Your experiences: Amazon and eBay ads

[corgi]

Have you guys used Amazon and/or eBay commission ads?

How does that work for you, in comparison to CPC ads and/or affiliate ads?


I'm thinking about it, but have never tried it.
Because for me, at least, I have never bought anything off of someone's ad. If and when I do buy something from Amazon and eBay, I go there directly and compare - then buy it on my own.

 

[enlytend]

They work out the same for me as any other affiliate program. I use product links related to my content.

Drawbacks - Amazon commission rates are mediocre unless you do a pretty high volume of sales. They also have non-commissionable distractions (aka "leaks") on the product pages. There are a lot of people who aren't comfortable buying on eBay.

Benefits - both are well-known "brands" and people who click through often stay on the site, browse, and sometimes make impulse purchases. Can be a bunch of childrens' books or something - only $0.50 - $1 commission each, but they add up - or a pleasant surprise like yesterday when someone browsed their way into buying a Mac book after clicking through on my Amazon link.

 

[NetOctave]

I'm still yet to see any conversion for any of my amzon clicks. Basically I feel we are giving them free advertisement and get paid nothing. But if your site can get some nice conversions, then it is worth it.

 

[elias75]

Basically I feel we are giving them free advertisement and get paid nothing.

very true comment! I had better luck with ebay rather than with amazon... but needs time to make some good "pocket money" with them two.

 

[randomo]

FWIW, my Amazon stats for Q1 2009:
697 visits, 12 items ordered, about $15 earnings.
So, averaging about $.02 per visit.

I'm developing a couple of other sites that will feature Amazon ads ... will see what happens as the number of visits increases.

 

[enlytend]

With Amazon, it isn't so much about how many visits you send as it is about the intent of your visitors. Amazon only has a 24 hr cookie. If people click through to Amazon but leave before placing an order...

- If they come back and order after 24 hours you get nothing.
- If they come back and order later but they've clicked someone else's Amazon affiliate link since clicking yours (and don't return to Amazon THROUGH your link), the other person gets the sale.

If you have visitors who are ready to purchase immediately, you'll make a higher percentage of sales than if your site sends a lot of "lookers". The "lookers" might make impulse purchases while they're there, but people are more impulsive about buying cheap stuff.

 

[angilina]

Have you guys used Amazon and/or eBay commission ads?

How does that work for you, in comparison to CPC ads and/or affiliate ads?


I'm thinking about it, but have never tried it.
Because for me, at least, I have never bought anything off of someone's ad. If and when I do buy something from Amazon and eBay, I go there directly and compare - then buy it on my own.

I personally have never tried these ads as I think that in my sites, these ads will not work at all.

I think to earn some good money from these ads, one will need to have a site with lot of traffic and most importantly, traffic that will be interesting in buying something online.

 

[mhdoc]

For me Ebay works the best but I build collectibles sites so that may be why.

 

[enlytend]

eBay is PERFECT for collectibles sites! Make a page for each popular sub-category you can think of, write a short article on the topic on each page, then use the editor kit to generate relevant listings - (the better you filter out the irrellevant stuff the better you'll do.)

On Amazon, I use the "do it yourself" link building format to link to individual products. Again, it's not the amount of traffic so much as their readiness to buy. Hint: If your site provides information which will help your visitors make a purchasing decision, they'll be much more "ready to buy". My conversion rate on Amazon is around 7-8%, which for what I promote is not bad at all.

 

[bluearrow]

Its pretty hard to earn from Amazon these days. Specially their one day cookie make things harder !

 

[mdamin76]

I have an amazon affiliate account, but never made any sales and commission from it. I get tired on it, and now I'd just concentrate on my adsense.

 

[JagG]

I have an amazon affiliate account, but never made any sales and commission from it. I get tired on it, and now I'd just concentrate on my adsense.

Same here and also had a ebay one, never made a penny and now with adsence.

It all depends on what people are thinking when they come to your site, if they are looking to buy something then maybe its good to have amazon and ebay ads, but if your just getting web surfers who are just bored and nothing better to do then adsence is the best bet. (I could be wrong, but its working for me)

All the best

Jag

 

[mhdoc]

(I could be wrong, but its working for me)

Which is the only answer that really matters

I think many of the posters asking about the income they could/should expect think there is only one right answer. The reality is each website attracts different kinds of visitors. The kind of income generation that works best depends on lots of factors. I expect for some sites it even changes with time of the year.

The experienced marketers always talk about testing, testing, and more testing as the only way to know for sure what works best for a site.