | Paid? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks your link, buys the product 3 hours later | Yes | Inside the 24-hour session. |
| Clicks, buys a different product the same afternoon | Yes | The clause covers any Product bought in the session, at that category’s rate. |
| Clicks, adds to cart on day 1, checks out on day 40 | Yes | Added during the session, ordered within 89 days of the click. |
| Clicks, adds to cart on day 2, checks out on day 3 | No | The item went into the cart after 24 hours, so it was outside the session. |
| Clicks, orders a kettle, then orders a toaster an hour later | Kettle only | Placing a physical-product order ends the session. |
| Clicks yours, then clicks another associate’s link and buys | No | The other associate’s click ends your session. |
“Paid” assumes the category earns commission at all. Some categories pay 0%, and the rate depends on what was bought, not what you linked. The US commission rate table has every category.
How we read the “places an order” rule. The clause ends the session when the customer “places an order for a Product, other than a digital product”. We read that as: everything in the cart at checkout counts, and the session closes with that order. Amazon does not publish a worked example, so if a report looks wrong on a multi-order day, this is the first place to look.
“Since April 2026 Amazon only pays on the product you linked.” Not for your website. Amazon’s update effective 14 April 2026 did limit commission to the promoted product and its variants, but only for onsite commission, which Amazon’s policies define as what it pays on Influencer content shown on Amazon itself. For links on your site, the session rule above is unchanged. What that update did change for websites: sales from paid or boosted ads that link to Amazon no longer count, and orders must ship and be paid for within 180 days.
What the short window means for how you write
A 24-hour window rewards one kind of reader: the one who is ready to buy today. You cannot change the rule, but you can choose who you send.
- Put links where decisions happen. “Best X for Y” and “X vs Y” pages convert inside a day. Early research pages mostly do not, so link those to your comparison pages rather than straight to Amazon.
- Q4 is where the 89-day cart pays. Gift shoppers add to their cart in November and check out weeks later. If they added it inside your session, it is still yours. Planning Q4 content covers the lead times.
- A click is a fresh 24 hours. A reader who comes back next week and clicks again starts a new session. Pages worth returning to, such as rate tables and checklists, earn more clicks over time.
- Do not ask readers to bookmark Amazon through your link. It would not help anyway, and Amazon’s policies forbid encouraging it.
If the sales you expected are missing
Work through the session rules first: was it over 24 hours, did the reader click someone else’s link, or did they place two orders? If none of those explains it, the link itself may be the problem. The nine causes of a link not tracking goes through them in order. And do not worry when your tag vanishes from the address bar after the click. Amazon’s help says the session is tagged, so the URL does not need to keep it.
Part of The Amazon Affiliate Site Playbook — the whole job in six stages, from choosing a niche to keeping a mature site earning.
See which pages send buyers, not browsers
Ama Affiliate Pro records clicks per article and per product, so you can tell which pages send people who buy within the 24 hours and which only send browsers.
Common questions
How long does the Amazon affiliate cookie last?
24 hours from the click. Amazon calls it a session rather than a cookie. Inside that session, anything the shopper adds to their cart still counts if they complete the order within 89 days of the original click.
Does Amazon pay on products I did not link to?
Yes. Amazon’s definition of a qualifying purchase refers to the customer buying a Product during the session, not the specific product you linked. Different categories pay different rates, and some pay nothing.
What is the 89-day rule?
If a shopper adds an item to their cart during your 24-hour session, you are credited when they complete that order, as long as it happens no later than 89 days after their first click on your link.
Does the session end when the customer buys something?
Yes, for physical products. Amazon’s clause ends the session at the first of three things: 24 hours passing, the customer placing an order for a non-digital product, or the customer clicking another associate’s link. A second order later the same day is outside your session.
What happens if the customer clicks another affiliate’s link?
Your session ends at that click. Amazon lists a click through a Special Link that is not yours as one of the three events that end a session, so the later associate is credited from then on.
Why does my tag disappear from the URL after the click?
That is normal. Amazon’s help says your ID does not need to stay in the address bar, because the shopping session itself is tagged after the first click.