Why Amazon Associates Sucks $400+ in sales for $18 in earnings...

8 years ago

I think most guys use free traffic as well as me. But of course the refund rate is so low and you can almost be sure that you will get paid the earnings. At least that is my experience.

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blueclcl

8 years ago

Do you target products with a greater than $100 price? I think this is where the money is made on Amazon.

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onSubie

8 years ago

Not enough info to constructively comment.

You didn't mention the conversion rate. That is huge. Working on better conversions makes a big difference in ROI

Also the items are all very low prices. With paid traffic why not target items over $1,000?

$400 in 13 transactions is only an average of $30/sale. Even at 8% that is only $2.40 commission per sale.

You are sending PPC to an offer that pays $2.40.

I can see why you made no money.

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DavidFinn

8 years ago

Exactly this, you can't simply say Amazon isn't worth your time and it's slightly hard to provide productive critism to your stratergy without letting us have any idea to exactly what it is you have done.

If your going to pay for traffic most of the time you'll need to promoted high end items. However it's usually all relative, so you just need to find a better niche or take a different approach clearly.

Originally Posted by onSubie

Not enough info to constructively comment.

You didn't mention the conversion rate. That is huge. Working on better conversions makes a big difference in ROI

Also the items are all very low prices. With paid traffic why not target items over $1,000?

$400 in 13 transactions is only an average of $30/sale. Even at 8% that is only $2.40 commission per sale.

You are sending PPC to an offer that pays $2.40.

I can see why you made no money.

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BernardR

8 years ago

Originally Posted by onSubie

Not enough info to constructively comment.

You didn't mention the conversion rate. That is huge. Working on better conversions makes a big difference in ROI

Also the items are all very low prices. With paid traffic why not target items over $1,000?

$400 in 13 transactions is only an average of $30/sale. Even at 8% that is only $2.40 commission per sale.

You are sending PPC to an offer that pays $2.40.

I can see why you made no money.

I don't do Amazon but agree with with my fellow warrior here ... it would seem that you simply have to tweak your economics.

You have a proven model in the sense that you can drive traffic and make sales.
Just aim for higher priced items.

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cooler1

8 years ago

Originally Posted by ZephyrIon

The commissions are far to small unless you have large traffic that your not having to actually pay for.

It depends on what your promoting. Even many Clickbank products only have a commission of around between $20 to $30. Plus there is more chance that the customer will request a refund than with an Amazon product.

Do you have experience in paid traffic or at least learnt knowledge from someone with experience? If you have, you should have never spent $150 with only getting an $18 return.

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onlineleben

8 years ago

check out this post. Long but 100% useful:
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...000-month.html

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kindsvater 8 years ago

You seem to be all over the board with the sales. Were you targeting specific products? This looks like generic traffic to Amazon. If so, lesson learned about the value of that traffic.

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- kilgore 8 years ago
  
  We do very well with Amazon, actually. And I don't mind the low commissions at all -- after all, it's not the profit per item that matters, but the total overall profit that counts.
  
  That said we haven't tried PPC with Amazon precisely because we've long suspected that we'd have had a similar experience to yours, i.e. the returns wouldn't justify the expense. And really, to make Amazon work you've got to have a model where you're making more than 13 sales a day -- you need at least 100/day if you're going to get the full 8.5% commission rate.
  
  For us at least, success with Amazon comes down to fostering repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals -- which to me means:
  Having a great site that people want to return to and tell their friends about.
  
  Having great lists (e.g., email or social media).
  
  Selling the types of products that people buy over and over again.
  
  This last point is the reason our site does not follow the oft-espoused advice (mentioned by several people above) of concentrating our efforts on high ticket items. Our goal is to get people in the habit of coming to us first for the types of products we offer -- and it's not easy to create a habit if people only ever buy something from you once or twice, which would most certainly be the case if we concentrated on high ticket items.
  
  All that said, I'm not suggesting it's easy to make money on Amazon (though personally, I don't think any online business is "easy"). I certainly don't think it's a way to make money quickly nor do I believe that Amazon is a good monetization strategy for all business models. But at least for my business, Amazon has been a very good match up until now (though I suspect we're starting to outgrow it -- but that's another story...)
  
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- komrad2 8 years ago
  
  It also seems to me like traffic that wasn't very targeted, just dropped with a shuttle bus at the store entrance.
  
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- RichardCaw Banned 8 years ago
  
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alvinhy

8 years ago

The reason why you are losing money is because you are sending direct traffic to amazon. You should become a middleman that captures your target audience so they come back to you instead.

Once you send the traffic to amazon you have already lost the customer and obviously no ROI.
But if you have a list/website you can have them come back to you as repeating customers

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Cosmit 8 years ago

the kind of commissions amazon offers are extremely high comparing to majority of other networks. i sent $15k to CJ and only got $360 commissions. so the 5% you get from amazon beats it by far and be glad its that much. linkshare slightly better at 3.7%, but sorta low still. so these are the numbers you're dealing with. this month i sent $57k to amazon and got 4.9% - that's very good.
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seoboyz01

8 years ago

Originally Posted by alvinhy

The reason why you are losing money is because you are sending direct traffic to amazon. You should become a middleman that captures your target audience so they come back to you instead.

Once you send the traffic to amazon you have already lost the customer and obviously no ROI.
But if you have a list/website you can have them come back to you as repeating customers

So many people are making this mistake, not just with marketing Amazon but Clickbank and other affiliate offers. They're sending traffic directly to affiliate products, rather than taking time/effort to build a list as it's seen as 'easier' to just do so. But, what's so easy about spending all that money and earning so little profit in return? It's better to add them to your list where you can build trust and talk to them not just about one or two offers but as many as you want.

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savidge4

8 years ago

Originally Posted by seoboyz01

So many people are making this mistake, not just with marketing Amazon but Clickbank and other affiliate offers. They're sending traffic directly to affiliate products, rather than taking time/effort to build a list as it's seen as 'easier' to just do so. But, what's so easy about spending all that money and earning so little profit in return? It's better to add them to your list where you can build trust and talk to them not just about one or two offers but as many as you want.

As much as what you are saying making sense... And no, I am not disagreeing that the method works. there simply are other models that work. Let me clarify for a moment, do I build a list? sure I do. Do all of my sales come from said list.. no not all.

Part of product selling is getting in the "buy zone". People are looking for whatever, and want to buy it, and with the right amount of pre-selling and buyer confidence, if your site is clicking on all cylinders, your site will be the site they feel comfortable BUYING from.

IF you happen to catch people in the "Information zone", they are looking at their options and what model might best fit their needs. THESE are the people you need to get on your list. these folks are looking and not yet committed. these are the people that some quick education can prove invaluable in their efforts and sway them to the "buy zone" and again the hope is that they buy from you.

Remember through all of this the trigger from "information zone" to "buy zone" happens as fast as a snap of the fingers. If you place all of your efforts on putting these people on a list, and not actually trying to sell them, they may very well get on your list, and 2 pages later in the same search session find what they are looking for, and buy.

I can tell you from experience... I have had people sign up for my list on one page, and 20 minutes later buy from another page of mine. ( e-mail address match ) and it happens far more frequently than you would think. - a side note, when I catch this, I do place that person on a separate mailing list that is going to compliment the new purchase with education and products.

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Miguelito203

8 years ago

Originally Posted by ZephyrIon

So we spent $150.00 on traffic to amazon (not saying exactly how we did it).

We made $400+ in sales and made $18.00 in profit. Not worth the time in my opinion.

The commissions are far to small unless you have large traffic that your not having to actually pay for.

What's your experience with Amazon Associaties.

I learned a long time ago that it takes pretty much the same amount of effort to promote an item that pays larger commissions as it does that pays smaller ones, which is why I'm not really a fan of promoting physical products. If you're going to promote them, you really need to bolster your commissions by cross promoting products as well. Otherwise, it's not worth the time, in my opinion. I certainly wouldn't pay for traffic for something like that.

Joey

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kilgore

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Miguelito203

I learned a long time ago that it takes pretty much the same amount of effort to promote an item that pays larger commissions as it does that pays smaller ones, which is why I'm not really a fan of promoting physical products.

It may take the same amount of effort to promote a larger-commissioned item as it does to promote a smaller-commissioned item, but at least with my customers and my business it's a lot easier to sell lower-priced, lower-priced physical products than the larger-commissioned items you're talking about. The end result is that even if my profit per item is lower with physical products, my total profit is much, much higher. Personally, I'm more interested in making money than reducing my effort.

That said, my business model relies on getting quite a bit of "free" traffic, so what works for me, might not work for others.

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Stevie C

8 years ago

As others have mentioned the traffic doesn't look very targeted.
I mainly rely on organic traffic, SEO, Video Marketing etc and haven't dabbled in PPC but I understand that Jan Roos does well with Amazon and Bing. There is more than one way to skin a cat with Amazon.

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savidge4

8 years ago

To be honest that is the most self abusive thing I have seen in a while. Did you just set the ad spend to $150 and walk away? Probably within the $25 mark I would have without question pulled the plug.

PPC and Amazon DOES work. I personally do it all the time. But I am targeting a specific set of items that have price tags in the THOUSANDS.

Honestly the best one is the .17 ounce bottle of Usher.. that's a trial size you can get for free at the mall! hahahahaha

I personally am going to chalk this up to you having memory loss and thinking its April1st. because I hate to say it, but I never would have thought anyone was that stupid.

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onlineleben

8 years ago

Problem I see in the combination of PPC and Amazon is the delay in stats.
Amazon only reports once per day on yesterdays orders and commissions.
So it is difficult to adjust spending.

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PerformanceMan

8 years ago

Originally Posted by onlineleben

Problem I see in the combination of PPC and Amazon is the delay in stats.
Amazon only reports once per day on yesterdays orders and commissions.
So it is difficult to adjust spending.

There's a long delay in getting paid, too. For paid traffic it takes TOO long to get your money back.

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bleachersrights

8 years ago

Amazon is best promoted through content and seo.

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TakenAction

8 years ago

You have literally just proven you can drive targeted traffic to an offer.

....forget Amazon. they have horrible comissions.

Go on your own.

Create your own product, do CPA offers, build a list.

so many options. Forget Amazon.

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cooler1

8 years ago

Originally Posted by TakenAction

You have literally just proven you can drive targeted traffic to an offer.

Targeted traffic? They haven't even said what the paid traffic source is. It's clearly not targeted traffic if they paid $150 for only a $18 return.

Originally Posted by TakenAction

....forget Amazon. they have horrible comissions.

Compared to what? Your forgetting the commission you earn depends on what product your promoting. Obviously a $10 product is going to have horrible commissions.

Originally Posted by TakenAction

Go on your own.

Create your own product, do CPA offers, build a list.

so many options. Forget Amazon.

Creating a product isn't always the best option. First you need to create a quality product then you need to develop a sales funnel, find affiliates, etc... then even then when starting out you won't have even 1% of the trust factor which Amazon has with consumers.

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TakenAction

8 years ago

Originally Posted by cooler1

It's clearly not targeted traffic if they paid $150 for only a $18 return.

It clearly IS targeted traffic they drove it to Amazon and made $400 in sales from a $150 investment but because Amazon [for the most part] has minimal commissions he only made $18 profit in COMMISSIONS.

But technically he made $400 in sales.

If only it was his own product with 100% of the revenue...

Originally Posted by cooler1

Creating a product isn't always the best option. First you need to create a quality product then you need to develop a sales funnel, find affiliates, etc...

I never said it would be easy, but FAR more profitable then what he is doing.

Yes he would need to create a product...actually scratch that he would need to create NUMEROUS products including the back-end products.

Then yes he would need sales pages, squeeze page, autoresponder messages, etc.

Originally Posted by cooler1

then even then when starting out you won't have even 1% of the trust factor which Amazon has with consumers.

he doesn't need the trust factor Amazon has with consumers.

I think you are complicating things. if he REALLY wanted to do this sales funnel/list building thing RIGHT he would undoubtedly be able to create great trust with HIS consumers/list.

Best way to do this would be to create a free optin that isn't the crap most people create today.

If he ACTUALLY spent time and created something for free that is the equivalent of most people's paid content then his list would immediately continue to follow his email's and from there his best job would be to convert them to buyers and continue to build trust with via free content as well.

There are many ways to build trust, those are the two main ways but to add on he could have pictures of him and personality in his emails in a conversational tone etc.

Anyways, I got off on a tangent....

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cooler1

8 years ago

Originally Posted by TakenAction

It clearly IS targeted traffic they drove it to Amazon and made $400 in sales from a $150 investment but because Amazon [for the most part] has minimal commissions he only made $18 profit in COMMISSIONS.

But technically he made $400 in sales.

If only it was his own product with 100% of the revenue...

If it was targeted traffic then why are his sales mostly cheap items and all varied, such as a can opener and a dog toy?

Amazon pays you for any items which the consumer purchases, so you don't know if his traffic was targeted, but the earnings report screenshot he posted indicates that people just bought random items and the traffic isn't targeted to buyers of specific products.

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owenlee

8 years ago

I would be driving traffic to a review page and the products to be targeting in the $500+ range.

No point targeting those lower range sales.

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ZephyrIon

8 years ago

My point is it takes the same amount of effort to promote a CPA offer where you get paid when a user completes a first page with information for $5-$30 instead of all the work into selling bits and pieces for $0.10 to $10 every once in a while.

It's not a viable business model unless your getting a ton of organic traffic.

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onSubie

8 years ago

Originally Posted by ZephyrIon

My point is it takes the same amount of effort to promote a CPA offer where you get paid when a user completes a first page with information for $5-$30 instead of all the work into selling bits and pieces for $0.10 to $10 every once in a while.

It's not a viable business model unless you know what you're doing.

^^^
Fixed that for you.

Amazon commission on a $1,200 item is $50.

That's more than the $30 you say a CPA offer pays and far more than the $5 low end you quote. But a $30 sign-up is usually much more than a simple email submit.

So for every item I sell I get $50 and for every sign-up you get $30.

I don't see how my method is not viable.

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Alexa Smith

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by ZephyrIon

It's not a viable business model unless your getting a ton of organic traffic.

Sorry, but this simply isn't true at all: there are large numbers of professional affiliates making their full-time livings through Amazon, some of them without depending on organic traffic at all.

One of two of the assertions in this thread really are almost mind-boggling.

Because of the enormous credibility of Amazon sales-pages, they can have some very high conversion-rates of well-targeted traffic, and with 8% commissions (for example) they can compare quite favourably with many other forms of affiliate marketing.

This thread (also referenced above) will help anyone willing to invest the time needed to study it carefully: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6608638

Did you start the thread to try to learn something, or (as your title implies?) simply to "announce" that "it doesn't work and you can't make money from it"? I ask because it seems that some of the people to whom you're apparently saying that are actually making their livings from it!

.

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ZephyrIon

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

Sorry, but this simply isn't true at all: there are large numbers of professional affiliates making their full-time livings through Amazon, some of them without depending on organic traffic at all.

One of two of the assertions in this thread really are almost mind-boggling.

Because of the enormous credibility of Amazon sales-pages, they can have some very high conversion-rates of well-targeted traffic, and with 8% commissions (for example) they can compare quite favourably with many other forms of affiliate marketing.

This thread (also referenced above) will help anyone willing to invest the time needed to study it carefully: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6608638

Did you start the thread to try to learn something, or (as your title implies?) simply to "announce" that "it doesn't work and you can't make money from it"? I ask because it seems that some of the people to whom you're apparently saying that are actually making their livings from it!

.

All of you are arguing every point accept time going into this is not worth the payouts.

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kilgore

8 years ago

Originally Posted by ZephyrIon

All of you are arguing every point accept time going into this is not worth the payouts.

Not worth the payouts? What size payout would be worth it to you? Personally, I'm quite happy with the payouts I'm getting:

Of course, I'll readily admit that:

The numbers above are inflated by the holidays. Even so, we do quite well during the rest of the year too -- just not like we do during the holiday season.
It's taken over two long years of hard work getting where we are. But while I can't speak for what would be worth it for you, to me at least it seems that the time we've put in has been worth the payouts.
Our traffic to this point has been 100% free -- so I'm certainly not claiming this shows PPC as a viable model for low-priced Amazon products. That said, despite your earlier statemnts about needing organic traffic, you should know that under 15% of our traffic is from organic search.
I doubt very much that there are many people who could pull off our business model. But I'm also not naive enough to think that the way we do business is the best or only way to run a successful business. All I can say is that it works for us.

Having read a few of your posts, I'd venture that what you're interested in are quick, easy and short-term profits, which is not our style at all. Yes, we want to make money now, but I'm more interested in making sure I maximize profit 3 - 5 years from now than I'm worried about what I'll make tomorrow. For instance, if we do try PPC (and we most likely will this year), it won't be with the goal of turning a profit with each individual click, but of turning those clicks into customers we can capture and develop and who will pay dividends for our company over long term.

It's a fundamental difference in business philosophy and my guess it goes a long way to understanding why you've had trouble making Amazon work for you. For you, Amazon probably does suck. But it's a far stretch to say Amazon is not a viable business model for anyone just because you can't make it work for yourself.

P.S. For all of the people above who claim that the only way to get Amazon to work is to concentrate on high-priced items, notice that our average commission per item is $1.43. These are not $1,000 items we're selling. To repeat my point above: It may take the same amount of effort to promote a larger-commissioned item as it does to promote a smaller-commissioned item, but at least with my customers and my business it's a lot easier to sell lower-priced, lower-priced physical products than the larger-commissioned items you're talking about. Again, I'm not making claims for what works for you, but for me the smart money is selling cheaper things that people actually buy rather than expensive things that would pay a lot -- if only someone would actually make a purchase.

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nik0

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by kilgore

Not worth the payouts? What size payout would be worth it to you? Personally, I'm quite happy with the payouts I'm getting:

OMG, do you use add to cart functionality on your own site first?

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kilgore

8 years ago

Originally Posted by nik0

OMG, do you use add to cart functionality on your own site first?

No, we've thought about doing so and even ran some experiments, but we were never happy with the user experience that went along with the Add to Cart functionality. Moreover, Amazon isn't the only monetization method on our site, so it seemed inconsistent to have Add to Cart for Amazon and not our other affiliate programs.

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nik0

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by kilgore

No, we've thought about doing so and even ran some experiments, but we were never happy with the user experience that went along with the Add to Cart functionality. Moreover, Amazon isn't the only monetization method on our site, so it seemed inconsistent to have Add to Cart for Amazon and not our other affiliate programs.

I don't like add to cart either cause of the user experiences, they feel fooled that way and have to do things twice.

I guess your conversion rate is very niche dependent and involves every day needs.

Could work for book review sites where you have your visitors well categorized in different genres, in other words fan-based marketing

Might work for selling DVDs even better, no one keeps track when that movie gets released on DVD after they saw it in the cinema and like to see it again, capture them when they look for merchandise. Seems I'm getting there

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kilgore

8 years ago

I don't want to hijack this thread (though I think it's probably outlived its usefulness anyway), but I'll respond as best I can:

Originally Posted by nik0

I don't like add to cart either cause of the user experiences, they feel fooled that way and have to do things twice.

Exactly what we thought. Transparency is key -- and as you said, it feels like you're trying to fool your users. I'd rather lose a few sales due to an expiring cookie, but keep my users' long term trust.

Originally Posted by nik0

I guess your conversion rate is very niche dependent and involves every day needs.

Actually the conversion rate you see above is very holiday dependent and some of what you're seeing is lag from November: people add things to their carts as they find them, but don't check out until they finish all their Christmas shopping. Usually we run at about 25% - 30% on Amazon -- but of course not everyone who goes to our site ever gets to Amazon, so our true conversion rate is even lower than that.

Originally Posted by nik0

Could work for book review sites where you have your visitors well categorized in different genres, in other words fan-based marketing

Might work for selling DVDs even better, no one keeps track when that movie gets released on DVD after they saw it in the cinema and like to see it again, capture them when they look for merchandise. Seems I'm getting there

Not sure if this is a question, so I'll just say that both of those product types could work pretty well (though with the increase of streaming services, I imagine people aren't buying DVDs as much). My favorite affiliate site of all time, GoodReads certainly made a killing off of books -- and it's really sites GoodReads those that I look to for inspiration. They saw a need and developed a great and innovative system to fill it. Definitely something we aspire to -- and definitely something we're still a long way off from reaching...

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nik0

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by kilgore

Actually the conversion rate you see above is very holiday dependent and some of what you're seeing is lag from November: people add things to their carts as they find them, but don't check out until they finish all their Christmas shopping. Usually we run at about 25% - 30% on Amazon -- but of course not everyone who goes to our site ever gets to Amazon, so our true conversion rate is even lower than that.

I understand but 25-30 percent is still extreme high for me, I'm at around 5% and during christmas around 7%.

However my real conversion is:

100 website visitors = 30% to Amazon.

30 clicks on Amazon = 5% buys or in other words 1.5 sales for each 100 website visitors so I guess it ain't that bad.

Originally Posted by kilgore

Not sure if this is a question, so I'll just say that both of those product types could work pretty well (though with the increase of streaming services, I imagine people aren't buying DVDs as much). My favorite affiliate site of all time, GoodReads certainly made a killing off of books -- and it's really sites GoodReads those that I look to for inspiration. They saw a need and developed a great and innovative system to fill it. Definitely something we aspire to -- and definitely something we're still a long way off from reaching...

Yes that site immidiately got me thinking about similar products as you would need to be a great book reviewer to hook people, not to easy.

I like merchandise though, think I'll do something with that.

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savidge4

8 years ago

Originally Posted by nik0

I don't like add to cart either cause of the user experiences, they feel fooled that way and have to do things twice.

I guess your conversion rate is very niche dependent and involves every day needs.

Could work for book review sites where you have your visitors well categorized in different genres, in other words fan-based marketing

Might work for selling DVDs even better, no one keeps track when that movie gets released on DVD after they saw it in the cinema and like to see it again, capture them when they look for merchandise. Seems I'm getting there

I personally use Add to cart, FOR the user experience. a bit of work on your side can make the transaction appear that you are using amazon payment for payment processing.

Send the products to the cart
change up the cart to "order verification"
From the order verification page then send them over to amazon where they confirm the "Amazon" cart charge

For me it flows very nicely. I have never had a complaint, and loose maybe 5% in the crossover, which is actually less than what I loose in some of my self fulfillment product pages.

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kindsvater 8 years ago

Originally Posted by kilgore

42% conversion is amazing - even during the holidays.

.
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myob 8 years ago

Originally Posted by ZephyrIon

All of you are arguing every point accept time going into this is not worth the payouts.

Amazon's payout is not out of line for the amount of sales you made. It is quite apparent to others here that your marketing system is what sucks. Take a few tips from much more experienced marketers, particularly in the referenced thread (ie repeat sales via email lists, incrementally higher end promotions to your buyers).
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savidge4

8 years ago

Originally Posted by ZephyrIon

My point is it takes the same amount of effort to promote a CPA offer where you get paid when a user completes a first page with information for $5-$30 instead of all the work into selling bits and pieces for $0.10 to $10 every once in a while.

It's not a viable business model unless your getting a ton of organic traffic.

Zeph,

I use both models... I use organic, and I use paid methods. my paid methods are ITEM SPECIFIC. I ONLY send paid traffic to an item, I know the math works out on my end.

I recently sent paid traffic to a UHD 4000K tv that sells at $4000 and sold 10 of them. at 10% commission,, that's $400 for each TV I sold, and I spent less than $300 across all 10 sales. So yes, it can be done. but just blindly sending traffic to any and every amazon product it will obviously not work.

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cooler1

8 years ago

Originally Posted by savidge4

Zeph,

I use both models... I use organic, and I use paid methods. my paid methods are ITEM SPECIFIC. I ONLY send paid traffic to an item, I know the math works out on my end.

I recently sent paid traffic to a UHD 4000K tv that sells at $4000 and sold 10 of them. at 10% commission,, that's $400 for each TV I sold, and I spent less than $300 across all 10 sales. So yes, it can be done. but just blindly sending traffic to any and every amazon product it will obviously not work.

How did you get 10% commission? I thought TV's have a 4% commission on Amazon.

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savidge4

8 years ago

Originally Posted by cooler1

How did you get 10% commission? I thought TV's have a 4% commission on Amazon.

4% base, yes that is correct. But when you start moving "amounts" of something the rates do increase. And if you happen to move product in nodes that many else don't, well... lets just say there is opportunities to get even more.

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kilgore

8 years ago

Originally Posted by savidge4

4% base, yes that is correct. But when you start moving "amounts" of something the rates do increase. And if you happen to move product in nodes that many else don't, well... lets just say there is opportunities to get even more.

Are you saying that you get commission rates that are higher than the rates published on Amazon's website? If so, I'm not surprised -- we've been offered "VIP rates" from other affiliate programs -- but I am interested. Very interested. In fact, I had already been considering asking Amazon for a "raise" myself (the worst they can do is say no, right?)

Any recommendations on what be a realistic ask? I imagine that it's somewhat dependent on what and how much you sell, but since we'll have generated $1 million in sales for Amazon this month alone, I'd imagine that even if we're not huge by Amazon standards, we've got to have some amount of leverage...

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savidge4

8 years ago

Originally Posted by kilgore

Are you saying that you get commission rates that are higher than the rates published on Amazon's website? If so, I'm not surprised -- we've been offered "VIP rates" from other affiliate programs -- but I am interested. Very interested. In fact, I had already been considering asking Amazon for a "raise" myself (the worst they can do is say no, right?)

Any recommendations on what be a realistic ask? I imagine that it's somewhat dependent on what and how much you sell, but since we'll have generated $1 million in sales for Amazon this month alone, I'd imagine that even if we're not huge by Amazon standards, we've got to have some amount of leverage...

I inadvertently opened up a can of worms here didn't I? hahaha

My own personal experience with this. I have been able to do this in 2 niches out of the many I do business with Amazon with. It comes down to positioning. The greatest leverage I had in both cases was not with Amazon themselves, but the source of the product. Amazon was simply the best way for the distribution of product.

I technically did not talk with Amazon, the product source did.

Aside from the above scenario, I will tell you, if you are selling product from an affiliate junction affiliate it is F A R easier to have this discussion, with the threat of moving your product line over to Amazon.

In regards to how many TV's... Generally speaking more than a few. The specific products I sell the most of are currently out of stock. We are waiting on the new models to arrive. and they are in the low mid 5 digit price range.

For me personally Amazon is but a stepping stone to bigger and greater things, in this particular case.

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kilgore

8 years ago

Originally Posted by savidge4

I inadvertently opened up a can of worms here didn't I? hahaha

Indeed you did! Though in truth, it seems like this thread of late is more like a cupboard of cans of worms -- so you're hardly responsible for it going off topic. And anyway, I think the "off topic" parts of this thread are much more interesting than the original discussion...

Originally Posted by savidge4

My own personal experience with this. I have been able to do this in 2 niches out of the many I do business with Amazon with. It comes down to positioning. The greatest leverage I had in both cases was not with Amazon themselves, but the source of the product. Amazon was simply the best way for the distribution of product.

I technically did not talk with Amazon, the product source did.

Aside from the above scenario, I will tell you, if you are selling product from an affiliate junction affiliate it is F A R easier to have this discussion, with the threat of moving your product line over to Amazon.

Thanks. Yes, I can see how that could work, though I'm not sure going through the source is going to work in our case. I do like the idea of using our sales to leverage different affiliate programs off of each other. I have a call with one of my affiliate managers in the early new year and I'll definitely be sure to bring up the subject of compensation.

Originally Posted by savidge4

For me personally Amazon is but a stepping stone to bigger and greater things, in this particular case.

Actually, I'm beginning to think that's true for us as well. It's not that I don't think Amazon is a great program in the right situation, but I think we might be outgrowing it. For example, one of our problems is that it's not unusual for our promotion efforts to completely wipe out Amazon's inventory of a product we're promoting. As much as I hate to admit it, that certainly is an advantage of "information product" marketers!

Anyway, thanks for your response. Definitely gives me some things to think about. Unfortunately, while it seems like there are plenty of people in the WF with all sorts of advice on how to take newbies from making nothing to something (some of which is even good advice), there's not much discussion around here on how to take people from making a good amount of money to making even more.

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JohnMcCabe

8 years ago

Originally Posted by savidge4

As much as what you are saying making sense... And no, I am not disagreeing that the method works. there simply are other models that work. Let me clarify for a moment, do I build a list? sure I do. Do all of my sales come from said list.. no not all.

Part of product selling is getting in the "buy zone". People are looking for whatever, and want to buy it, and with the right amount of pre-selling and buyer confidence, if your site is clicking on all cylinders, your site will be the site they feel comfortable BUYING from.

IF you happen to catch people in the "Information zone", they are looking at their options and what model might best fit their needs. THESE are the people you need to get on your list. these folks are looking and not yet committed. these are the people that some quick education can prove invaluable in their efforts and sway them to the "buy zone" and again the hope is that they buy from you.

Remember through all of this the trigger from "information zone" to "buy zone" happens as fast as a snap of the fingers. If you place all of your efforts on putting these people on a list, and not actually trying to sell them, they may very well get on your list, and 2 pages later in the same search session find what they are looking for, and buy.

I can tell you from experience... I have had people sign up for my list on one page, and 20 minutes later buy from another page of mine. ( e-mail address match ) and it happens far more frequently than you would think. - a side note, when I catch this, I do place that person on a separate mailing list that is going to compliment the new purchase with education and products.

I like your idea of matching people to different zones. It matches up nicely with my own ideas of the Natural Buying Process.

Some people are ready to buy right now, and you're doing them a disservice by not letting them buy because you aren't done selling yet.

Others know they want to buy, but are unsure of what to choose. Still others are newly aware of a need or desire, or that filling it is even possible.

Catch those people on a list aimed at people in that stage or zone, and you can lead them to making the "right" choice - buying whatever they decide on through your link.

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savidge4

8 years ago

Originally Posted by kilgore

Actually, I'm beginning to think that's true for us as well. It's not that I don't think Amazon is a great program in the right situation, but I think we might be outgrowing it. For example, one of our problems is that it's not unusual for our promotion efforts to completely wipe out Amazon's inventory of a product we're promoting. As much as I hate to admit it, that certainly is an advantage of "information product" marketers!

I am going to say this now and probably regret it later. ( meaning I should act on it ) The problem we are facing is the retail model in general. If you contact a manufacture of a product and wish to retail such an item, they want to know where your "store" is, how big it is blah blah blah. The moment you mention you are an "Online Retailer" they just short of hang up on you.

I get it, really I do. They are protecting the brick and mortar interests that sell their product. Online Retail is simply leaner and more overall cost effective. This immediately turns to lower prices, and "Stores" can in no way shape or form compete.

Very little by very little some of these product makers are learning to bend the rules, and are using middleman distribution to disperse product out to the likes of us. Enter Amazon. But as you and I know, this model fails on our end.

I have seriously considered in the coming year to hire someone specifically to research and seek weak manufacture performance and target those specifically for a supply chain contract of some sort or another. There simply has to be a way to systematically break into the supply side of our business and solidify our inventory issues.

Originally Posted by kilgore

Anyway, thanks for your response. Definitely gives me some things to think about. Unfortunately, while it seems like there are plenty of people in the WF with all sorts of advice on how to take newbies from making nothing to something (some of which is even good advice), there's not much discussion around here on how to take people from making a good amount of money to making even more.

There is discussion on this very topic all the time, and EVERY time the answer is to simply "Scale"! Unfortunately that is not an option for some. I know I am sitting here chomping at the bit for new product release and asking "Scale what?" hahahah

But I do look at it this way, it does allow me to focus more on the aspects of business I have yet to hit the wall on... always tryingto be the optimist! hahaha

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DubDubDubDot

8 years ago

Originally Posted by savidge4

4% base, yes that is correct. But when you start moving "amounts" of something the rates do increase. And if you happen to move product in nodes that many else don't, well... lets just say there is opportunities to get even more.

How many TVs do you move each month to get Amazon to pay out 10%?

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Taniwha

8 years ago

I'm sure everyone agrees that YOUR method isn't worth the payouts. What they're saying is that it is perfectly viable to make a lot of money through Amazon.

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Kralj187

8 years ago

I think your main problem here is not targeted traffic.

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Peter Kontango

8 years ago

but this depends on how much traffic you drive and where is the traffic from

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simonbee

8 years ago

I would agree with the initial point that for all the effort the commissions are way too low. The only winners are Amazon, Amazon Retailers and people selling courses on how to make money on Amazon.

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Alexa Smith Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by simonbee

The only winners are Amazon, Amazon Retailers and people selling courses on how to make money on Amazon.

You haven't actually read the thread at all, have you, Simon? Post #29, on the previous page, might interest you.

There are plenty of people here making their full-time livings as Amazon affiliates.

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moneymagneto

8 years ago

I made $65 just signing someone up with hosting. This seems like you are working very hard for low profits.

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savidge4 8 years ago
Originally Posted by moneymagneto

I made $65 just signing someone up with hosting. This seems like you are working very hard for low profits.

REALLY? enough already... Kilgore has shown that he has made what was it ? over $60,000 THIS MONTH ALONE!!!!! $65? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I personally sell TV's that sell for over 5 digits and receive a 10 percent commission. as in the TV cost in excess of $10,000 and I make 10% as in over $1000 in commission on each sale. Sure I have worked a deal... but even at 4% you are looking at in excess of $400 a sale.

The secret to a successful Amazon affiliate business.. ( and yes kids I run a business, Kilgore runs a business, Alexa runs a business. ) Is understanding 3 key factors.
- #1 is product selection. if you are willy nilly just throwing traffic at Amazon in general ( as it appears the OP did ) YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT. You have to identify quality product that sells.
- #2 is targeting. Once you have product, you need to start targeting the audience that WILL BUY that product. ( sorry to bash on the OP like this, but again, the OP clearly didn't target )
- #3 SUCCESS with being an Amazon affiliate business is plain and simply SHEER NUMBERS. You have to sell in the order of thousands of items a month to be "Successful" selling 1 here 1 there is really not worth it, and far from success.
The entire model of being an Amazon affiliate comes right down to 1 factor, and that is traffic. you have got to understand how and where to get it. just slapping up a review site is not going to get it.

Traffic is not just a requirement for selling Amazon. It is the common denominator across each and every member on this Forum. you can NOT succeed in Internet Marketing without it. There are many many many methods to getting traffic, and you will find those that are successful ultimately employ more than one method in getting it.

Since we are approaching the new year and all. the one thing that I can suggest to make 2015 the best year you ever had... is invest the time and learn all that you can about getting traffic. be it PPC, Social, SEO, Your list ( I consider a list a form of traffic, but it takes traffic to get one - ah the irony ) and any and every other form of traffic out there. ALL forms of traffic are valid, if you can Target it.
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8 years ago

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