Making money with ebay - or is it a waist of time...?

[clix99]

Hi,
Something about promoting ebays products doesn't make sense to me:

If i promote a product of a 'regular' advertiser i usually get 3.00 - 5.00% commission (maybe even more up to 25%) of the sold item price.

The commission ebay gives us is 25%-75% (if i remember correctly) of what ebay earns for the listing of the item. right?

If so it means that if i promote and sell a product that costs $1,000 on regular PPA affiliate program i might get $30 - $250 commission

On ebay i can sell the same item for $1,000 and get only $3, If the seller paid $4 for listing this item.

Is there something i'm missing here or this simply doesn't make sense...?

[Kerosene]

The one thing you've missed is that you'll actually make sales using eBay :)

Everyone I know buys from eBay. If I'm going to buy something online, eBay is the first site I check.

x% of eBay's fee isn't much - but multiply it by 20-30 sales per day, and eBay make up for it with the sheer volume of sales you can get. Plus you never know what people with your cookie are going to buy, or who else uses their computer. Add ACRUs, and it's all worth it.

[depotgang]

Conversions and as part of a total IM plan its great. I would not stick all my eggs in the eBay bandwagon, but it is without a doubt the most consistent two bucks you'll make.

BANS is a great way to make it work effortlessly for you.

Good Luck

[grwolz]

I completely agree that eBay has a great program due to its brand. Everyone buys from eBay which makes them a real easy sell.

[MikeCollins]

eBay is a recognized and trusted brand, plus they have such a wide array of products you can easily find some to promote no matter what niche you're in. The key for me is volume. Most of my eBay sales are small, but they add up quickly.

[mhaynes6]

Ebay doesn't try to swindle you out of your commissions like some ot the other advertisers i've promoted...they do pay...the thing with them is just using it as a way to make a couple hundred dollars every month or two...just another stream of income thats all...

[altrana]

Ebay doesn't try to swindle you out of your commissions like some ot the other advertisers i've promoted...they do pay...the thing with them is just using it as a way to make a couple hundred dollars every month or two...just another stream of income thats all...

Couldn't say it better myself

[Union]

I will just say that eBay is my most profitable, reliable and consistant sources of income; online and offline.

Buyer confidence is huge - maintenence is minimal.

Watching cartoons is a waste of time.. being an active eBay affiliate is a wise business decision.

[yaquert]

For me it is waist of time. CJ not counting almost nothing so with 10 clicks in 3 weeks instead of 1000 you can make no lead or sale. Maybe the problem is that I'm using 3 rss ebay.tld sources for 3 languages, and so fooling cj stats tracker if there is one at all. Cj is not giving any support on that issue, only marked questions as solved without answer. Very professional.

[decodethis]

I had given up on CJ as a profit center until I started doing eBay affiliate sales. Now it accounts to 30% of my monthly gross. It's pretty painless to set up and while the tracking is annoying it's not that hard to see where your profits are coming from.

[Jennifer66]

The one thing you've missed is that you'll actually make sales using eBay :)

Everyone I know buys from eBay. If I'm going to buy something online, eBay is the first site I check.

x% of eBay's fee isn't much - but multiply it by 20-30 sales per day, and eBay make up for it with the sheer volume of sales you can get. Plus you never know what people with your cookie are going to buy, or who else uses their computer. Add ACRUs, and it's all worth it.

I totally agree, you've just got a better chance of actually making the sale with eBay, plain and simple. It does and will all add up! Get that eBay cookie!

Jen

[Aldouspi]

Being an eBay affiliate is pretty easy thing to do, whether you use their affiliate tools or a BANS script or other store script. Make it a part of your website diversification plan. A few sales here and a few sales and the commissions begin to add up. And your site might become the ongoing starting place for many eBayers who are interested in what your niche is.

[Union]

Yes. I have found than there are many ebayers that prefer to use a good niche site that has the produsts they are interested in all pre-sorted and listed for their convenience. It can be a huge time saver for some folks.

[Bishop81]

I started off with a few sites that pull from ebay, totally automated. All I'm doing now is working on SEO for them one at a time, and waiting for them to start pulling in 1+ sales per day. In 2 months, I made a whole $5 total, with about 6 sites working for me. Then, suddenly, I had a $9 commission. I don't know what the person bought, but ebay's commission on it was about $18, and they paid me 50% of that. If you target decently priced items, and work on getting the traffic, then the results will definitely pay off in time. These results are with a total of 20 - 30 visitors to the entire network of sites each day. I'm imagining the results with 10 - 100 times that amount...

I also have a site dedicated to dvd's that cost less than $1. I recommend against sites like this, as the low commissions from ebay yield no commissions for you. I had 2 sales with $0 commission, probably somebody buying a $.01 dvd. I saw this, and then started looking at higher priced items. I was actually surprised how many bulldozers and front loaders are selling on ebay... ;) (I'm not in this niche, but thought about it)

[Goran]

I was actually surprised how many bulldozers and front loaders are selling on ebay... ;) (I'm not in this niche, but thought about it)

Yea it's weird I noticed a lot of my commissions end up being like John Deere vehicles, house tools, and what not.

[Union]

Yea it's weird I noticed a lot of my commissions end up being like John Deere vehicles, house tools, and what not.

definitely! Not my niche either, but if you check eBay pulse you can see that there is an extremely large market. for this type of stuff.

http://pulse.ebay.com/Business-Industrial

Some of these keywords would be pretty tough to nail but I'll give you a free protip:

If you can figure out what the people that purchase these big ticket items, ALSO purchase, and target that niche, you may find that your income from peripheral sales will also increase! It works, trust me!

[DealWorx]

We have regular traffic that generates between $70-$300 net commission off the sales on ebay. In addition we do thousands of ACRUs per month (for ourselves and our downline customers). This is not counting the small sales as well.

So YES, it's very possible to make tons of money with CJ and ebay. :)

[cylai]

hey Clix99:

I used to use BANS to promote ebay with small success.
AS you already know, you earn eBay commission via the sales and the sign up too (about $20+ per user!)The good things about eBay is, it is a brand name that people feel safe to shop with. Also, if you target the hot selling items, the comimssion can add up real quick !

I wrote a page about finding the hot selling items here:
http://buildanichestore.yellowebmaster.com/the-secret-to-niche-selection-for-build-a-niche-store/

For starter, it is recommended that you set up an eBay stores with your affiliate links. I used Build a Niche store, aka BANS. It is very good for newbie and a lot of users including myself make good money with the programs.

If you need helps please feel free to contact me !

[Aldouspi]

As you can see from the comments here, for many people eBay affiliation is a valuable use of time!


I also have a site dedicated to dvd's that cost less than $1. I recommend against sites like this, as the low commissions from ebay yield no commissions for you. I had 2 sales with $0 commission, probably somebody buying a $.01 dvd.

A quick thanks for this post about the poor commissions on DVD's, I was planning on setting up a BANS store for DVD's for my movie site, but will now reconsider...

[Wifier]

May I ask this

If people want to buy some thing from eBay, why would they use an affiliate store? why don't they just go directly to eBay?

I mean how can I be sure that they will buy through my store?

[geomark]

May I ask this

If people want to buy some thing from eBay, why would they use an affiliate store? why don't they just go directly to eBay?

I mean how can I be sure that they will buy through my store?

Your site needs to give them some added convenience or something extra that they won't get if they go directly to ebay. I think that's what the successful sites are doing.

I'm doing ok, making a few sales almost every day in a couple of niches. What I do to add value is play around with searches, tweaking keywords, number of bids, price, etc until I get refined search results that boil down to what people really seem to want to buy in my niche. Then I parse that search feed to display a short list of the good stuff on my site. If I have hit on the right combination then visitors find it useful because it saves them time. At least that's my reading on it.

[Wifier]

Your site needs to give them some added convenience or something extra that they won't get if they go directly to ebay. I think that's what the successful sites are doing.

I'm doing ok, making a few sales almost every day in a couple of niches. What I do to add value is play around with searches, tweaking keywords, number of bids, price, etc until I get refined search results that boil down to what people really seem to want to buy in my niche. Then I parse that search feed to display a short list of the good stuff on my site. If I have hit on the right combination then visitors find it useful because it saves them time. At least that's my reading on it.

very useful tips.

thank's :)

[Bishop81]

A quick thanks for this post about the poor commissions on DVD's, I was planning on setting up a BANS store for DVD's for my movie site, but will now reconsider...

I'm not saying that DVD's in general are bad, just don't focus on the inexpensive items. Stay out of the "Less than $1" area, and things like that. Having a DVD site wouldn't be bad, if the people are spending $10+ for each item.

Also, my view isn't that I'm trying to get people to buy through my site instead of through ebay. If people are tech-savvy, then they'll just go to ebay in the first place. There are thousands, if not millions of people who don't naturally think to check at ebay, however. By having a site focused around their needs, they can find you from a search engine, or whatever places that you are advertising through, and see what they want at your site. They could always just say "Hey, that looks like an ebay auction" and just go to ebay to finish their purchasing. Most people, though, will see the items, click on the "Bid Now" or "More Information" links, which plants the cookie on their computer. Making it easy for somebody to find what they want, and easy to get to ebay to purchase it is what earns you the commission.

[Aldouspi]

I'm not saying that DVD's in general are bad, just don't focus on the inexpensive items. Stay out of the "Less than $1" area, and things like that. Having a DVD site wouldn't be bad, if the people are spending $10+ for each item.

Also, my view isn't that I'm trying to get people to buy through my site instead of through ebay.

Thanks for the DVD clarification, I will reconsider my reconsideration... :o

I agree with you, a BANS store or other is not going to replace the direct access to eBay, but it does add value to your overall website(s), providing a condensed and specific list of eBay items that relates to your niche and presumably, your visitor's interests.

[geomark]

Do people have any success mixing ebay listings with affiliate links on the same site? Say, for example, I have a store selling baseball mitts where I display products from a sports gear merchant. Then I also have a "Check for It on eBay" section listing auctions for baseball mitts on ebay. Does putting those together on the same site help, or hurt?

I don't have enough stats of my own to be sure. It seems like the low bids on ebay will take visitors over there to do some price comparisons (and set the cookie on their computer :)). But if they don't find what they want will they come back and purchase through your store?

[DarthMall]

I agree eBay is one of the safest bets for an affiliate program