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What is your MOST favorite and LEAST favorite internet marketing platform?

by Jon Patrick
11 replies
I'm interested in knowing your opinions on the various internet marketing platforms/companies. Since this is a matter of opinion, I'm putting it in terms of MOST and LEAST favorite. Mine goes like this:

MOST FAVORITE:

ClickBank by far. I've used them for years and they have been rock solid in every way. They pay on time and their reporting tools are good. They have reasonable performance standards - in other words, they don't freak out about a tiny number of refunds like some other platforms. They've been around for a long time, so I can be confident that the work I do will not become irrelevant in the near future.

LEAST FAVORITE:

Ebay! I honestly hate this company. They constantly change the rules and the fee structure. Their performance standards are completely absurd - I've sold on Ebay with well over 90% positive feedback and over 4/5 star average ratings in every category, and been told that I'm not good enough to keep selling. Give me a break. Any idiot on the street can tell you that 90+ percent customer satisfaction and 4+ out of 5 stars is good, not bad. A three year old can tell you that.

Ebay basically wants to be Amazon, and guess what Ebay, you're not Amazon. You're Ebay, and you were the best at being Ebay, but now you've ruined it. The Ebay community forums are full of complaints that sales on Ebay have taken a nosedive, and I have experienced this myself as I spent a few weeks selling there again this year.

/RANT

So, what do you guys think? What is your most favorite and least favorite internet marketing platform or company?
#favorite #internet #marketing #platform
  • Profile picture of the author DubDubDubDot
    Originally Posted by Jon Patrick View Post

    I've sold on Ebay with well over 90% positive feedback and over 4/5 star average ratings in every category, and been told that I'm not good enough to keep selling. Give me a break. Any idiot on the street can tell you that 90+ percent customer satisfaction and 4+ out of 5 stars is good, not bad.
    You have a warped definition of satisfaction if you think a 90% seller rating is good. That is terrible and you should have re-evaluated what you were selling (or how you were positioning it) before they banned you.

    It's interesting that you cite Clickbank as your favorite platform because they aren't banning you for too many refunds. Take your eBay experience as an early warning of what could happen elsewhere in the future.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
      Originally Posted by DubDubDubDot View Post

      You have a warped definition of satisfaction if you think a 90% seller rating is good. That is terrible and you should have re-evaluated what you were selling (or how you were positioning it) before they banned you.
      Your tone leaves something to be desired. Setting that aside...

      If you ask 100 people on the street whether a business with over 90% customer satisfaction is a good business or a bad business, virtually every person is going to say "good business." You would be in a very small minority if you think otherwise.

      I never said I was banned. There are "seller performance" warnings before that happens.

      It's worth noting that Ebay's own customer satisfaction rating is well below 90%, and that the community forums are full of sellers complaining that sales are dying off.

      It's interesting that you cite Clickbank as your favorite platform because they aren't banning you for too many refunds.
      That's not the only reason I gave, and "too many" is your characterization, not mine. I simply believe that having reasonable performance standards is a good thing.

      Take your eBay experience as an early warning of what could happen elsewhere in the future.
      Thank you, but I've been doing business online for about ten years now, and I can take care of myself. The reality is that some platforms are better than others, and Ebay falls under the category of "others" in my view.
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      • Profile picture of the author MarkD98
        Clickbank has their act together and I am no fan of ebay at all. Problem with ClickBank is that a lot of the merchants just want you to send traffic, they grab the email and forget about your commission or even marketing the product. Just want to build their list.

        For ad networks that stink - Edomz is total junk, InMobi is total junk plus you can't get ads approved or get refunds. Definitely steer clear of InMobi as many others have mentioned. Edomz will at least respond but InMobi - just crooks as far as I can tell. No response. Can't get ads approved to spend my funds and can't get my money out.

        I really like Peerfly and Affiliaxe - great offers, great service. I am beginning to think that LeadsMarket may be not completely square because I am sending pay per call traffic but not getting conversions. I know a lot like CPAway but I find their offers to be below par compared to Peerfly and Affiliaxe.

        I also find BuySellAds way over promises on the traffic or views. Some of their sites have almost no real content and Alexa gives way different traffic stats. I still launch campaigns through them but I am looking for better exchanges.

        Surprisingly, Shareasale burned me because I sent significant qualified traffic to an offer that they closed down but did not warn about it or send me an email - just bam!

        Anyone have recommendations on alternatives to the crappy InMobi network?
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  • Profile picture of the author firstdrum
    I agree with you on eBay as well. The costs of using their site now far outweigh the benefits. It started out being a great site. Now it's something else.
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    • Profile picture of the author MarkD98
      Yeah, Ebay is price gauging now for their site. I tried Bonanza but there was not a lot of love there. Any options to Ebay that run nationally?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
      Originally Posted by firstdrum View Post

      I agree with you on eBay as well. The costs of using their site now far outweigh the benefits. It started out being a great site. Now it's something else.
      Yeah, they used to be something special. They were known as a place for people selling their own stuff, they had reasonable fees, their feedback system let you see the seller's performance and decide for yourself whether or not to do business with him or her, etc.

      At some point they suffered from some very poor management decisions. Hey, let's try to attract more big box retailers. Hey, let's see just how much we can squeeze out of sellers with our fee structure. Hey, let's prohibit perfectly good sellers with 90+ percent customer satisfaction from selling. As if a buyer isn't smart enough to decide for themselves whether they want to buy from a seller with 93% customer satisfaction, or 96%, or 78%, or 35%. Let the feedback page do its job!

      Ebay used to be a powerhouse of a platform. Now they are becoming to Amazon what Yahoo! is to Google. And to be frank, they deserve it.
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      • Profile picture of the author DubDubDubDot
        Originally Posted by Jon Patrick View Post

        As if a buyer isn't smart enough to decide for themselves whether they want to buy from a seller with 93% customer satisfaction, or 96%, or 78%, or 35%. Let the feedback page do its job!
        The problem with your theory is that eBay has to dedicate resources to dealing with bad sellers. Companies of this size know exactly what bad sellers are costing them. They know exactly how much time/money is being spent dealing with unhappy buyers. When that $ amount moves too close to what they are making off of you or you become a threat to the atmosphere, they tell you to take a hike.

        Originally Posted by Jon Patrick View Post

        Ebay used to be a powerhouse of a platform. Now they are becoming to Amazon what Yahoo! is to Google. And to be frank, they deserve it.
        While your emotions would like to make you believe that eBay is tanking, the reality is they continue to do well.
        EBAY Annual Income Statement - eBay Inc. Annual Financials
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        • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
          Originally Posted by DubDubDubDot View Post

          The problem with your theory is that eBay has to dedicate resources to dealing with bad sellers. Companies of this size know exactly what bad sellers are costing them.
          I think we'll continue to disagree when you think a seller with over 90% customer satisfaction is a bad seller.

          While your emotions would like to make you believe that eBay is tanking, the reality is they continue to do well.
          - Those number only go up to 2013. The hacking fiasco and the buzz about crashing sales happened in 2014.

          - I'm talking about Ebay the marketplace, not Ebay the company. Ebay the company owns Paypal, which props up their revenue and stock price.
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  • Profile picture of the author mostphere
    I never use Ebay in my life to sell some things, but since the last Google update and it hit Ebay hard, I guess that new player who still think to play on Ebay need to reconsider that for sure.

    Although not all Ebay seller generated income not only rely on organic search, losing it as an advantage is not good.

    I like amazon though, how they manage the seller also really professional.
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  • Profile picture of the author DubDubDubDot
    lol @ anyone complaining about eBay's fees. Where else are you going to sell for a similar fee that involves you not having to market your stuff?

    So many people just like to bitch and moan about a 10% fee for eBay to drop buyers right into your lap.
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  • Profile picture of the author skyro
    I can say ebay was the first way I found to make money online but haven't sold anything there for years now.
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