UK affiliate promoting US Amazon - worth it?

I'm in the same boat. I can tell you that it really depends on your traffic.

I'm considering finding a US based Amazon affiliate to recieve the cheques and just send me the money via Paypal. Maybe you could do the same, takes the hassle out of it.

Not earn much at the mo.

Don't really know anyone in the US who could do that for me, or that I would trust to (there could be a business idea in that thought!).

Go for the US - it's a MUCH bigger market than the UK, plus I've heard the UK scheme has a hard cap for ALL commissions.

I know plenty of Brits going down the US route

Chris

Yes I think it's definitely worth it. There are pros and cons for each (i.e. the UK market may have less competition, but the US market is bigger), but I personally choose to focus on BOTH UK and US markets. So far my US commissions have been much higher and I've earned a nice income from Amazon

It really isn't that bad cashing USD cheques, though you do lose out a bit with the exchange rate and bank fees so it's worth asking a few different banks to get the best rates.

Also, you can take advantage of free plugins like Amazon Link Localizer to display the correct Amazon referral link depending on whether your visitors come from the UK or the US (it supports other Amazon locations too) - to help boost potential sales worldwide: WordPress › Amazon Affiliate Link Localizer « WordPress Plugins

If you recieve regular US checks you can usually set something up with your bank so you don't have to wait 6 weeks for them to clear. Some banks will just clear it anyway and some don't.

It's worth bearing in mind the UK £7 cap. US Amazon doesn't cap earnings so if you're planning on promoting high-priced products you may have to go with them.

How much usually is the fee which banks charge to cash the cheques? Also, is it a set fee which is the same regardless what the amount of the cheque is?

The £7 cap sounds awful, is there any chance of US Amazon going down this same route?

I've never really been into Amazon... it's all too much for the stuff I do. I've got a US Amazon account for hubpages, I'm nowhere near a payout though.

Amazon's just too hard, cookies are too short, different country affiliate programs make it too cumbersome.

I'm sure some people make a lot of money from it, if they devote their life to some miracle niche that really eats up books/gadgets/whatever, but it's not for me.

Cashing a US$ check at my bank cost £8 last time I did it (back in the days when Clickbank used to send checks). Glad they moved to Paypal as that's only $2.50, and so I tend to set that one at just $250 to pay out.

Thanks for asking this question. I was wondering myself. I am a member of both affiliate programs, but currently only have UK Amazon ads on my site. My site is a .co.uk one, but most of my readers are currently US based. I am wanting my site to be more aimed at a UK audience as obviously that is where my specialities lie, but the US audience is hard to ignore due to the size.

I have thought about having two different ads, but it might all look too cluttered. it is just a matter to waiting to see.it would also be confusing.

Bear in mind that the commission rate seems higher with the US version too.

Yes.

Almost as worthwhile as if you live in the US. Your own location is relevant only to how you have to process the payments you earn. Other than that you're not disadvantaged compared with anyone living in the US. Why would you be? The internet is international ...

Most high street banks will effectively "clear" it in a week, now. They're doing that by using the paying-in-day's rate for the transaction, charging you a few pounds for the facility, and effectively "lending" you the money until it actually clears, but you're still liable later, if it bounces.

Not really. There's a commission-per-item ceiling on UK Amazon which makes it not worth bothering (for me, anyway).

I am uk based but much prefer the us amazon due to the difference in possible earnings from the size of the market and the commissions.

It takes the same to rank for a product that has demand in the US as it does in the UK in my experience and the possible sales opportunity is many times that of the uk.

For me the Amazon.com program is far better than the UK one. There is a cap of £7 on anything you sell in the UK which is frustrating. I sold several £1000 televisions and got paid £7 per sale. If that had been Amazon.com it'd have been 4%, i.e. $40. I don't really bother with Amazon.co.uk now directly - I use my plugin to show UK visitors UK ads but apart from that I'm not setting up any UK sites.

Cashing a USD cheque in the UK is no trouble. I take mine into Lloyds every month and it clears the next day and costs me around £7 or £8 to cash. The hardest part is getting the muppet behind the counter to fill in the form right, but after a couple of visits they get used to doing it.

I personally use the plugin in my signature to show relevant adverts to different countries. I've found it to be quite effective. I tend to show Amazon ads to UK, US, De and Jp and then everyone else gets Adsense - I figure most people outside the USA aren't going to pay Amazon shipping.

To me it is a global market place and if I'm not showing people relevant ads I am wasting as much as 40-50% of my traffic - check your stats and see how much is non-USA traffic. Whilst the UK market isn't as lucrative as the USA market, if I can tap it without extra work I will do so.

If you are in the UK then the US Amazon program is far more profitable and you get paid a lot more for your work. The USA market seems a lot happier to buy online than the UK market, but I guess that means there's a lot of potential for growth in the UK Amazon niche site market.

Cheers

Jason

It's better to promote Amazon US because there are more products, more reviews and more traffic. Plus Amazon UK commissions are capped - Amazon US commissions aren't.

Depending on your bank, cashing a cheque shouldn't cost more than £5 and most banks will give you access to the funds straight away.

I have no trouble with paying US dollar cheques from Amazon or Clickank into my UK bank account, I just pay them in as I would any other cheque. It takes a bit longer to clear but not much. Charge is usually about 12 quid. The machines wont take them but the counter staff have no problem. I'm with HSBC. If you wait till your cheque is at least $600 then the charge is not really very much. Just look at it as one of your business costs.

I use the US version - but I put the UK version below the main image advert as a text advert.

I live in Canada promote Amazon US. I place links for the same/similar products for Canada and UK markets in the sidebar using Widget Locationizer plugin (free) so they are targeted to the correct post.

Today for example I had sales for Amazon US and UK off same niche site. UK Sales are smaller but it all adds up.