12 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
12 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

What new stats should Clickbank display?

by Michele Buch
10 replies
Clickbank has a few stats that help one decide whether or not to promote a product.
Imagine a magical world (or even this "real" one, though, what is real anyway) where any stat is possible. What stat(s) would you like CB to display?

Here are mine.

"Real" world: The percent refund rate. If a lot of buyers return the product, that's a bad sign. I'd like to know upfront.

"Dream" world: Percent rehashed garbage. How much of the product is simply old, recycled ideas, has information that no longer works or isn't relevant, or advocates practices that could get you in trouble? In other words, the percent of nothing new, generic, outdated, and/or illegal/dangerous garbage content.

PS: I always check the WF reviews before purchasing any CB product.

Thanks for your opinions. Newbies to WF, here's a chance to add to your post count.
Michele
#clickbank #display #stats
  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    cbengine.com gives you the refund rates, although you do need to be a pro-member.

    If you want a way of determining which CB products to promote, then you might want to check out Brad Callen's CB Surge.

    CBSurge - Clickbank Analytics and Affiliate Marketing Software
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3715665].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Michele Buch View Post

      The percent refund rate. If a lot of buyers return the product, that's a bad sign. I'd like to know upfront.
      Why would other affiliates' refund rates be relevant to you, Michele? They certainly wouldn't to me.

      On the subject of refunds in general, if it helps/interests anyone, I can pass on a little bit of information mentioned to me a Clickbank employee last year.

      It's all second-hand anyway, and a little out of date now, of course, but I don't think any of it's surprising at all. It's fairly self-evident, really ...

      - Although there are a few niches that do have notably higher-than-average refund rates, refund-rates often vary very widely between different affiliates and overall they have more to do with how the product's pre-sold than with the product itself;

      - Forex products have a higher-than-average refund rate (Clickbank believe that this is because many are backfitted garbage and they commonly don't fulfil the claims made on their sales pages);

      - "IM-advice" products have a higher-than-average refund rate (I wasn't offered a reason for this but I think one doesn't have to be Einstein to theorise one or two? );

      - "Make Money Online" products have a higher-than-average refund rate (the comment just above applies here, too);

      - Any product which has a significantly high refund rate, across affiliates collectively, is promptly withdrawn from the marketplace, because obviously Clickbank would be losing money on it overall, with administrative and processing fees - and they're not in business to lose money.

      The last point above, of course, gives the lie to the hysterical nonsense one sometimes sees posted in forums (not usually here) about "Product XYZ has a 70% refund-rate". It doesn't. It can't. It wouldn't be for sale on that basis.

      Originally Posted by UMS View Post

      cbengine.com gives you the refund rates
      It absolutely doesn't, Peter. It claims to. That's very, very different indeed.

      CBEngine, just like all other such "services", has no information about refund rates that you and I don't have. Clickbank doesn't publish this information. Some services claim to be able to "work it out" from information that Clickbank does publish. It's all nonsense, as Clickbank will quickly and happily confirm, if you simply ask them.

      Originally Posted by UMS View Post

      If you want a way of determining which CB products to promote ...
      ... I have my own little 10-point checklist, to select products to promote.

      I'm pleased to say that it seems to have been helpful to many here.

      It's also free, and anyone interested can read it here (War Room membership not required).
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3716360].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Michele Buch
        Alexa,

        I was just learning that a lot of guys want to have a drink with you on the
        "Which Internet Marketer Would You Most Like to Have a Beer With?" thread started April 12th,
        and was wondering who this successful female internet marketer who has won the hearts of many was.
        And then, wow, you replied to my post.

        Thank you so much for a detailed answer. I learned a lot. The part about the Clickbank refunds was especially interesting--it is good to know. Thank you also for the link to the "Selecting the product" post. Those are great tips.

        With appreciation,
        Michele
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3716716].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Fermina
      Originally Posted by UMS View Post

      cbengine.com gives you the refund rates, although you do need to be a pro-member.

      If you want a way of determining which CB products to promote, then you might want to check out Brad Callen's CB Surge.

      CBSurge - Clickbank Analytics and Affiliate Marketing Software
      Clickbank does not release these stats to outsiders. I don't know how they get the statistics but I KNOW that clickbank does not give them the info
      Signature
      Selling these Domains
      Dog-Breeds.com
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3716727].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by dags View Post

        I don't know how they get the statistics but I KNOW that clickbank does not give them the info
        Absolutely right.

        Call me a skepchick, but I think they "interpret" those statistics, i.e. "dress it all up" and "run it through their own secret, proprietory algorithm" and then put it on a glossy website to "make it look official and authoritative". Quite a lot of "statistics" are like that, though.

        In the 1980's Congress accepted an "expert report" saying that 45 homeless people died every second. It wasn't until a lot later that someone pointed out that that would be 1.4 Billion people per year, and the entire US population as that time was about 225 Million.

        Statistics and gullible people are a match made in heaven for people selling "interpretative services".
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3716961].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Matt Callen
        Originally Posted by dags View Post

        Clickbank does not release these stats to outsiders. I don't know how they get the statistics but I KNOW that clickbank does not give them the info
        Which stats are you referring to that CB doesn't give us? They don't provide the refund rate, and the formula that some cb analytics sites use isn't all that reliable...

        HOWEVER, all of the other sales stats that CBSurge shows are totally accurate and have come straight from CB. We provide up to one year's worth of stats shown in the graphs, and it's all right there on the CB Marketplace page.

        The marketability rating (or "difficulty rating") that shows up is not from CB. Maybe this is what you were referring to (??)

        This comes from our own proprietary formula that takes into account a bunch of different SEO factors (competitor's backlink counts, PR, onpage keyword factors, total competition for keyword, and some other off-page seo stuff that I can't disclose here.... then plug it into our formula to get a rating number) to see how difficult the "product name keyword" would be to rank high in Google. Then we return a "difficulty rating number". So it actually checks against competing sites for the chosen keyword.
        Signature

        #1 Best Shopping Cart and Affiliate Management Software!
        >> PayKickstart.com <<

        Warrior Recommended #1 Shopping Cart: www.PayKickstart.com
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3727599].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          Call me a skepchick, but I think they "interpret" those statistics, i.e. "dress it all up" and "run it through their own secret, proprietary algorithm" and then put it on a glossy website to "make it look official and authoritative".
          Wow ... looks like that wasn't far off the mark, then.

          Originally Posted by Matt Callen View Post

          This comes from our own proprietary formula that takes into account a bunch of different SEO factors (competitor's backlink counts, PR, onpage keyword factors, total competition for keyword, and some other off-page seo stuff that I can't disclose here
          Sounds like a "secret, proprietary algorithm" to me.

          Call me a skepchick, but although I'm casting absolutely no aspersions in this individual case, of course, that's what these things inevitably boil down to, when people mysteriously claim to have "information" that nobody else has, and that way it can never be independently verified or refuted.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3727732].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author uleesgold
    Banned
    To see if anyone has gotten a refund for sales through your affiliate links, you have to log in, click reporting, and then the transactions tab.

    The daily earnings is the first thing you see when logging into click bank, and it doesn't reflect on whether or not there's refunds. I complained about this little fact about clickbank in this video.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3727717].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    Originally Posted by Michele Buch View Post

    Clickbank has a few stats that help one decide whether or not to promote a product.
    Imagine a magical world (or even this "real" one, though, what is real anyway) where any stat is possible. What stat(s) would you like CB to display?

    Here are mine.

    "Real" world: The percent refund rate. If a lot of buyers return the product, that's a bad sign. I'd like to know upfront.

    "Dream" world: Percent rehashed garbage. How much of the product is simply old, recycled ideas, has information that no longer works or isn't relevant, or advocates practices that could get you in trouble? In other words, the percent of nothing new, generic, outdated, and/or illegal/dangerous garbage content.

    PS: I always check the WF reviews before purchasing any CB product.

    Thanks for your opinions. Newbies to WF, here's a chance to add to your post count.
    Michele
    I like the second one, but disagree with the Refund one.

    Reason is that if you assume that all refunds are made by honest people you are naive There are people who refund because they simply KNOW they will get the refund, simply because they are cheap and use CB as a way to get products "for free".
    Signature
    *** Affiliate Site Quick --> The Fastest & Easiest Way to Make Affiliate Sites!<--
    -> VISIT www.1UP-SEO.com *** <- Internet Marketing, SEO Tips, Reviews & More!! ***
    *** HIGH QUALITY CONTENT CREATION +++ Manual Article Spinning (Thread Here) ***
    Content Creation, Blogging, Articles, Converting Sales Copy, Reviews, Ebooks, Rewrites
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3727750].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Matt Callen
    Alexa,
    All of the stats in the graphs (like gravity, rankings, earnings % sale, commission %, etc...) come directly from Clickbank. These are 100% accurate, straight from the source.

    The marketability feature that we've added to the software is not found in any other cb analytics software. The script basically takes all of the manual "seo research/analysis" and makes it automatic, gives it a rating number so it's easy to scan through the products for the ones that are "marketable", and then you as the affiliate can determine if you want to promote it or not.

    We're not saying that it IS going to make you money if you promote it, but what we're saying and showing users is that based on the seo research/analysis, you should be able to either easily rank for the product name keyword in Google or not (depending on the marketability number).

    Anyway, if you want to manually do the seo research yourself, go for it! But I'm going to use a software to automatically do it for me.
    Signature

    #1 Best Shopping Cart and Affiliate Management Software!
    >> PayKickstart.com <<

    Warrior Recommended #1 Shopping Cart: www.PayKickstart.com
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3727886].message }}

Trending Topics