Amazon Affiliate Network: 24 Hour Cookie and More
Amazon is one of the most popular affiliate networks and for good reason. I wouldn’t say it is “the best”; that is a very subjective term. It really depends on the niche you are targeting and how broad you want to or are able to promote products. If you promote in a small and specific niche, you may be better off with another affiliate network because of their higher commissions. If you own an authority site in a particular niche or manage properties that see a large amount of traffic, Amazon’s affiliate network may be the best option. In this article, we will look at a few of the advantages and disadvantages when working as an Amazon affiliate.
They Have Everything
This is self explanatory. They have a vast selection of pretty much anything you can think of. As an affiliate, this gives you more flexibility than any other affiliate can offer.
Discounts
Amazon often has heavy discounts of up to 70% off. You can use this as a promotional tool. “Get your sweaters for 50%-70% off! This week only!” This works great with targeted email lists. Create the impression that they are getting an exclusive offer and it will sell like hot cakes.
24 Hour Cookie
Once they click on one of your Amazon links, you will earn the commission of anything they purchase for the next 24 hours. If they click on your Amazon book link, leave, come back the next day and buy a tent, you get that sale. This is particularly great if you are selling cheap products.
In fact, here is a little tip for you: In general, cheap products will have less competition and will be much easier to sell and (position yourself to sell) than high ticket items like laptops or iPads. You will get more visitors because of the low competition which creates more clicks. More clicks means more cookies and a greater chance to land those high end commissions. You will bring in the $.08 commissions and every once in a while, you will get a $20 commission out of nowhere thanks to that 24 hour cookie.
So you can make a laptop niche site and sell two $300 items per week, or make a large $.99 paper glitter flower site and sell two $300 items per week. Which route seems easier?
Beware: This can also work against you. The last cookie left via Amazon gets the sale. This may be harmful in particular niche sites like books or music where the customer is more likely to click through multiple affiliate links.
Commissions
Their commissions kind of suck. Affiliate networks like Clickbank will offer 50% commissions regularly and sometimes more than that. Amazon’s commissions range from 4%-8.5%, depending on the count of items you sell per month.
*Note: There are some exceptions. For example: Personal computers are capped at $25 and instant videos are capped at $1.50.
Trust
The poor commissions are balanced out buy the brand trust of Amazon. People can be weary of buying a Clickbank product because it is likely thier first time buying through them, however, they know their money is in safe hands if they buy through Amazon. People will make purchases at a much higher rate than through any other merchant because of the brand trust Amazon has.
Amazon’s affiliate program is great for many reasons. They are trusted, they have a 24 hour cookie which supports cross product sales, they offer heavy discounts and they have just about anything you can think of. If you are looking for a broad selection of products to promote, Amazon is the way to go.
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