Affiliate marketing examples and how to get started

Affiliate marketing means you recommend a product with a special link, and the seller pays you a commission if someone buys through it. You make nothing from a click alone. You are paid only for the sales the programme counts. That makes it a slow route at first, because it rewards trust more than reach: people must believe you would recommend the product anyway. Nobody can promise an amount, and most new accounts earn little for the first weeks.

You do not need a website. A creator can share links in a bio, a Story link sticker, a link-in-bio page or a DM. A Reel caption cannot hold a clickable link, so the link travels another way. What you do need is a reason for people to ask what you use, which is why the niches below all share one trait: followers who already ask where something came from.

1. You join a programme, directly with a store or through a network, and it gives you a tracking link.
2. You share that link with a post, a Story or a message, and disclose that it is an affiliate link.
3. Someone clicks. The programme starts a tracking window, which is how long a click can earn you a commission. Amazon’s India agreement sets it at 24 hours from the click.
4. If they buy within the window, the sale is recorded. The programme may later reject it if the order is cancelled or returned.
5. You are paid after the programme’s waiting period, once your balance passes its minimum. Both vary by programme.

These are described patterns, not claims about what anyone earns. Each shows what a creator recommends, how it reaches the audience and where it can go wrong. Commission rates come from Amazon Associates India’s fee schedule dated August 2026, which pays different rates by category, so the category of what you recommend affects the result.

Notice what the table shows. The best-looking niche is not the one with the highest percentage. It is the one where your audience already asks what to buy, because a lower rate on a sale that happens beats a high rate on a click that never converts. For a small account, a handful of useful recommendations in one niche usually beats a long list of links.

There are three places to look. First, a store’s own programme, such as Amazon Associates India, where you join directly and use its links. Second, a network or deal-sharing platform that gives you links to many brands under one account. Cuelinks calls itself an affiliate network for creators and publishers and lists Chrome extension, Telegram bot and link tools alongside its dashboard. EarnKaro describes itself as a deal-sharing platform, says it is free to join and states a ₹10 withdrawal threshold, as of October 2026. Third, a brand’s own page: look for an affiliate or partner link in the footer of a site you already use.

Each option has a trade-off. Joining a store directly gives you the programme’s own rules and report but one catalogue. A network gives you many brands but adds a middleman, so read who pays you and when. Our guide to the best affiliate programmes for creators in India goes through the main Indian options by use case.

Tip: Never pay to join an affiliate programme. A genuine programme earns from sales, not from your sign-up fee. If one asks for money to “activate” your account, or promises a fixed daily income, it is not the kind described here.

Take Amazon Associates India, since it is where most Indian creators start, and its Operating Agreement is public. Its fee schedule dated August 2026 gives different rates by category: from 10% for apparel, shoes, luggage, watches and beauty, down to 2% for data storage devices, with 5% for categories not otherwise listed. It also lists a few fixed amounts, such as ₹100 for a Prime paid membership. The agreement says Amazon pays approximately 60 days after the end of each calendar month, and may hold payment until the total due reaches ₹1,000 for NEFT transfers. The agreement also lets Amazon end an account at any time, with or without cause.

Other programmes work differently. Flipkart’s affiliate page lists category rates, for example 6 to 12% for books and ebooks and up to 5% for mobiles, but it does not state its eligibility rules or payout terms on that page. EarnKaro’s page lists a low withdrawal threshold but no timelines, and Cuelinks’ homepage states no payment terms. That is the point to take away: before you join, find the programme’s own terms on commission, tracking window, payout minimum, payment method and where links may be shared. If a programme’s page does not say, ask its support or look in your dashboard after signing up.

Commission is income, and the programme’s payments to you are taxable in the usual way. We cover the principles in our guide to income tax for creators in India, and a chartered accountant can apply them to you.

This is general information, not legal advice. India’s advertising self-regulator, ASCI, treats a material connection broadly: money, free or discounted products, gifts and similar. An affiliate link is one, and “Affiliate” is among the labels ASCI’s influencer guidelines accept. ASCI says a disclosure should be upfront, not buried in a bio, at the end of a video, behind a “more” tap or inside a pile of hashtags. For a video of 15 seconds or less, the label has to stay on screen for at least 3 seconds. Between 15 seconds and two minutes, for a third of the video’s length.

Amazon adds its own requirement. The Operating Agreement’s required statement is “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” For its influencer programme, it asks for a clear and conspicuous disclosure, with examples such as “#ad” or “#PaidPartnership”. Put the statement where people will see it, such as on your link-in-bio page and in the post, and not only in a footer.

You cannot improve what you cannot see. Keep a simple sheet with one row per post: the date, what you recommended, where the link went, clicks and sales from the programme’s own report, and what you changed. After a month the sheet tells you which type of post sells and which only gets likes. Where a programme lets you attach a tag or sub-ID to a link, use one per post, but check that your programme allows it.

DMFast, which publishes this guide, offers tracked links and a link-in-bio page, and its comment-to-DM can send a link after someone comments a keyword. The first message must be plain text, because Instagram and Messenger allow no links in it, and the link follows when the person replies. It works with Instagram professional accounts and Facebook Pages only. If the programme you use forbids sharing links in private messages, don’t use it for that. Read its rules first.

1. Day 1: pick one niche where followers already ask what you use. List ten things you use at least weekly.
2. Day 2: read the terms of one programme from start to finish. Note the tracking window, payout minimum and the places links may not go.
3. Day 3: apply or sign up. Expect a review if the programme requires an application, and don’t share a link before you are approved.
4. Day 4: write your disclosure line, and set it up in your bio and on your link page.
5. Day 5: make one post that solves a problem and includes one product in use. Add the link and the label.
6. Day 6: answer every comment asking about the product, honestly, including when it is not the right choice.
7. Day 7: check clicks and sales in the programme’s report. Write down one thing to change next week.

A few warnings. Don’t buy followers or comments to look bigger, don’t recommend products you have not used, and don’t invent reviews. Each breaks a platform rule or a programme rule, and each costs you the trust that affiliate income depends on.