Should I Promote amazon Products?

by 68 replies
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Hello warriors,

I'm usually promoting CB products or dating sites and as such I'm spoiled being used to a rather high commission rate...

I need to start promoting some physical products for new blogs I'm completing, and at the moment happen to be building a site around gym related products to include clothing and other gym related items...

(makes me long for the days of a $40 commish per sale!)

Can anyone help me understand why I should feel satisfied with
a 4% commish rate? I mean honestly this is my first venture in to
promoting physical products, so I don't know what "the world has to offer"?

looks like I would have to close $1000.00 in sales to make
$40 bucks! where I could make $35 to $40 dollar "per sale "
in the dating world for a single signup!!!! Yilkes!!

please help me understand why I'd want to promo physical products? because it seems like a terribly inefficient way to make money!

your feedback would certainly be appreciated!

Dano~
#main internet marketing discussion forum #amazon #products #promote
  • Nope, you should steer clear of Amazon, you'll never make any money

    But... if you're looking for someone to write amazon product reviews for you, i'm you're guy! (reidwriting.com)

    Seriously though, it's not so much about the commish per sale as it is the volume of sales that is possible if you do it right. Plus there is also a sliding scale based on items shipped up to 8% (except for electronics :@)

    cj.com offers some pretty good stuff for physical products too if you pick carefully.
    • [1] reply
    • pdrs

      thank you for your thoughts, and I believe relevant thoughts at that

      I just logged in cj to see what they have, lot of stuff, haven't promoted
      them for a while, back when I promoted them I focused on non-physical products

      anyone know if there is any kind of general rule as far as what type of
      products (outside of amazon) warrant a higher commish?

      (so I know what area of physical products to target?)

      thanks !!

      Dano!

      I haven't advertised with them lately
  • If this is sarcastic, ok

    If you are serious, you are dead wrong. I know people making over 10k a month via amazon and I myself make anywhere from 3-5k a month from amazon associates program.

    So yup amazon works.
    • [4] replies
    • Why Not? I do it and I am liking it
    • I can tell pdrs is just being scarcastic. <--- Because he got this,
      and the elaborations in the last 2 paragraphs.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • hey mohammed,

      I'm going for low competition keywords so the volume would not be high

      and just looking at the mid point between your "3k to 5k" of your numbers 4k per month, would mean over $100,000 in sales!!! and that doesn't even factor in the number of visitors it would take to get that type of sales volume

      congrats to you! but your game is a different animal altogether

      you sound like you have major major numbers to close those kinds of dollars, so it seems a bit out of my realm at this juncture

    • Banned
      Even in non-holiday seasons?
  • Yes, most definitely you should promote products from Amazon,
    there is money to be made there.

    A proper question would be: Why not?

    I always recommend my customers to buy the really great
    best-selling books on Amazon anyway, might as well get
    a cut from it, although tiny but it's the volume that counts.
  • If there is an existing demand for a physical product, then it will be easier to sell it online. Certain things like dating site signups are not offered anywhere else but at that site so they are willing to pay you more per sign up.
  • Amazon is a pain in the butt. The cookie only lasts for one day, so if someone doesnt make a purchase the same time they click on your affiliate ad, forget it, you are not getting the sale.
    • [1] reply
    • you've got to be kidding!

      are you serious? they give you a huge "one day cookie"?

      Dano~



      • [1] reply
  • The advantage with amazon is you have a ridiculous amount of flexibility as to what to promote, so you're almost guaranteed to find something that fits your site perfectly. Another good thing about amazon is of course it's very well-trusted by consumers. Consumers are simply more willing to buy from an Amazon page than, say, a Clickbank page.

    I would use amazon where it makes sense, and CJ, Clickbank and others where it makes sense. Don't box yourself into one affiliate medium.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I'll give you that, but again my volume will not be large, and when we are talking about a sliding scale of commish percentage, amazon does not appear to be the "right game"

      I think amazon is the right fit for many, but the small numbers game I have to believe I'm making the wrong decision, and need to quickly mkae a fast "paradigm shift" aka "website shift" and make sure the blogs I'm creating focus on other high commish type products!

      (gawwdd! ! what was I thinking!) that's the stupid mistake I make for not factoring in the commissh rate of amazon, and just assuming they're a "good bet"

      I think they are an absolute "fantastic" bet (bought plenty from them myself) just not for the volume I'll have ....I think a reassessment is in order

      • [1] reply
  • In all honesty... unless you are some super IM then you the time you use to make your website to promote whatever Amazon Product X the amount of sales that you make... you will probably be working for a few cents an hour.
    • [1] reply
    • hey warrior,

      of all the posts, I think you were really the only "negative" one about profits from amazon!

      Dano~

      • [1] reply
  • Some affiliates prefer Amazon to others because the credibility of Amazon so that it converts better.
    • [2] replies
    • Amazon products are easy sale because people confident about Amazon quality, and Amazon page is also good, you just drive traffic to Amazon and let they do their job.
      Clickbank products or others product have more commission rate, but it may harder to sell it. Anyway it depend on marketers, some people may good at promote Amazon products, some can not get much from them. If you had good success with Clickbank, get more traffic to your website or make more website to get traffic. Good luck.
    • I'm still staying with amazon rather than trying other venture because of the foundation of trust already built by the site among sellers ad buyers.
  • I believe you should promote your Amazon products, wider filed and more opportunities.
  • look, i am new to IM, i took on amazon and am doing better than i could ever imagine

    20 sales this month so far, and i only started in january. turns out amazon converts REALLY well. a few years back i was involved in a mens clothing company which had its own stock, we built and promoted a huge, reputable website, got 300-350 unique visits per day and hardly made any sales.

    by comparison, this amazon thing is a walk in the park.

    *EDIT: also I promote amazon UK and only need one more sale to get my comission up to 5.5%. i've projected a full-time income from this stream alone by november.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • Why not try both (Split Test)

      Trial amazon on one site and another affiliate offer on another, and see how it works for you?

      Amazon is a highly regarded and trusted brand name world-wide, and yes - your coversions will be higher on amazon than many other programs ..

      Yes, it's a pain in the ass (Oops) that the % comission is so low, but many people buying products on amazon buy -- MORE than one product, AND sometimes buy a product that you weren't even promoting at all!

      As an example of this, my colleage runs a kitchen utensils website and promotes low value items (under $100)

      They recently got commission for the sale of a Home Theatre and Television system which was sold at over $3500 (so they made approx $140 for one sale they didn't even target!!)

      I think split testing may be worthwhile investigating if you're not sure ....

      Good luck
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
    • Hello there matt.

      you said that you are new to IM, if you dont mind can i know if you refer to any ebooks or do you have any coaching when u first start with amazon?

      I am an absolute newbie to IM but i am kind of attracted to amazon as i read somewhere it is newbie friendly only that you have to put alot of work to it.

      thanks
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [2] replies
  • If it's any consolation, I know IMs who are making a very decent living from Amazon commissions. In fact, some I know have completely replaced their "job" incomes as Amazon affiliates.

    Depending on what you want to achieve, selling products that are higher priced and selling well (Amazon bestseller list is useful) is a good idea.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • There's lots of money in Amazon, if you can dominate Google. Big paydays around Christmas ;-)
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Let's say you are looking to buy a new electric shaver however you have no clue what to buy. You go online and look for general information on different shavers and their features. You find a review website that compares different shaver brands and models. You find one that you like and you click on the link. Now let's compare these two situations :

    1 - You end up on a site that you have never heard of. The website is nice and has a great layout. Would you buy?

    2 - You end up on amazon. You probabaly don't even care about the layout since it is amazon. You don't even need to get out your credit card since you have probabaly bought stuff there and they have your info. Would you buy?

    I think the answer is clear. Amazon converts like crazy and the reason behind it is that most people have already bought from amazon so they know the process of shipping, payment , etc. People are most likely to buy from a well trusted website like amazon that they have most likely used in t he past.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • absolutely agree.

      in fact, i get annoyed by people who slam amazon based on their comparably low commissions. people who do this clearly have no idea how much time and money has been spent by amazon on their marketing, user experience, product range, conversion improvements etc etc etc

      yea you might get $30 per sale of some crappy clickbank product but they're likely to be fewer and further between than amazon sales if the traffic is right.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • You can search on this forum, it has a good ecourse about this, and I think in WF offer has a man coach about this also.
    The main ideas at here already, you make a website, review articles and get traffic to your money site. More targeted traffic you make more money. This is simple huh? You can do whatever way to get traffic, dominate the search engine, paid per click with Google Adwords...you may choose what economy method and get long-term income.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Amazon is good...well worth testing on a few sites..

      What the people who slam the 1 day cookie and low commison don't realize is that people don't just buy 1 thing on amazon, in fact about 70% of my sales are for things i don't promote.

      One of our members of over at wordpress goldmine made $350 in commission from 1 sale last week as the person bought in bulk.. you don't often do that on clickbank
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Amazon products have a pretty good converting rate, plus the less amount of refunds make it an irrestible monetization tool..
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • I like promoting physical products and Amazon one of the dealer I use. I find it easier to sell physical than digital products.
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  • Ok i cannot believe some of the posts here, amazon is an awesome place, it sells well!!

    If you are concerned about the commission rate then why not promote products that cost more than $200, that way you can make sure you get a good commission.

    I had a blogger blog talking about frank sinatra and i had linked to his album in amazon. Just one person clicked it to date..(its 6 days old) and he/she went on to purchase over $300 worth of stuff, that one day cookie tripled my commission.

    I guess we should just let people believe that amazon is dead and that they can no longer make decent money with it. While we still rake in some moolah
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Amazon commision is not 4 %. Do not focus on that number as it is only relevant if you send a few visitors to them

    Commisions get up to 6 % pretty fast, and 7 % is not far away if you get into action.

    When you increase in commision levels, you will get higher commision from all your sales. I am not doing to well, but I see the potential. Today I had 1 sale from a product I had actually promoted and 8 products I had never heard of. People like to fill their shopping chart.

    So if you promote a 20 dollar product and sell for 200, you will get 12-16 dollars or more than 60 % of what you initialy promoted.

    Think about large companies who promote products with loss only to get the customers into the doors. The same concept applies with Amazon.

    Another great thing about Amazon is backlinking. It is much easier getting away with a web 2.0 post about your love for kites or 80's rock music, than it is for "Remove acne scars" and "Get your ex back".
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I CAN"T BELIEVE ALL THESE POSTS ABOUT "HOW WONDERFUL"
      AMAZON IS!!

      But you know what? You guys have "hands down" convinced me that I shouldn't change what I was goiing to do, and that I should stick with my plan!!

      THANK YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH

      I am blown away and even though (which was my issue, I'm doing small low comp niches) my numbers (visitors) would not be tremendous
      all the points you have made are overwhelmingly in the corner of amazon
      without this feedback I would have surely not used amazon

      but now I will! I think that if I "did not use amazon" I would be making a mistake
      ... yeah you guys are right I should try amazon, I'm sure the conversions would be higher and a nice
      "cross sale" would just add to the pot..

      Gwarrrior
      sjukun
      frank07
      brucew
      zachmo
      craig
      matt
      pappy
      peter
      warren
      ehsan
      thompson
      elliott
      nana
      ramonster
      mrmunch

      appreciate it!

      Dano~
  • Amazon converts like nuts. All you gotta do is get the people to the site and Amazon will sell them something, even if it's not what you're selling. And also Amazon isn't only a 4% conversion rate, it goes up with the more sales you make.

    I'm doing extremely well with Amazon and the naysayers are just unsure how to make a site that converts - which I do.
  • I have made money with Amazon. Since you are experienced, you may enjoy the benefits of such a venue. There is also Commission Junction, Linkshare and another that I fail to remember. The difference is mostly that a different type of people prefer physical products and wouldn't know an e-book from their elbow If you go for the "big ticket" items, 4-6% is not bad at all. And if they need accessories for that item, they will continue to shop. Hope that helps.
    • [1] reply
    • great thread btw "page one on high comp keyword phrase & how I did it"

      thank you, that was really nice, I will be reviewing that I appreciate the link!

      That was my same sediments at first, but after the overwhelming posts on this thread, and the idea that they convert better than most, and people can and will buy other unrelated products and therefore kick things up higher, tell you what, I'm a convert

      Jan that's impressive!


      "people prefer physical products and wouldn't know an e-book from their elbow " lol!

      you know I can see your point, another in favor of promoting "amazon" instead of completely focusing on digital product

      Dano~
  • Most Amazon stores are quite large and pages can rank for numerous long tail key words. Also, trust from the consumer is high with Amazon, so conversion is better. Of course the down side is low commissions. However, there are many people that make decent money on these sites and they aren't that difficult to set up because Amazon provides a software script to set them up.

    I'v done some SEO work for people with these stores. That's been my experience with them.
    • [1] reply
    • again thank you guys so muc...

      maybe I could ask for just a bit more help?
      the st page I want to send customers to is relating to
      women's gym wear.....I realize that covers a lot of clothing items
      BUT not being an amazon promoter in the past, I take a look at what
      I might use as a page to land on, and ?????

      I don't think I yet have the "amazon eye"??

      I don't know what would be a good page as a lander?
      I don't mean so much the particular product, but an example of the "type"
      of page "the look" that gets ones interest?

      Because when I went to a "clothing" > sport> (it was last night so I don't recall the exact path)
      but it was not ?? shall I say "tempting"?

      I could use a nudge to show me what might be such a good
      "start point" and I will learn from that example

      Can someone show me what might be an example of a good page to land on? (obviously affiliates would want me to use a page saturated with their products), so maybe a couple of suggestions?

      any help is certainly appreciated

      Dano~
      • [2] replies
  • yes. domain extensions don't REALLY matter, despite what people seem to think. as far as i know, Google gives no preference to domain extensions.

    that's right - .info domains are no harder to rank than .edu domains. and .edu domains don't necessarily provide more value either (not on their extension alone anyway).
  • Just keep in mind things are changing with the landscape of being an amazon affiliate in many states, ask anyone in Colorado what happen to their hard work on their sites. Texas may be next.
  • Yes it's too low. Why not try other sites?Or just build your blog then make business there. You can still ear money from that.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • You don't understand that Amazon products convert like crazy in comparison to digital products, have greater longevity, and also rarely result in refunds (unlike digital products). These Amazon sites can bring in passive income for many months to come once set up, so don't just look at the low commissions and immediately rule it out.
  • If you chose your niche / market carefully and link to it successfully and drive traffic to that offer then you can make money from it.

    If you don't do those things then you won't...and if you don't then you will be right in thinking it is not worth doing......but if you do and start making $$'s....then chances are you will start to believe it is worth it.

    Its up to you.
    Good luck in your choice

    Tonio
  • Hi - Amazon I've found is good for niche sites like cameras for instance. But make sure you drive lots of traffic to your site.
  • If your blog is about physical products then you won't do much better than amazon, you are more likely to get a sale from amazon than nearly any other sales site as people trust it.
  • If you have a site that generates enough traffic, why not? It's a volume game promoting Amazon products.
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