In late 2024, I started exploring a new side hustle idea through affiliate marketing with Shopee. I had previously tried affiliate marketing with Lazada, but the result wasn’t great, so I did not pursue it further.
You can read my sharing here:
I Did These 10 Side Hustles While Working Full Time | 10 Side Hustle Ideas To Help You Earn An Extra Income
What is Affiliate Marketing?
To explain Affiliate Marketing in layman’s terms, you earn a commission whenever someone buys a product you advertise (through a unique affiliate link). Take, for example, if you share about a dishwasher that costs $300 and the commission for affiliate marketing is 10%, it means that if someone successfully buys that dishwasher through your affiliate link, you will get a commission of $30.
Why Shopee?
Shopee is the number 1 e-commerce platform in Singapore, and most of my friends are using Shopee to buy things online. Therefore, there is high user traffic, which translates to a higher conversion rate of confirmed orders. In my personal opinion, I think Shopee has done a great job in promoting their best-selling products to both the consumers and the affiliate marketers, making it easier for them to buy or promote the products listed on Shopee platform.
First Month Performance
The first month started quite well as I managed to clock over $200 in earnings. That period also coincided with the boom period of 11.11, where there was a boom of discounts and consumer spending.
The good thing about Shopee affiliate marketing was that if someone clicked on your affiliate link but went on to buy another product, you would still earn a commission for that product, through indirect purchase, i.e. not the product that you advertised.
Icing on Cake – More Rewards for Affiliate Marketers
The icing on the cake came at the start of the year with more rewards for affiliate markers when Shopee introduced the orders rewards challenge. So, other than the commission that affiliate marketers will be earning if someone buys through their links, they will also get rewarded by fulfilling a particular number of orders within the month.
Take, for example, in the month of January 2025, if you managed to clock 104 orders, you will get a $50 Shopee voucher (with no minimum spent). I usually use the reward vouchers to purchase NTUC vouchers and use them like cash as I shop at NTUC supermarkets quite frequently.
Policy Change In Feburary 25
In Feburary 2025, Shopee changed its policy to stop commission for indirect purchase, i.e. if a person clicks on your affiliate link and does not buy the advertised product and instead buy another product, you will not get any commission. However, that purchase is still clocked as an order, which qualifies for the rewards challenge.
How To Get Started?
You can sign up as a Shopee Affiliate Marketer via this link and get $3 upon a successful registration:
https://s.shopee.sg/1LTxA9STSL
You can fill up your social media pages so that Shopee is aware your channels of marketing, which may in turn expedite the approval process. You should receive an email from Shopee once your account is approved (usually within a few days) and you can start to share your affiliate links.
Start Sharing Your Affiliate Links to earn Commissions
Next up, visit Shopee Affiliate Marketing’s dashboard page:
https://affiliate.shopee.sg/dashboard
From there, you can see all the products that are part of SAP and their respective commission %. Take for example, if you advertise JISULife fan and your friend clicks on it and buy it, Shope will be paying you a commission (9.5% of the selling price) for that completed order.
Which Platforms To Advertise?
I usually post my affiliate links on Facebook groups, in particular those buy and sell groups, such as this one: Buy and Sell Singapore | Facebook
You can also go into a particular niche area and promote related products. One example will be mummy and baby products, which you can promote in this group:
Singapore Baby & Mummy Marketplace & Forum | Facebook
I also use ChatGPT to help write compelling ads so that I do not need to crack my brain to think of an advert for these affiliate links. The below is how ChatGPT help to write an advert for Merries Diapers.
If you need a step-by-step guide on how to get started on Shopee Affiliate Marketing (SAP), do subscribe to my Patreon page as I will post on the guide (will be ready soon) to help beginners get started on Shopee Affiliate Marketing. It will include info such as where and how to advertise (all the groups that I have used, how I choose the products), as well as the strategies, tips and tricks that I use to earn a side hustle through doing SAP.
Click here to access my Patreon Page
Concluding Thoughts
I personally think that this is one of the easiest side hustle to get started, as you do not need much resources, unlike some side hustle businesses where you need to get supplies and try to sell them.
You can almost experience instant success if someone buys through your affiliate links, unlike starting a YouTube channel where you could be working for free for the initial months.
It is also very convenient to post affiliate links daily, whether on-the-go (during daily commute) or when you have pockets of free time (in the evening or at night when your child is sleeping). Shopee app is very user friendly, and once you are part of the affiliate program, you can easily find the affiliate portal within the Shopee app itself to source for those links.
Shopee has done an incredible job in pushing their best products forward so that affiliate marketers can market the popular ones to get a higher success rate.
I also like that the payout of commission is fuss-free. Registering your bank account is seamless, and you do not need tons of documents to prove your identity. The commissions are paid on a weekly basis, usually 1~2 months after they are earned. This is unlike some other platforms where you need to clock a minimum commission amoun, say $100, before you are entitled to receive your commission.
The one thing that I do not like about the SAP is that the income is inconsistent. It is not like a job where you roughly know how much you are paid (per hour or per day). There are good days where you get a good number of orders and commission but there are also bad days where you get very little orders. It all depends on the willingness of your target audience to buy the things that you advertise.
So. in conclusion, if you wish to have some extra pocket money but do not know what to do or do not wish to put too much resources, time and efforts up front, then affiliate marketing may be a good starting point or a stand-in until you find something that pays you better and is a more efficient use of your time.
I think affiliate marketing works very well if you have a wide network of friends or followers who are willing to buy what you advertise. Many YouTubers earn more through affiliate marketing than the ad revenue that they receive through YouTube. So, if you have a wide network of friends or have a huge following, make full use of it to earn a side income for yourself.
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