Amazon.co.uk Commission Cap Removed

[careybaird]

Hey guys, thought you might like this - the £7 per item commission cap is being removed from the UK Amazon Associates program

That means you can now get much better commissions on high ticket items. There is also a change in commission rates for certain product categories (e.g. watches are 10%).

I broke it all down with the full details here: http://blog.freshstorebuilder.com/amazon-co-uk-and-eu-commission-cap-removed

 

[Admin]

Good information, thanks for sharing.

Admin

 

[Edwin]

If the change sticks, that could potentially increase the value of descriptive domains matching high-ticket items in categories with a decent % commission rate.

For example, if a product is £1,000 on average and it falls into the 5% "other" category, then that's £50/sale which is more than 7x what Amazon capped the commission at before.

 

[careybaird]

I do think it will stick as well - they had the commission cap for over 6 years so they must have given it some serious thought.

Amazon covers so many niches now that even EMD domains in obscure niches will increase in value.

Previously I only promoted amazon.co.uk niches with products around the £100 mark, now its wide open to higher ticket items also.

 

[Retired_Member38]

If the change sticks, that could potentially increase the value of descriptive domains matching high-ticket items in categories with a decent % commission rate.

For example, if a product is £1,000 on average and it falls into the 5% "other" category, then that's £50/sale which is more than 7x what Amazon capped the commission at before.

Haha, what a load of nonsense.

Any 'real' affiliate site is going to be sending traffic to a legitimate end user rather than Amazon market place. And the days of setting up some crappy amazon powered store with no unique content etc, are long gone.

So anyone who is/was ranking those sites, already had a way to monetise them. Amazons changes aren't going to change demand or price for junk exact match domain prices, no matter how much you wish for it

If there were some high ticket price items for sale that you could only buy through Amazon then perhaps your post would make sense; but as things are now its just a lot of drivel.

 

[DaveP]

I have my feet up and pringles ready. Please Edwin and Monkey, continue...

 

[Retired_Member38]

If anyone disagrees with me I'm open to being convinced - please post a domain name that has went up in value with this announcement.

 

[DaveP]

If anyone disagrees with me I'm open to being convinced - please post a domain name that has went up in value with this announcement.

21stBirthdayPresents.co.uk has surely gone up from £1,250.

 

[Murray]

If anyone disagrees with me I'm open to being convinced - please post a domain name that has went up in value with this announcement.

How many domain sales do you see where you think the buyer must be stupid?

Not everyone thinks like you, so it doesn't matter what is factually correct, all that matters is what people think is right.

 

[getmein]

Haha, what a load of nonsense.

Any 'real' affiliate site is going to be sending traffic to a legitimate end user rather than Amazon market place.

Precisely the sort of 'legitimate end user' who will have a number of glaring holes in their tracking mechanism including non tracking telephone numbers, physical stores, live chat etc which all serve to reduce the amount attributed to the affiliate who generates the sale.

It's obviously very much product dependent - I might want to speak to someone about a new washing machine, less so for a new pair of headphones that I've already done some research on. In a niche like clothing or jewellery if they are competitively priced I think they'd get the sale especially for higher value branded products.

The trump card is that most users will already have their payment/delivery details with amazon, trust the company so pressing the buy button is just that little bit easier.

 

[Retired_Member38]

Precisely the sort of 'legitimate end user' who will have a number of glaring holes in their tracking mechanism including non tracking telephone numbers, physical stores, live chat etc which all serve to reduce the amount attributed to the affiliate who generates the sale.

So what do you think of the 24 hour cookie period? Thats fine if you want to sell the the latest John Grisham novel or a Kasabian cd, they're spur of the moment purchases for under a tenner.

Do you want a 24 hour cookie when you're trying to sell someone a £5000 sofa or a £3000 hifi?

At least the legitimate end users are going to give you a reasonable cookie time for something that is obviously a considered purchase.

 

[Retired_Member38]

How many domain sales do you see where you think the buyer must be stupid?

Not everyone thinks like you, so it doesn't matter what is factually correct, all that matters is what people think is right.

I see quite a lot where if you were being mean you'd say the buyer was stupid. Or if you're being charitable you'd say they were naive and a big portfolio owner seen them coming and did an 'astute bit of business' that left the buyer bamboozled, and acorn cheerleaders singing 'caveat emptor' when the customer realises he can't ever make his money back let alone make a profit.

 

[Retired_Member38]

But seriously I'd still love to see a couple of examples of domains that have increased in value with this Amazon change.

 

[getmein]

So what do you think of the 24 hour cookie period?

I think it's short, I think it's cheeky and I think Amazon do it, because they can. It's for an affiliate to compare how Amazon as a merchant backs out compared to anything else. At least with the 24 hour cookie you can test fast

Do you want a 24 hour cookie when you're trying to sell someone a £5000 sofa or a £3000 hifi?

No, I don't - obviously I want as much commission as possible and very long duration cookies, preferably forever . For the examples you've cited I don't think Amazon is a good fit as a merchant, irrespective of cookie duration. For a £600 pram - I think it's definitely a contender and that represents a substantial increase in potential earnings for an affiliate.

 

[Retired_Member38]

But a 60 second check shows me there are already plenty of household names selling Pram stuff with 5% commission and no cap. And with a genuine cookie length rather than 24 hours.

I'm not really feeling that buyprams.co.uk suddenly shot up in value because of this Amazon announcement.

 

[Skinner]

I don't know about domains going up in value, I do believe websites WILL go up in value because of this.

I have a number of websites, which do ok, rank ok, selling xxx+ items now I have a wider product base from a trusted company, so it could bring in some additional sales. This will translate into a higher monthly revenue and this make my site(s) should I choose to sell.

 

[careybaird]

Keep in mind that using the store format (i.e. the remote shopping cart) will give you a 90 day cookie with Amazon instead of the normal 24 hour cookie you get with a direct link.

 

[Retired_Member38]

I don't know about domains going up in value, I do believe websites WILL go up in value because of this.

I have a number of websites, which do ok, rank ok, selling xxx+ items now I have a wider product base from a trusted company, so it could bring in some additional sales. This will translate into a higher monthly revenue and this make my site(s) should I choose to sell.

Your website won't really go up in value to a savvy buyer. If Amazons price cap removal means the earnings go up, then it was badly monetised in the first place.

If you were repeatedly seeing commissions marked at the maximum cutoff point then surely that was telling you you needed to get off Amazon and move to another legit end user and get paid the full amount?

 

[careybaird]

I recorded this quick video to show which situations give you a 90 day cookie and which give you a 24 hour cookie.

It isn't quite as simple as you think. Hope it helps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntbzIzrBeC0

 

[Skinner]

Its down to how your selling your site. If your selling on multiples of monthly revenue, the new items a monster like Amazon could bring, would inflate those numbers.

Personally, I never really used Amazon (or ebay) on many of my sites. Mostly because of the rubbish percentages (<5%), the commission cap, rubbish cookie durations and stupid basket rules. The improved commissions, cap removal makes it significantly more attractive.

I agree if you stayed with amazon, while hitting the £7 limit constantly, you prob need a good kicking.

Your website won't really go up in value to a savvy buyer. If Amazons price cap removal means the earnings go up, then it was badly monetised in the first place.

If you were repeatedly seeing commissions marked at the maximum cutoff point then surely that was telling you you needed to get off Amazon and move to another legit end user and get paid the full amount?

I also just noticed this was in the FSB section, which I don't use.