This resource offers a list of online stores and marketplaces that offer competing affiliate programs to the Amazon Associates Program. The purpose of this post is to help travel bloggers replace their Amazon affiliate links with suitable alternatives that pay equal or higher commissions.

Article Contents

• Intro: Why you may want to replace your Amazon affiliate links
• Two things worth noting before you continue
• General Marketplaces
• Books
• Electronics
• Outdoor Gear & Clothes
• Household
• Health & Beauty
• What are your favorite affiliate programs?
• Grow your travel blog

🖊️ Intro: Why you may want to replace your Amazon links

As you might have recently heard, Amazon slashed affiliate commission rates (yet again) this past April — and this time it was a major haircut! Commission categories that were previously 6-8% were slashed down to 1-3%.

If you're relatively new to the Amazon Associates program, the reason why I wrote “yet again” above is because slashing commission rates and whimsically changing their affiliate commission structure at the detriment of affiliates is unfortunately par for the course with Amazon. I've been an affiliate of Amazon for about 15 years and it's been a bumpy ride the entire time.

Regardless of Amazon's recent commission cuts, it's never a good idea to have all your affiliate eggs in one basket. Diversification is the name of the game in any business, and affiliate marketing is no different. A well diversified affiliate portfolio means that changes like this can only cut off your toes and not your legs when it comes to your affiliate income.

For those reasons and more, the Travel is Life Creators and I have compiled a list of Amazon Associates Alternatives specifically for travel bloggers. The purpose of this post is to help travel bloggers replace or diversify their Amazon affiliate links with suitable alternatives that pay equal or higher commissions.

Alternatively, if your website was rejected or banned from the Amazon Associates Program, this list will help you find suitable alternatives to monetize your blog.

Since there is not a single alternative marketplace that encompasses all of what Amazon offers, you'll likely have to join a few affiliate programs to fully replace your Amazon affiliate links. However, remember, that's a good thing. Diversification is the goal. We don't want to trade one Goliath for another and later be in the same exact scenario when Goliath 2 changes their commission structure.

⚠️ Two things worth noting before you continue:

#1) This post is NOT intended to encourage you to completely discontinue being an affiliate for Amazon.

That decision is up to you. As you may notice on my own blog, I haven't removed all of my affiliate links to Amazon even after the commission cut. It's a big process and may not be something you want to tackle all at once, or at all. Instead, integrating new affiliate programs into your travel blog may be something you start doing moving forward for future posts. This resource today is only meant to provide you with options.

#2) Now is the time to start cloaking and managing your affiliate links.

As you begin to move away from the Amazon Associates Program and join potentially many other programs, I highly encourage you to begin cloaking and managing your affiliate links using a plugin like Pretty Links Pro (which is the one I use) or Tasty Links. There are free versions of each plugin available that can handle the jobs of link cloaking and management, while the premium versions offer more features like automatic link insertion and geotargeting.

You'll thank me in the future because using a plugin like this will make your life significantly easier by being able to manage and update all the affiliate links across your entire website from one dashboard. There are also a lot of other cool things you can do with those plugins like auto-insert affiliate links, track link clicks, etc. However even their most basic function of cloaking affiliate links will save you a lot of time.

And now, onto the list of Amazon Associate Program alternatives…

🛒 General Marketplaces

You've surely heard of these marketplaces below, but perhaps were not aware that they offered an affiliate program. They are most similar to Amazon in that they offer a wide selection of products across a variety of categories, however, their commissions, like Amazon, are not as attractive as other specialty shops featured later in this list.

Walmart Affiliate Program

Walmart initially fell behind in the e-commerce world while Amazon paved the way, but later made some big plays to modernize their online marketplace. Like Amazon, they now offer products from 3rd party sellers, but with some added perks that come with having over 11,500 brick-and-mortar locations worldwide, such as in-store and curbside pickup. They've also got a name that most people associate with “everyday low prices” which can help with conversions.

• Commission Rate: 1-4% on most categories
• Cookie Length: 3 days
• Platform: Impact Radius
• URL: https://affiliates.walmart.com

Target Affiliate Program

Target is another international superstore that's made big strides in recent years with competing against Amazon online. And like Walmart, they are able to complement their online offering with same day in-store pickup.

• Commission Rate: 1-5% on most categories, and then increased based on volume
• Cookie Length: 7 days
• Platform: Self Hosted
• URL: https://affiliate.target.com

Jet.com Affiliate Program

Jet.com was started in 2014 by Marc Lore, who had previously sold Diapers.com to Amazon.com, as a direct competitor of Amazon. It was bought by Walmart 2 years later, and since then, most employees have been transferred from the the Jet.com division to work directly on Walmart.com instead. However the site still offers a large selection of household and consumer goods and a higher commission rate than Amazon or Walmart currently offer in many categories.

• Commission Rate: 2.5% on all sales
• Cookie Length: 7 days
• Platform: Rakuten
• URL: https://jet.com/affiliates

Overstock Affiliate Program

Overstock was founded in 1999 and has since grown into a multi-billion dollar online retailer. They originally started out by exclusively selling surplus and returned merchandise, which they still do, but they eventually evolved into selling new merchandise as well. Overstock isn't first on anyone's mind when it comes to places to shop online, but they've got a recognizable name once visitors arrive on the website.

• Commission Rate: 1-6% depending on category
• Cookie Length: 14 days
• Platform: CJ
• URL: https://www.overstock.com/affiliates

📚 Books

Although you can also find books for sale on the general marketplaces listed above, these online shops specialize in online book sales.

Barnes & Noble Affiliate Program

Barnes & Noble has a selection that rivals Amazon's, and a recognizable name consumers trust. They've also still got over 600 brick and mortar stores across the U.S. that can handle in-person refunds and exchanges. The downfall of their affiliate program is that they only pay 2% compared to Amazon's 4.5% on physical books. (However rates aren't guaranteed forever as we've learned.)

• Commission Rate: 2% commissions
• Cookie Length: 1 day
• Platform: CJ
• URL: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/h/affiliates

Bookshop Affiliate Program

Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. They give away over 75% of their profit margin to stores, publications, and authors. Bookshop is still relatively new, launched in Jan 2020, but their business looks promising with a mission I can stand behind. Amazon needs some good competition in the online world of book commerce.

The exciting part for affiliates is that they offer an industry leading 10% on all book sales. However, unfortunately, earning that commission and supporting their mission comes at a price for your visitors because from what I saw, Amazon has them beat on price by 30-50% on most paperbacks and hardcovers, and currently no used book marketplace. However, they're still very new, so let's give their platform time to grow.

• Commission Rate: 10%
• Cookie Length: Not Listed
• Platform: Self Hosted
• URL: https://bookshop.org/affiliates/profile/introduction

📸 Electronics

Amazon has built a reputation as having rock bottom prices on consumer electronics, however, more often than not, that reputation precedes itself. In my own anecdotal experiences, I've found better deals on my most recent electronics purchases elsewhere, including some of the shops below — plus the added benefit of actual customer service.

B&H Photo, Video, Pro Audio Affiliate Program

B&H was started in 1973 as a small brick and mortar electronic shop in New York City, that has since grown into a 3-story electronics store with over 400k products. Everyone who shops with B&H raves about their sales assistance and customer support (including me). I recently bought my Panasonic Lumix camera, Rhode microphone, and a few other camera accessories from them. Their prices are often better than Amazon, customers know where their products are coming from (as opposed to shopping from 3rd party merchants on Amazon), and they've got the added benefit of real, live, trained sales associates you can talk to (even online). To be honest, as I write this, I question why I haven't been sending all my consumer electronic buyer traffic to them sooner.

• Commission Rate: 2-8% depending on category and sales volume
• Cookie Length: Not Listed
• Platform: Self Hosted
• URL: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/affiliates.jsp

Newegg Affiliate Program

Newegg was launched in 2001 and offers a huge selection of personal and office electronics at competitive prices. I've actually built entire desktop PCs in the past using parts from Newegg. Like Amazon, they are also a marketplace for 3rd party sellers, which means that not all sellers are created equal, so you've got to do your due diligence with each purchase. Their prices are usually inline with Amazon's prices, and you'll see a lot of overlap between sellers who list their items on both marketplaces. Unfortunately, Newegg doesn't offer a very sexy commission rate at only 1%.

• Commission Rate: 1% base commission
• Cookie Length: Not Listed
• Platform: Rakuten
• URL: https://promotions.newegg.com/affiliate_program/affiliate.html

Adorama Affiliate Program

Adorama specializes in consumer electronics with over 250,000 products in their catalogue. They opened in 1974 with a brick-and-mortar store in New York City – known as “The Photography People” among their customers. In 1998, they became one of the pioneers of online retail, launching their e-commerce website just four years after Amazon. Their prices for consumer electronics are inline with Amazon's, and customers get the added benefit of being able to shop with one seller (Adorama) instead of various 3rd party sellers on a marketplace (like Amazon).

• Commission Rate: 2% base commission, plus performance incentives
• Cookie Length: 30 days
• Platform: Impact Radius
• URL: https://www.adorama.com/g/adorama-affiliate-program

🚵‍♀️ Outdoor Gear & Clothes

I'm combining the categories of Ourdoor Gear & Travel Clothes together since the online stores below sell a healthy mix of both. This category also includes stores that sell bags, shoes, and specialty outdoors equipment.

REI Affiliate Program

Almost all outdoor enthusiasts are familiar with REI – a trusted brand in the outdoor industry since 1938. Today REI has over 162 stores across the USA and over 18 million lifetime members. Referring visitors to REI has brand recognition and the added benefit of their 100% satisfaction guarantee and free shipping to local stores.

• Commission Rate: 5% commission
• Cookie Length: 30 days
• Platform: AvantLink
• URL: https://help.rei.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44/~/affiliate-program

Backcountry Affiliate Program

Backcountry began in 1996 by two outdoor enthusiasts out of a garage in Park City, Utah with a mission to provide the best outdoor gear, and to be the best at doing it. They now run multiple brands and website including CompetitiveCyclist.com, Motosport.com, Bergfreunde.de, and Steep&cheap.com. All of the affiliate programs to their respective brands are hosted through AvantLink and ImpactRadius, so once you join those platforms, you can rep all their different sites.

• Commission Rate: 4-12% commission (depending on volume)
• Cookie Length: 30 days
• Platform: AvantLink & ImpactRadius
• URL: https://www.backcountry.com/sc/affiliate-program

Moosejaw Affiliate Program

Moosejaw was founded in 1992 by two friends who decided to sell camping equipment together instead of becoming wilderness guides. They became known for their nonsensical marketing and fun/lighthearted approach at building a brand. Moosejaw specializes in outdoor recreation apparel and gear for snowboarding, rock climbing, hiking, and camping, and have 11 brick-and-mortar stores in addition to their online marketplace. The company was bought by Walmart in 2017.

• Commission Rate: 3-10% commission (depending on volume)
• Cookie Length: 30 days
• Platform: Impact Radius, Commission Junction, & AvantLink
• URL: https://www.moosejaw.com/content/affiliates

Columbia Affiliate Program

Columbia was founded in 1938, so it definitely has withstood the test of time when it comes to outdoor brands, and it's a name that most travelers are familiar with. They offer a wide selection of outdoor clothing for travel, hiking, skiing, fishing, hunting, trail running, golf, and more.

• Commission Rate: 10%
• Cookie Length: 21 days
• Platform: Commission Junction
• URL: https://www.columbia.com/Affiliates.html

Patagonia Affiliate Program

Patagonia is an American clothing company founded in 1973 that sells outdoor clothing. Its logo is the outline of Mount Fitz Roy, the border between Chile and Argentina, in the region of Patagonia, its namesake. Patagonia considers itself an “activist company”. They donate a portion of all proceeds to environmental groups and are famous for the sustainable practices they employ. In 2012, Patagonia became a Certified B Corporation, making it a for profit company that meets “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency”

• Commission Rate: 8%
• Cookie Length: 90 days
• Platform: AvantLink
• URL: https://www.patagonia.com/affiliates.html

🏡 Household

Even though we're travel bloggers, we find ourselves also recommending products for the home. After all, most of us have a place to live during our “off season”. These online shops offer a wide selection of products for the home, but you'll definitely some some categories that cater to travelers and travel enthusiasts.

The Container Store Affiliate Program

The Container Store is everyone's favorite storage and organizational product store. Although to be fair, there aren't many brands competing specifically in that space! They have 90 locations throughout the USA and offer over 10k producsts for sale in their stores and on their website.

• Commission Rate: 2% commission
• Cookie Length: Not Listed
• Platform: Rakuten
• URL: https://www.containerstore.com/affiliate/index.html

💄 Health & Beauty

In the health and beauty space, these large retailers and marketplaces offer a wide selection of products most closely similar to what you can find on Amazon.

The Body Shop Affiliate Program

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 with a belief that business could be a force for good. They've campaigned for a cruelty-free beauty industry since 1989, and have pioneered fair trade in the beauty industry since 1987. They were acquired by Natura&Co in 2017.

• Commission Rate: 6.5% commission
• Cookie Length: 30 days
• Platform: ImpactRadius
• URL: https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-us/affiliates

Ulta Beauty Affiliate Program

Ulta Beauty carries more than 500 established and emerging beauty brands, specializing in makeup, fragrance, skin care, and hair care products. They are a trusted retailer with over 800 locations across 48 states. Given Ulta's huge selection of products, they are a great affiliate program to join to replace your Amazon links to beauty products.

• Commission Rate: 2% commission
• Cookie Length: 30 days
• Platform: ImpactRadius
• URL: https://www.ulta.com/ulta/common/affiliate.jsp

🤷‍♀️ Which affiliate programs do you love?

There are literally THOUSANDS of affiliate programs that you can join. Some through affiliate networks like CJ, AvantLink, and Rakuten, and others hosted privately through the brands themselves. The list above was not designed to be comprehensive (because that'd be impossible), but rather, to provide you with a starting place to begin replacing your Amazon links with other marketplaces that offer a wide selection of products.

What are your favorite affiliate programs? Drop a comment below and let me know.

✈️ Looking to grow your travel blog?

Check out the rest of my resources in the Travel Bloggers Success Kit and then join Travel is Life Creators, our private community of travel bloggers, vloggers, and photographers.