Your Gear Recommendations Are Worth Money
If you're a creator who makes videos, writes tutorials, or shares projects online, people are constantly asking: "What tools do you use? What camera is that? Where did you get that?" Every time you answer that question without an affiliate link, you're leaving money on the table.
A well-built gear list is one of the most reliable sources of passive income for creators — once it's set up, it earns without you doing anything extra.
What Makes a Gear List Actually Work
Not all gear lists are created equal. Here's what separates the ones that earn from the ones that sit unused:
1. Organize by Use Case, Not Category
Don't just dump all your gear into one list. Break it into specific lists that match what people are searching for: "My Video Setup," "Tools I Use for Woodworking," "Budget Beginner Metalworking Kit." Specific lists rank better in search and convert better because visitors know exactly what they're getting.
2. Affiliate Tags on Every Link
This sounds obvious, but it's where most creators fail. They paste a product URL, forget to add their tag, and lose the commission. Use a tool like MakerManifest that automatically injects your affiliate parameters — you paste any Amazon URL and your Associates tag is added automatically.
3. Short Links You Control
Raw Amazon affiliate URLs are long, ugly, and break constantly. Use short links you control (like mkr.ms/your-gear). When Amazon restructures their URLs or a product changes, you update the destination once and every link you've ever shared still works.
4. Accurate, Honest Descriptions
Write a sentence or two about why you actually use the item. "This is the table saw I've had for 3 years — it's not the cheapest but the fence is rock solid" converts far better than "Great table saw!" Authenticity is your competitive advantage over affiliate spam sites.
5. Put the Link Everywhere
Your gear list short link should be in:
- ● Every YouTube video description (at the top, not the bottom)
- ● Your YouTube channel about section
- ● Your Instagram/TikTok bio
- ● Your email newsletter signature
- ● Any relevant blog posts or tutorials
How Much Can a Gear List Earn?
It varies enormously based on your audience size and niche, but a creator with 10,000 YouTube subscribers in a tool-heavy niche (woodworking, metalworking, electronics) can realistically earn $200–$1,000/month from gear list affiliate links — mostly from Amazon. Creators with 100k+ subscribers in active maker niches often earn several thousand dollars per month from gear alone.
The key is consistency: build the list, put the link everywhere, and update it as your gear evolves.
Get Started
Create your MakerManifest account and build your first gear list today. It takes about 20 minutes to set up a list with 10–15 items, connect your Amazon affiliate tag, and get a short link ready to share.