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About promoting average priced Amazon books

by Lucian Lada
20 replies
I see a lot of people promoting Amazon books in the range of $10-$15, and I wonder why, since from what I know, the highest commission is 8,5% in the event that an affiliate sells more than 3135 products in a month.

I don't want to accuse anyone of doing bad business or something, but is this lucrative enough? I know the conversion rate of Amazon products are typically much higher than, say, a Clickbank product, but still...

Also, lots of books, especially the "classics", could have a major leak: There are lots of used copies available, often with a huge discount. (I saw a used copy of a book I was recommended available for $0.01!)

Am I missing something out?
#amazon #average #books #priced #promoting
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by canyon View Post

    I don't want to accuse anyone of doing bad business or something, but is this lucrative enough?
    "Enough" for what?

    Clearly it's not lucrative enough to base a business on it, and go to the trouble of having a website, attracting targeted traffic, building a list, and establishing credibility and trust, just to make those sales; no.

    But it may be lucrative enough if you've already done all those things anyway, and want to be able to offer a few books you recommend to people whose attention you already have. It's good to promote some cheap things anyway, to lift your sales volume.

    A couple of other little observations ...

    (i) Recommending something that you really want to share with your readers/visitors/subscribers, even if you earn no commission on it at all, can in itself be part of the credibility-building and trust-earning exercise;

    (ii) Amazon cookies, although they're only good for 24 hours, also cover you for anything else the customer buys there: it's possible to recommend a cheap book from which you might earn $0.50 commission, and end up earning the occasional far higher commission on far more expensive items, too.

    Originally Posted by canyon View Post

    Am I missing something out?
    Not much, anyway: I agree with you really, for the most part. But I do have a couple of sites on which I recommend (among many other things) very cheap books from Amazon, and I'm not doing it for the commissions on those items.
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    • Profile picture of the author fluffythewondercat
      I'd guess the cheap book site is to facilitate getting the first 6 (or more) referrals per month to move all commissions across all sites into a higher tier. I've heard of this strategy before. Makes sense if the cheap book site doesn't cost you much.

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      • Profile picture of the author PassiveIncomeTeacher
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        • Profile picture of the author fluffythewondercat
          Originally Posted by PassiveIncomeTeacher View Post

          It can be used to not only bring you to the first 6, but to get the 3135 need to move all of your products to the highest payout. Especially if you promote some hot sellers.
          Well, I did say "or more." :-)

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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    You might be better off selling cheap ebooks. At least you get access to the customer. And 3,100+ sales a month, for a small commission rate? ... doesn't seem worth it to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author myob
    Originally Posted by canyon View Post

    Am I missing something out?
    Yes, you may be missing out - big time. Quite often Amazon visitors will buy other products in addition to or even instead of the books you're promoting. Many of the most successful Amazon affiliates use these type of inexpensive products to build massive lists for additional promotions.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lucian Lada
      Originally Posted by myob View Post

      Yes, you may be missing out - big time. Quite often Amazon visitors will buy other products in addition to or even instead of the books you're promoting. Many of the most successful Amazon affiliates use these type of inexpensive products to build massive lists for additional promotions.
      Hmm, I understand your idea, but I just can't figure out how to put them on my buyers list once they bought a product through my links, since there isn't a CBListAutomator script for Amazon. I emailed Amazon asking if there is some unique code in the receipt number so I could trace my affiliate orders, therefore creating my own custom script for delivering bonuses for purchasing through my links, but haven't heard from them yet.

      Here's another one, this time for people who don't email daily, but still promote Amazon products: As you know, the cookie expires in 24 hours. Is it recommended to remind the subscribers that they should go first through your links in order to obtain the bonus, or does it appear that you only care about making sales?
      I keep having this nightmare that they might not buy from the first visit, but when they decide to do it, they would visit Amazon directly.
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        Originally Posted by canyon View Post

        I understand your idea, but I just can't figure out how to put them on my buyers list once they bought a product through my links, since there isn't a CBListAutomator script for Amazon.
        What I do is put an opt-in form on the product sales page. In addition to the name and email address fields, I include a "transaction ID". Buyers can opt-in for additional niche information, tips/reviews on using the product, relevant new products, etc. Although anyone can just enter a fake receipt number to get on my lists, this added field effectively grabs nearly all buyers.
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        • Profile picture of the author fin
          You're better just writing your own books IMO.

          If you publish a book on Kindle let's just say you get $10 commission if it's a decent sized book with great content.

          Now you just need to get 10,000 people to buy your book to make $100,000.

          If you eventually have 4 or 5 books in the series you could potentially make $1,000,000 in a few years. Think about it: if people love one of your books, most likely they will buy them all because they're so cheap.

          That only takes into account the people you will promote the book to. You will also get people who buy directly from Amazon.

          Also, people on your list will probably be more likely to buy if you are the author. I know I would, which my opinion is based on.

          In short: outline a book in the next few days and write 1000 words per day until you have a draft, then edit it.

          This is a great article - The Art of Non-Conformity » How to Write a Book
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        • Profile picture of the author Builder154
          Originally Posted by myob View Post

          What I do is put an opt-in form on the product sales page. In addition to the name and email address fields, I include a "transaction ID". Buyers can opt-in for additional niche information, tips/reviews on using the product, relevant new products, etc. Although anyone can just enter a fake receipt number to get on my lists, this added field effectively grabs nearly all buyers.
          MYOB,

          Can you explain this more.

          You mean on the page where you send the visitor to click through to Amazon's product page, you also put an opt-in form and you say "Please put your name and email and then after you buy the product on Amazon, come back here and type in your transaction ID"? And people actually go to Amazon, buy the product, come back onto your site and type in that info? I'm surprised they'd do that.

          Also why do you want the transaction ID? Do you go look at exactly what they bought with the ID and then put them on different lists depending on that?
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          • Profile picture of the author myob
            The "transaction ID" is just a dummy field in the opt-in form, but visitors must enter something (anything) to subscribe. However, it works out that almost all buyers will subscribe, and this technique effectively weeds out non-buyers. The book/product landing page is niche-specific, and these targeted subscribers are added to their respective niche list which promotes incrementally higher end products. Since it is against Amazon's TOS to "incentivize" purchases, the subscription offer is really nothing more than a "white paper" of industry information and additional resources specific only to the book or product.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian Snipes
    If I've read a book and I believe reading it would be beneficial to those who visit my site, I'd list a low affiliate item. I wouldn't base a business around selling them, but as a part of over-delivering to my visitors I would definitely point them to it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucian Lada
    Fin, thanks for your imput, but at least for now, I'm just into affiliate marketing (who knows what the future holds).

    As for offering freebies or bonuses for those buying through one's Amazon affiliate links, here's what an Amazon representative told me:

    (extracted from the email)

    We currently do not allow Associates to provide their customers with any type of reward for visiting Amazon.com. In fact, we have ended our relationships with Associates who operate rebate sites of this kind.
    What's up with that? Or am I missing something out, once again?
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      That's correct. It is expressly against Amazon's TOS to incentivize purchases such as offering freebies or bonuses. Such practices are often treated as TOS (Terminate On Sight).
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      • Profile picture of the author Lucian Lada
        Originally Posted by myob View Post

        That's correct. It is expressly against Amazon's TOS to incentivize purchases such as offering freebies or bonuses. Such practices are often treated as TOS (Terminate On Sight).
        On one hand I'm happy because I won't have to write freebies or whatnot, in order to get them to buy something. However, on the other hand ... I forgot what I had to say.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          The main reason most (I believe) Amazon affiliates recommend cheap items is to move up the performance tier. Books, CDs, ebooks, mp3s, and so on are very easy to turn into multiple-item sales. In the US, they offer free shipping on orders over $25 on most items. You wouldn't believe the number of people who will order $10-$15 worth of 'stuff' to avoid paying $5 in shipping.

          Add in the fact that when you climb the performance chart on the back of cheap items, the increased commission also applies to more expensive items sold in the same month.

          Paul already gave you the scoop on building buyer lists.

          When you see truly successful Amazon affiliates appearing to waste their time recommending relatively inexpensive items, you're likely looking at the tip of the iceberg.
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          • Profile picture of the author redbottom52
            Money doesn't a problem , i have collected so many interesting books like this,the each and every article is awesome punch
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarafantrys
    don't know about hard copy books by ebooks for kindle could be quite lucrative if you make a good design and sell the cheap.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay Campbell
    Yes, moving up the units sold count to move to new tiers is a good reason to take the approach of promoting low cost but high volume items.

    Also, the advice on building a list with an Amazon site is sound. While it isn't something that can be automated with the purchase of an item through your link, it is a form of protection against loss of organic search traffic that can be invaluable with all the recent Google updates. Offering a "buyer's guide" or tips and tricks for a signup is a good way to get the optin.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Racine
    I am not a fan of promoting books oon Amazon, unless they are my own. I much prefer higher priced products like jewelry and automotive products. If I am going to take 4%, I want 4% of $500 instead of 4% of $10.

    I have actually started selling physical products on Amazon too. It tends to be way more profitable.

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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by John Racine View Post

      I am not a fan of promoting books on Amazon, unless they are my own. I much prefer higher priced products like jewelry and automotive products. If I am going to take 4%, I want 4% of $500 instead of 4% of $10.

      I have actually started selling physical products on Amazon too. It tends to be way more profitable.

      John
      It appears the points made in this thread went way over your head. Promoting low end products is a very effective method for generating click throughs which often do convert to larger orders. In addition, affiliates who build lists with small sales experience high conversions for products well into the five-digit price ranges.
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