When Amazon Associates sales show up under the wrong tracking ID, the cause is almost always one of five things: a shared default or fallback tag in your code won over the site's own setting at build time, old content still has a tag hard-coded into its links, links were copied from one site to another and kept the first site's tag, SiteStripe links were created while a different tracking ID was selected, or the tag rows simply do not sum because Amazon hides low-volume rows. Amazon credits whatever tag is in the link the customer clicked, so the fix is to find the link carrying the wrong tag, set one source of truth for each site's tag, and add a build check that fails when a link carries a tag that does not belong to that site.
A tracking ID is a label on your Associates account, such as yoursite-20, that Amazon uses to split clicks, orders and earnings by source. It travels in the tag parameter of every Amazon link (amazon.com/dp/ASIN?tag=yoursite-20). Amazon's help pages describe tracking IDs as a way to analyze different websites or merchandising strategies while all earnings accumulate under a single Associates account. The Tracking ID report in Associates Central then shows each tag as its own row.
How does Amazon decide which tracking ID gets the sale?
Amazon credits the sale to the tracking ID in the Special Link the customer clicked, inside a session that ends after 24 hours, when the customer places an order, or when they click another Associate's link. The Program Policies define that session, and items added to the cart during it still qualify if the order is completed no later than 89 days after the initial click-through.
That is why a sale on the wrong row is not a reporting error. It means a link on one site carried another site's tag. The Program Policies also make formatting your responsibility: purchases that are not correctly tracked because your links are not properly formatted do not count. A mistyped tag is worse than a wrong one, because a wrong tag from your own account still pays you.
The five causes we find most often.
We run a portfolio of affiliate sites on one Associates account with one tracking ID per site, and we ran into this on our own sites when one site's revenue started appearing under another site's tag. These are the causes, roughly in the order we now check them.
- Fallback tag winning at build time: shared code holds a default tag (often the first site's) and uses it when the site's own variable is missing, misnamed or not loaded during the build, so every link on the second site ships with the first site's tag
- Hard-coded tags in old content: articles, product tables or JSON data written before the tag moved into config still carry tag= in the raw URL, and those links ignore whatever the site setting says
- Links copied between sites: a product block or comparison table is reused on a sister site and brings the original site's tag with it, including short amzn.to links where the tag is hidden until the redirect
- SiteStripe tag selection: SiteStripe inserts the last used tracking ID by default, so links made right after working on another site carry that site's tag
- Rows that never add up: low-volume tags are masked in the report, so a site can look like it lost sales when its numbers are sitting in the Other row instead of on another site's row
The last one is not a wrong tag at all, and it is worth ruling out first. We cover it in why the Amazon Associates Other row appears.
How do you check which tag a link carries?
Check the tag in the link as it is served on production, not in your settings screen or your source files. Three checks, in this order.
The rendered page. Load the live page, open developer tools, and search the page source for amazon.com and tag=. Every link should carry the one tag that belongs to that site.
Short links. An amzn.to link does not show its tag. Open it in a private window and read the final URL in the address bar after the redirect. The tag parameter in the resolved URL is the one Amazon credits.
The Tracking ID report. In Associates Central, open Reports and view the Tracking ID summary for a full completed month. A site with clicks but no row, or a tag whose clicks jump in the same week another site's clicks drop, points you at the date the wrong tag started shipping.
Diagnose top to bottom.
This is the order we run. Each step isolates one layer so you stop at the first real failure.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Every link on site B carries site A's tag | Shared fallback tag won at build time | Remove the default, fail the build when the site tag is missing |
| New pages on site B are fine, old pages credit site A | Hard-coded tag= in older content | Strip tags from stored URLs, add the tag at render |
| One section of site B credits site A | Product block or table copied from site A | Rebuild those links from site B's config |
| Short links credit the wrong row | amzn.to link made with another tag selected | Resolve each short link, replace with full URLs |
| Wrong tag appears right after a deploy | Environment variable missing or renamed on the host | Set it for production, redeploy, re-check the source |
| Site B shows clicks but almost no orders, totals still match | Low-volume masking into the Other row | Read a full completed month, not a partial range |
| Sales vanish from every row | Mistyped or malformed tag | Correct the tag; malformed links are not tracked |
| Both sites credit one tag on shared templates | Tag imported inside a shared component | Pass the tag in from each site, never import it |
How do you stop it from happening again?
Give each site exactly one source of truth for its tag, and make the build fail if any outbound Amazon link carries a tag that does not belong to that site. This is the fix we now run across our own sites, in three parts.
- One source of truth per site: the tag lives in one config value for that site, with no default in shared code. Links are stored without a tag, and a single link builder appends the site's tag when the page renders.
- A build-time audit: after the build, a script scans the generated pages and data for Amazon links, extracts every tag parameter, and exits with an error if any tag is not on that site's allowlist or if any Amazon link has no tag at all.
- A monthly per-tag reconciliation: at the start of each month, export the Tracking ID report for the completed month, compare each tag's clicks to the outbound clicks your own analytics logged for that site, and investigate any tag that moves while its site's traffic did not.
The audit belongs with the rest of your tracking hygiene, the same discipline as our conversion tracking audit checklist.
How many tracking IDs can one Amazon Associates account have?
Amazon allows up to 100 tracking IDs per Associates account, created under Manage Your Tracking IDs. As of October 2026 that is the limit in Amazon's help pages, and Amazon points you to Associates Customer Service if you need more. All of those IDs pay into the same account. So a wrong tag between two of your own sites costs you reporting, not commission.
Does a tracking ID have to match a site in my website list?
No. Amazon's help pages do not tie tracking IDs to specific entries in your website list, and the tag in the link decides attribution. The website list is a separate requirement: Amazon asks you to identify your sites and keep your account information complete, accurate and up to date, which you do under Account Settings, Edit your website list. Add every site that carries your links. Just do not expect the website list to correct a wrong tag.
What is normal and what is a red flag?
Amazon updates ordered items reports hourly and reports most orders within three hours, while the Earnings report runs only through the previous day. So a gap of a day between your click logs and Amazon's rows is normal. A tag that never shows up is not.
- Normal: small tags show dashes or disappear into the Other row on short date ranges and come back on a completed month
- Red flag: a sister site's tag appears in the live HTML of a page
- Red flag: one tag's clicks rise in the same week another site's tag drops to near zero, with no traffic change
- Red flag: the Tracking ID report shows a tag you do not recognize, or no row for a site that clearly gets traffic
If the tag is right but clicks still do not turn into orders, check the product side next: links to unavailable products earn clicks and nothing else.
Why are my Amazon affiliate sales showing under a different tracking ID?
Amazon credits the tracking ID in the link the customer clicked. If sales show under another tag, a link on your page carried that tag. Find it in the live page source or by resolving amzn.to short links, then fix the source.
Do I lose commission if a sale lands on the wrong tracking ID?
Not if the tag belongs to your own account. All tracking IDs on one Associates account accumulate earnings under that account, so you are paid either way. You lose accurate per-site reporting. A mistyped or malformed tag is different: Amazon's policies say purchases from links that are not properly formatted are not counted.
How do I change the tracking ID in SiteStripe?
SiteStripe fills in the last tracking ID you used. When you create a Text, Image or Text and Image link, pick the tracking ID for the site you are building for from the drop-down before you copy the link.
How many tracking IDs can I create in Amazon Associates?
Up to 100 per account, through Manage Your Tracking IDs in Associates Central. Amazon's help pages direct you to Associates Customer Service for anything beyond that.
How long does an Amazon Associates cookie last?
The session starts when a customer clicks your link and ends after 24 hours, when they place an order, or when they click another Associate's link. Items added to the cart during that session still earn if the order is completed within 89 days of the original click.