Amazon re-opened their affiliate program last week after stupid short sighted governor Jerry Brown signed legislation repealing the affiliate nexus law that forced Amazon to shut down their affiliate program earlier this year. This is a huge win for those of us that earn a living online and great news for those California affiliates who can now gear up to make some holiday Amazon cash. My record Amazon earnings still stands at just over $13,000 in December so make sure you take advantage of the holiday shopping season. Now for the 20+ of you from California that refunded EasyAzon after the nexus tax legislation was signed into place (completely understandable – I’d do the same thing) You can still buy EasyAzon at the same price before it’s raised in late October / early November when v2 is released. (Here’s why I had the plugin built in the first place.)
Email Sent To California Amazon Affiliates:
Hello,
As you may have heard, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation repealing the law that had forced us to terminate our California Associates. We are pleased to invite all California Associates whose accounts were closed due to the prior legislation to re-enroll in the Associates Program.
If you haven�t already re-enrolled, please click here:
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/reinstatement/main.html
When asked to sign in, please use the same email address and password that were previously associated with your Associates account. To make your return to the Program as seamless as possible, when you re-enroll, your account settings (login, Associates ID, payment information, etc.) will be the same as they were previously. Traffic you referred while your account was closed won�t be eligible for advertising fees.
For further information about re-enrollment, please click here:
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/t48
Best Regards,
The Amazon Associates Team
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/
Why This Is Good News For All 50 States:
This is the first state that has repealed the affiliate nexus tax after it was put into place (correct me if I’m wrong). Now we just need Illinois, Colorado, Connecticut, North Carolina and Hawaii to step up and repeal their laws. If you live in one of the states still affected by the Affiliate Nexus Law keep up the fight – at least you see now that it’s possible to get this stupid law repealed.
Thanks Lorraine For Sending This In
Update 1 From Tristan at Amazopia.com via the comments below:
I don�t know if I�d be celebrating quite yet. The law hasn�t really been repealed.
Amazon (and other online retailers in California) have until September 15, 2012 before they need to start charging California residents sales tax. This comes from a new bill signed by the California governor a couple weeks ago. It was only after that was signed that Amazon re-instated its California Associates.
California�s reason for the September 2012 date is that Amazon has until then to push for nationwide online sales tax laws that would replace any state-level mandates.
So either way, it looks like California affiliates are screwed� eventually. Amazon might very well have to boot its California affiliates again in a year when the Cali law goes into effect, at least.
Doh! Serves me right for writing a blog post but not more accurately reading every detail about it. A national online sales tax is something that we’ve been heading towards and if Amazon can do something without closing down the affiliate program that’d be great.
I don’t know if I’d be celebrating quite yet. The law hasn’t really been repealed.
Amazon (and other online retailers in California) have until September 15, 2012 before they need to start charging California residents sales tax. This comes from a new bill signed by the California governor a couple weeks ago. It was only after that was signed that Amazon re-instated its California Associates.
California’s reason for the September 2012 date is that Amazon has until then to push for nationwide online sales tax laws that would replace any state-level mandates.
So either way, it looks like California affiliates are screwed… eventually. Amazon might very well have to boot its California affiliates again in a year when the Cali law goes into effect, at least.
(I just started an Amazon news blog if you or anyone else wants to stay up-to-date on these and other issues.)
Hey Tristan,
That’s too bad… I’ve updated the blog post mentioning your comments and linked to your site. Thanks for commenting.
Chris
This is great news! I currently live on the east coast, but I’ll be moving to California next month. What a relief!
I’m with Tristan, not celebrating yet. On the other hand, Amazon’s promise to build facilities in California gives me some hope that the affiliate program will continue beyond September 2012, as the physical facilities should mean they’d have to collect sales tax anyhow. I’m hoping I have that right, but I’m still wary.
I hope that this does eventually count as a win – I have definitely been paranoid that the same thing could happen elsewhere. I would think (or hope) that Amazon wouldn’t jump back in so quickly if they thought this would only be a temporary situation.
Chris,
This is truly great news. Thanks for sharing. I actually did not know this happened, time for me to update my sites.
All the best,
Ian
I had heard some of what Tristan said. It could be a temporary thing. though if amazon burns it’s affiliates twice they could be in for a big name blackening.
Hopefully this is as good news as it seems and the repeal stays in place and is just the first step in all these states wising up.
Hi! What is the latest on Amazon accepting affiliates in CA?