How to Shorten Amazon Links: 3 Ways, Plus the Rules for Affiliate Links

There are three ways to shorten an Amazon link. Cut the product URL down to amazon.com/dp/ followed by the product's ASIN. If you're an Amazon Associate, build a short link with SiteStripe. Or put the full link behind a link shortener such as CodeQR, so you can count clicks, change the destination after you share it and, on a paid plan, use your own domain. Affiliate links also have to follow Amazon's rules on shorteners, cloaking and print.

What makes an Amazon link long

Every product in the Amazon store has an ASIN. Amazon's seller site defines it as "a unique 10-character alphanumeric code assigned to every product listed in the Amazon store" and says that in a product page's URL, "the ASIN appears after '/dp/'" (What is an ASIN?, read on October 29, 2026).

The ASIN is the part that identifies the product. A link copied from the address bar usually wraps it in more text, such as the product's name and everything after a question mark, and you don't need any of that to open the page.

1. Trim the link to the ASIN

Find /dp/ in the product's URL and copy the 10 characters that follow it. Your short link is amazon.com/dp/ plus those characters, for example amazon.com/dp/B07XJ8C8F5. When we tested it on October 29, 2026, the trimmed URL opened the same product page as the full URL copied from a search result.

It takes seconds and costs nothing. But the link still points straight at Amazon, so you can't see how many people clicked it or change where it goes once it's out. If you're an Amazon Associate, a trimmed link also loses your tracking tag, so use one of the other two methods for affiliate links.

2. Build a short link with SiteStripe (Amazon Associates)

If you're in the Amazon Associates program, Amazon makes short links for you. Its tools page for Associates says: "You can even build shortlinks from the sitestripe toolbar" (read on October 29, 2026).

You get a short affiliate link without another tool. For a link on your own domain, or one whose destination you can change after you've shared it, you need a link shortener.

3. Shorten an Amazon link with CodeQR

A link shortener keeps the full Amazon URL as the destination and gives you a short link that redirects to it. In CodeQR:

1. Create a short link and paste the full Amazon URL as the destination. For an affiliate link, paste the URL with your tag in it.
2. Pick the domain. On the Free plan the link uses a CodeQR domain; your own domain is available from Starter. See pricing.
3. Choose the end of the link yourself, for example /amazon-desk-lamp, instead of a random one. See custom short link keys.
4. Save the link and share it.

When someone clicks, CodeQR sends them to the destination as you saved it, including everything after the question mark. A tag in your Amazon URL reaches Amazon as it was.

Change where the link goes after you share it

Products sell out, get a new model or move to a new listing. You can edit a CodeQR link's destination at any time, and every place you already posted it, from a video description to last month's newsletter, then sends people to the new page.

Send each country to its own Amazon store

An amazon.com link sends a shopper in the UK to the US store. With Geographic Targeting, on Starter and above, one short link sends visitors from the countries you pick to a different URL. Set the amazon.com page as the main destination and add the United Kingdom with the amazon.co.uk page for the same product. Visitors from every other country go to the main destination.

Associates also have Amazon's own tool for this. In Amazon's words, "OneLink is Amazon's geo-redirection solution to help you monetize your international traffic," and it "redirects them to their local Amazon website" (OneLink, read on October 29, 2026).

See how many people click your Amazon links

Each CodeQR link counts its clicks. Every plan shows clicks over time and where they come from by country and city; device and referrer breakdowns start on Starter. See track link clicks and QR code scans.

To compare channels, make one link per channel, say one for your Instagram bio and one for your newsletter. CodeQR only counts clicks. Whether a visitor buys is something only Amazon sees.

Amazon affiliate links: the rules before you shorten

If you're an Amazon Associate, Amazon's Program Policies (updated April 14, 2026; read on October 29, 2026) cover shorteners directly. Amazon calls the links in its program Special Links.

• A shortener is allowed as long as it stays clear that the link goes to Amazon. The policy reads: "You will not use a link shortening service, button, hyperlink or other ad placement in a manner that makes it unclear that you are linking to an Amazon Site." Say so where you post the link, for example with "on Amazon" next to it. A slug like /amazon-desk-lamp helps too.
• Amazon has to be able to see where the click came from. Another rule bans links that "cloak, hide, spoof, or otherwise obscure the URL of your Site containing Special Links (including by use of Redirecting Links)" so that Amazon can't tell which site a customer clicked through from. CodeQR's Link Cloaking, on Pro and above, keeps your short link in the address bar instead of the destination's. Leave it off for Amazon links.
• Affiliate links can't go in print. The policies bar using "any Special Link in connection with any printed material, ebook, mailing, or any oral solicitation."
• Email and messages need the recipient's consent. Special Links are allowed "in emails, SMS and direct messaging from your social media Sites; provided, that such communications are solicited (i.e., opted into by the receiving customer)."
• You have to say that you earn from the link. The Associates Operating Agreement requires you to "clearly and prominently state" this, or a similar statement it allowed before: "As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases."

Amazon updates these documents, so read the current versions before you set up your links.

Can you put an Amazon link in a QR code?

For a link that isn't an affiliate link, yes. An author at a book signing can put a QR code on a poster that opens the book's Amazon page, and a brand can put one on a trade show banner that opens its products on Amazon. Make it a dynamic QR code: it holds a short link, so when the listing changes you edit the destination instead of reprinting, and every scan is counted.

For an affiliate link, the print rule above applies. A QR code on a flyer, a poster or a package is printed material, and Amazon's policies make no exception for QR codes.

Which method to use

Trim the URL to the ASIN when you need a clean link fast and don't care about click data, your own domain or affiliate credit. Use SiteStripe if you're an Associate and only need the link shorter.

Use a link shortener when you'll want to change the destination later, count clicks by country and channel, send each country to its own store or put the link on your own domain. With an affiliate link, make it clear the link goes to Amazon and leave cloaking off.

For more on what a shortener does, see link shortening.