[Aletheides]

I was never really a big fan of the Amazon affiliate program, but lately I have been giving them a second look.

I run most of my affiliate sites on Wordpress. One of the reasons I decided to try them out again was that I found a neat little WP-plugin just for Amazon: WP-Amazon « manalang Dropping Amazon links in the past was such a huge pain in the ass, this plugin shaves off a lot of time and effort for me.

PROS:
1. Although you can probably make more money with the Ebay Affiliate program, which is pretty similar, Amazon has static in-stock products which allows you to deliver the right products to the right traffic more often.

For example, if you are promoting a specific style/model of shoe, Amazon will have this shoe in stock while with the Ebay affiliate program the best you can do is hope someone is currently auctioning that model so it comes up in the displayed auction listings.

I want to be able to link to a specific product instead of just a banner. This is one of the problems I have been having with affiliate merchants in CJ. I have a strong feeling specific products are going to convert a lot better than banners or just some random relevant products.

My key strategy is to target the exact product keywords, then deliver the right products in front of the right audience. This will garner sales.

2. The brand recognition for Amazon is huge. People know and trust this site, which means more sales and dollars for affiliates.

CONS:
1. Compensation seems on the low side. I went with the performance fee pay structure instead of the classic fee structure. I am not sure why anyone would want to go with the fixed-rate structure - from what I can see you're stuck at 4% commission which is pretty low. With performance, after 7 sales for the month you are bumped up to 6% and you can continue up the ladder the more sales you make. The sad part is, it restarts at the end of the month.

2. Cookie life is shit. 24 hours? That is pretty pathetic. Some sales will be made after this mark which you won't get credit for.

Is anyone currently using the Amazon affiliate program with success??

[Aletheides]

Added a couple product links. 46 clicks no sales.

74 clicks no sales.

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117 clicks 1 sale, $0.61 commission lol.

I am switching to Half affiliate program. They sell much of the same products but give a 30 day cookie life, which needless to say is a lot better than 1 day.