A lot of effort for little return

[pendragon]

Over the past few months, I've set up a number of affiliate sites, and worked on the seo side of things rather than going ppc as I normally do.

It's working, rankings are improving and sales are coming in, but the returns I'm getting hardly make the effort worth while. My issue is the commision levels on a lot of mainstream networks.

A couple of examples of sales Ive had this week .....

LED grow light via Amazon - Cost £120 - £5.95 payout
Radio Controlled Car via AF - Cost £120 - £12 payout

Big deal is my initial reaction. From now on, I'm sticking to more profitable niches and concentrating my efforts there.

To give you examples, for the past 4 years I guess, I've 'pushed' all kinds of weight loss products. I now use MoreNiche affiliate network and the returns I'm getting far outweigh anything I could get from selling a hockey stick, gas barbecue or patio set.

I know the higher the sale, the more the return, but like for like, weight loss is giving by far the best returns. And no, I dont do dodgy free trials, submit your credit card and get skanked. Just standard, one off purchases.

As examples from this week :

A $67 pill sale got £11.28
Another for $180.95 got £33.97

For me its a no brainer with payouts like that.

Do I plug away at AffFut / buyat type product offerings and commission levels in the hope that the sites will eventually run themselves, or stick to what I know best??

 

[accelerator]

LED grow light via Amazon - Cost £120 - £5.95 payout
Radio Controlled Car via AF - Cost £120 - £12 payout

The commission rates on Amazon are going to be a bit lower because it's so price competitive, but it's normally made up for by better conversion rates.

The radio controlled car is a 10% payout, that seems reasonable to me.

I feel networks such as Awin and buy.at are worth the effort.

Rgds

 

[ratboy]

Halfords.com - sold a £700 bike - payout £7. Makes you feel sick.

Like anything, if you can find a high payout niche like that i'd work on trying to control the niche!

 

[doodlebug]

Hi, I joined MN but for the life of me I can't find a .com suitable for weight loss

Do you recieve orders from the UK for American merchants ?

Thanks

 

[jwm]

Apologies if I am wrong but that MoreNiche link in your post looks like an affiliate link and they are not allowed on the forum. You might want to remove it.

 

[RSK3000]

The answer is that there are lots of different routes to making money. Do what works for you.

Halfords.com - sold a £700 bike - payout £7. Makes you feel sick.

Outrageous, one to avoid. How can they get away with paying 1%?

 

[doodlebug]

The answer is that there are lots of different routes to making money. Do what works for you.



Outrageous, one to avoid. How can they get away with paying 1%?

If Halfords' pay 1% through a network then wtf do you get off 'em through Storeburst

I did see an electrical retailer on Awin offering 0.46% and I'm not joking :shock:

 

[kendalcottages]

I think there's a danger sometimes of trying to develop too many sites concurrently. Sometimes it's better to focus on a niche/site and develop and develop until you're getting top rankings rather than several, say, top 20 rankings. This can bring much more traffic quite often and, perhaps more importantly, can give you more power in calling the shots when it comes to merchants. Many merchants operate on a tiered commission basis so, if you focus on one or two and have success, you could find yourself climbing to a new tier and getting not only more sales but also a better commission %.

 

[accelerator]

I think there's a danger sometimes of trying to develop too many sites concurrently. Sometimes it's better to focus on a niche/site and develop and develop until you're getting top rankings rather than several, say, top 20 rankings. This can bring much more traffic quite often and, perhaps more importantly, can give you more power in calling the shots when it comes to merchants. Many merchants operate on a tiered commission basis so, if you focus on one or two and have success, you could find yourself climbing to a new tier and getting not only more sales but also a better commission %.

I'd agree with this. One high ranking site (in a reasonable niche), at Google natural SERPS position 1 to 3 is worth so much more than many sites that just have "ok" rankings, say bottom of Google Page 1 or Google Page 2.

Rgds

 

[boxerdog]

i sold an item today for £49.99 and gave me commission of £2.70

 

[dashu1]

I've also come to the conclusion that it's better to have a smaller number of serious sites than a lot of little ones, which is why I've been selling some off.

One of my better performers for commission (that I'm not selling) is conversationalhypnosis.org.uk - it's a clickbank product and the commission is $100 per sale, plus some of them sign up to a monthly fee where you get $25 per month on top.

I think digital products can be good if you find the right niche - but there's a lot of junk at clickbank too.

 

[julian]

I know how you feel - i've sent one affiliate 125k worth of referrals last year - my cut = £165

This week I sent a 5000 euro referral their way and got £8.78

Sometimes I think you have to bend over and take it like a man if you want bigger booty long term..

 

[julian]

How can they get away with paying 1%?

Because they are such a credible brand, and the chances are you will get a sale out of it, thus we as affiliates can like it or lump it.

Same with using PC World, John Lewis etc.

You could takwe your chance with SomeUnknownStore.com send the same user and not get the sale in return for a potentially bigger commission.

 

[mally]

I know how you feel - i've sent one affiliate 125k worth of referrals last year - my cut = £165

This week I sent a 5000 euro referral their way and got £8.78

Sometimes I think you have to bend over and take it like a man if you want bigger booty long term..

Wow, what industry is this in, I need to avoid it :-o

 

[RSK3000]

Amazons commissions are far higher than 1 or 2 % some of you seem to be getting - and there is not much they don't sell.

 

[m4c]

The lesson in that one is that if it is in any possible you should consider finding the product / service at wholesale and selling it yourself!

Alternatively go and talk to a competitor of theirs, show them the details of the business you have a generated and negotiate a better cut...

PM me if you want to discuss

I know how you feel - i've sent one affiliate 125k worth of referrals last year - my cut = £165

This week I sent a 5000 euro referral their way and got £8.78

Sometimes I think you have to bend over and take it like a man if you want bigger booty long term..

 

[crabfoot]

Hey, what's the alternative - dropshipping on eBay?

No cash outlay, no physical stock - what's the problem?

There are situations where a lot of people take a slice of the action - like when a sale comes through an AffWindow ad, on Adsense, so you see a quarter of a quarter of the sale commission.

It is up to YOU to get as close to the commission as possible. If you go through channels that don't pay well, you have to get closer to the ROOT of the commisssion.

When this happens, you should be talking to the originators to get the easiest source of high commission, they know who they are dealing with, they will tell you where to get the best commission on those sales.

C'mon, Rich, don't tell us, pick up the phone. Nobody on here is going to give you a disinterested opinion if they are beating you in the same market. That is self-destructive ...

 

[mat]

Because they are such a credible brand, and the chances are you will get a sale out of it

I try not to promote merchants like this as they are high street and when it comes to high priced items like bikes that also could do with actualy trying before you buy, most people will see it on your site and then go buy it in store.

 

[crabfoot]

... most people will see it on your site and then go buy it in store.

A lot of people look around the web to get a feel for prices, then go to a shop to physically examine an item - but they will often come back to a website that is offering a good deal.

If there is a good offer in a shop, they will take it. But many high street retailers grumble about losing trade to websales - and others are working on the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" principle.

 

[Systreg]

To carry on further regarding the 1% that Halfords offer, that only applies to any orders where the purchaser chooses the reserve/collect option on their website when they place their order on reserve, they then pay for the item when they collect it in store, we get 1% for that when they pay.

If someone orders a bike and chooses the home delivery option, rather than reserve and collect the bike from Halfords themselves, you still get paid the normal 6%

The problem is this, of all the declined Halfords sales I've had, and I've been through them all, 99% of them are where the purchaser has reserved their item, but then not bothered to collect it from the store and pay for it there.

I was pretty much on the brink of removing Halfords feeds from all of my stores due to this ludicrous reserve/collect percentage, then a few days ago their manager at AW sent me an email asking what I would require in order to promote Halfords more on my sites, I ignored his email whilst I had a think about it and checked figures.

Yesterday, I received another email, this time from a company who represent Halfords and do all their affiliate and ppc marketing stuff for them through the likes of Google and AW. I sent them a candid reply this afternoon.

I explained exactly why I don't actively try to promote Halfords as much as other retailers, and that's due to their lousy 1% reserve/collect, also told them other marketers aren't happy about it either. Told them that I require 6% for all sales across all my sites in return for promoting the Halfords brand more, they replied a short while ago:

Hi Kev,

Thanks for your reply and your honesty in the reply. It is really appreciated and I completely understand your concerns with regards to the R&C commission level – this is something which we are currently reviewing as we know you are not alone in your views.

Any increased commission or promotion would of course be offered to you as an affiliate and would cover all of the domains which you place links on.

Unfortunately as we are now at the end of the week we will not be able to put an offer to you until the start of next week – but please bear with us on this.

Many Thanks

Fingers crossed that they come back with a suitable offer regarding upping my sales to 6%.

I gave them loads of sales figures and a sample of commissions from Halfords sales today, which earnt me a miserly £22.46 at 1%, had those been 6% commissions, it would have been £134.76, big bloody difference, if they up my commission, they'll get more sales, if not, Halfords are banished and other retailers will take their slice of sales.