eBay Partner Network Policy Updates Effective July 20th Here's two that concern me. You can't place ePN links on ANY site that you don't own. If you've got a Blogger/Blogspot/free hosted blog, then look out. Which I'm guessing includes subdomains. So having ePN links on a subdomain like ipods.mydomain.com is breaking the TOS.
It is the url part that has me worried, ie BANS take the ebay catergories from ebay, (often the catergries are trademark names) so your bans url becomes www.mydomain.com/trademarkterm big, big, job to change them all and then what will that do to your seo, which is only hanging on by a thread with yahoo anyway, google long gone. do we see another round of expirations round the next corner?
If the trademark is after the third slash e.g http://www.bla.com/bmw then I think it's ok. It's subdomains that I'm worried about. I think we're all living on borrowed time. I'm just waiting for the day that everyone gets a "Closure of eBay Partner Network program" email.
Sorry to see those terms, Kerosene and mcjp6 do either of you 2 do amazon sales, I am not affiliated with EPN but have been doing extremely well in electronic sales w/amazon, you guys might want to try that and not wait for epn to close and be proactive.
I had not previously as the short cookie life and low commissions put me off - but hey, if it converts, why not. I'll certainly have a look, thanks Jody..
I've been wanting to push harder on Amazon. I just have a hell of a time earning anything with them. Cookie life and commission % is brutal! I might be working Amazon completely wrong, so still trying to find something that works for me (type of site and niche). EPN is scary. hanji
yeah I read these. It kinda sucks especially if you have been relying on blogger blogs and ebay. Now its a matter of changing approach and re-evaluating strategy. By the way, Amazon really sucks. The payout is much less than ebay for starters and it just doesnt convert as well even for high ticket items.
eBay's numbers are way down according to published reports. And with this they will drive them down further. It's time to move away from them and seriously focus on building upon other networks. Sad but true. Question: Are there any other real contenders in the auction space? They will win big as eBay ruins its business.
I don't think there other contenders in the auction space that's really worth looking at. I think EPN is still a good program.. but leaves you with a uneasy feeling at the end of the day. I'd like to promote other networks as well, but it's hard finding networks that convert like EPN. hanji
I never liked Amazon due to the low commission and short cookie. But in reality, there isn't much difference between Amazon and EPN on the commission, 4% of sale price for Amazon versus 50% of final value fee for eBay which is like 5% of the sale price, right? That one day cookie at Amazon is a deal breaker for me, however. It's a bit of a scam in my opinion. So many buyers bookmark a page and return later to buy so Amazon gets many customers at the affiliate's expense but doesn't pay a commission.
I hear ya.. the one day cookie is brutal. I've been talking to a few people that make bank with Amazon though... so it could be how I'm promoting, etc. Maybe more impulse items? Who knows. hanji
You were right all the way: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Ebay-Partner-Network/Well-Its-Happened/520139786 http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Ebay-Partner-Network/Epn-Termination/520139893 http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Ebay-Partner-Network/Epn-Dont-You/510120573
Also I note some program change terms about blanking the referring etc.. no longer allowed.. you must let eBay know where the traffic is coming from.. obviously this is targeting blackhat operators.
unfortunately it seems that I was. there have been quite a few expirations over the last day or so which is not good. I wish we knew on what basis they decide to terminate someone, I am still in SO FAR, I have no idea what I am doing to have survived this far. all we can do is wait and see - and build some non ebay income streams!
I think we're all wondering the same thing. Some of us are really going out of our way to make sure we comply with the ever changing TOS, but it still doesn't mean we're any safer. If eBay want you gone, then you're gone.
my thoughts exactly.. thats why im just leaving my sites on auto-pilot and starting other projects away from EPN, just not worth it..
Same here. Some great store ideas have been shelved. Working on building out some ideas for CJ merchants instead.