Do Amazon affiliate links expire?

No. An Amazon affiliate link has no expiry date. A tagged link in a video from five years ago can still earn today, as long as your Associates account is open, the tag in the link is on that account, and the product page still exists. What does expire is the session that starts when a viewer clicks: it lasts up to 24 hours. And although the link itself doesn't lapse, the things it depends on do change, which is why old links stop earning without ever "expiring".

The link doesn't expire. The click does.

People asking this question usually mean one of two different things, so it helps to separate them.

The link is a URL with your tag in it. Amazon's Program Policies don't put a lifetime on it. It works for as long as the destination and your account do.

The session is what a click on that link starts. Under the Program Policies, a session ends at the first of these:

• 24 hours pass from the click.
• The customer places an order (other than certain digital products).
• The customer clicks through another Associate's link to Amazon.

Purchases made during the session can earn you commission. After it ends, they don't, unless the viewer clicks one of your links again and starts a new one.

The shopping cart exception

If the viewer adds a product to their cart during the session, you can still be credited when they complete that order later. The Program Policies set the limit at no later than 89 days after the click; Amazon's help pages describe it as 90 days. So a viewer who clicks on Tuesday, adds the item to their cart and buys it three weeks later still counts. A viewer who clicks on Tuesday, leaves, and comes back to Amazon on their own on Friday doesn't.

Since April 2026 the policies also say the item has to ship and be paid for within 180 days of the purchase. That affects long pre-orders, not ordinary orders. More in what changed for Associates in 2026.

Do amzn.to short links expire?

We found no Amazon documentation giving short links an expiry date, and in practice short links created years ago still redirect. A short link is only a pointer to a product page, though. When that product is removed, the short link has nowhere useful to go, and it can end up on a "page not found" screen, a search page or Amazon's homepage. The viewer sees Amazon load and assumes the link works, but the product you recommended isn't in front of them, so far fewer of those clicks turn into the sale you were pointing at.

Short links also hide what is underneath. You can't see from the description whether the destination still has your tag on it. You have to follow the redirect.

Why old Amazon links stop earning without expiring

These are the usual reasons a link that once earned now doesn't:

• The product is gone. Listings are removed or merged. The link returns an error page or redirects somewhere generic.
• The product is unavailable. The page loads and can't be bought. This looks fine at a glance.
• The tag is missing. The link was copied from the address bar or trimmed, and has no tag=. It works for the viewer and pays nobody. See the missing tag guide.
• The tag isn't on your account. You changed Associates accounts, or the link came from someone else. See the tracking ID guide.
• Your account closed. Links tagged for a closed account don't credit a new one. If you rejoin with a different ID, the old links need the new tag.
• The product got worse. A newer model replaced it, or its rating has dropped. The link works and fewer people buy.

None of these produce a warning from Amazon or from YouTube. The fuller list, with what to do about each, is in why Amazon affiliate links stop earning.

Do links in old YouTube videos still earn?

Yes, if they still work. For many channels older videos bring in a large share of affiliate income, because search keeps sending viewers to a good review long after it was published. That is also why link rot costs YouTube creators more than they expect: the videos with the oldest links are often the ones with the steadiest traffic, and nobody has opened those descriptions in years.

You don't need to refresh or regenerate links on a schedule. Editing a description doesn't reset anything on Amazon's side. What old links need is checking.

How to check whether an old Amazon link still works

For a single link:

• Click it in a private window and look at where you end up. It should be the product page, not the homepage or a search page.
• Read the final URL. tag= followed by one of your IDs should be in it.
• Check the product can be bought and is still something you'd recommend.

The free Amazon link checker does the first two steps for you. Paste a link and it follows the redirects, reports whether the link is live, shows where it lands and says whether a tag is present. No signup.

For a whole channel, start with the videos that get the most views now, not the newest ones. Check their descriptions by hand, or run a scan. Channel Workbench reads your descriptions with read-only YouTube access and flags possible issues: dead links, short links that land on a homepage, and Amazon links with no tag. With your own Amazon Creators API credentials connected it can also flag unavailable or low-rated products and tags that don't appear to be on your account. Amazon limits API access to eligible Associates accounts.

How often should you recheck?

There is no official interval. A reasonable habit for a working channel: check the descriptions of your top ten videos every month or two, check everything before the end-of-year shopping season, and recheck any video whose views are steady while its products have dropped out of your earnings report.

Common questions

How long does the Amazon affiliate cookie last?

Up to 24 hours from the click, ending sooner if the customer orders or clicks another Associate's link. Items added to the cart in that window can still count if bought within roughly 90 days.

Does an affiliate link stop working if the video is old?

The age of the video doesn't matter. The state of the product page and the tag does.

Do I get paid if someone clicks today and buys next week?

Only if they added the item to their cart within the session after clicking, or clicked one of your links again before buying.

My link goes to Amazon's homepage. Has it expired?

Most likely the product behind it has been removed. Replace the link with a current product.

Do Amazon affiliate links from the Amazon app or a shortener behave differently?

What matters is the final URL after redirects. If it reaches the product and carries your tag, it is doing its job, whatever the link looked like at the start.

Session and cart rules follow Amazon's US Associates Program Policies, last checked October 2026. Related: Why Amazon affiliate links stop earning · How to find broken affiliate links on your channel · Earnings dropped? A diagnostic tree · SiteStripe image links broken · Channel Workbench vs BrokenTube