Best affiliate program for a merchant?

Discussion in 'Affiliate Programs' started by bond007, Sep 24, 2007.

  1. #1
    hey guys,without disclosing too much at the moment,I have an online store that I am building that sells tech gadgets. I will no doubt have the best prices online I have 5 employees, have hundreds of thousands in inventory in my warehouse i deal on ebay and have over 100,000 feedback so i know the business and competition well)

    I hired a SEO firm to work for me,and I will be signing up to price comparison sites such as shopping.com and pricegrabber.com

    Im very interested in joining an affiliate program as an Advertiser and offer pretty decent commissions of about 7% on any sales that are made. ($5-$20)per item sold (i sell about 2-300 items per day on ebay)

    what program do you guys think is best for me that can work well with my business. I already posted this on the CJ forum but was wondering if theres any better programs out there.
     
    bond007, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  2. Christian Little

    Christian Little Peon

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    #2
    I prefer Shareasale.com personally. I like the merchant backend more than CJ.

    Shareasale.com is also about 90% cheaper, and you get a faster response from their support when you need it (a few hours as opposed to a few days that you get with CJ).
     
    Christian Little, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  3. bond007

    bond007 Peon

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    #3
    thanks just called them and they actually picked up the phone unlike CJ..

    However my concern is actually getting the most affiliates to sign up for advertising my site. is CJ more popular in terms of getting better advertisers for my sites or sharesale has a good amount of people signing up as well
     
    bond007, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  4. ablaye

    ablaye Well-Known Member

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    #4
    I think CJ is the most popular service and have more people signing up for affiliate programs there.
     
    ablaye, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  5. bond007

    bond007 Peon

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    #5
    to me it seems like theres a reason why cj charges so much to sign up .. maybe its because it has the most people advertising for the merchants.. am i wrong ?
     
    bond007, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  6. 5starAffiliates

    5starAffiliates Well-Known Member

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    #6
    Actually CJ is the largest and has the largest base of affiliates.
    So you are correct there.

    However many of the strong affiliates on CJ are also on Shareasale. You just need to know how to reach them. :)
    Many affiliates prefer Shareasale due to their pro-affiliate policies and anti-predatory advertising stance.

    And Christian is right SAS is a TON cheaper. 350 set up compared to over $5,000 with CJ.
    In most cases you get what you pay for, but I feel SAS is an exception to the rule.

    Don't get me wrong, I like CJ and would many times put a big brand that warranted it on CJ.
    But for many small to mid sized merchants SAS is sometimes a better choice.

    Where would you get not only the MOST affiliates but the best ROI?
    That depends on a few different things.

    I offer a free consultation for merchants, so if you want to call I can possibly give you
    more in-depth advice, based on your specific needs and marketing goals.
    I don't personally do management myself any more, just give free advice. :)
     
    5starAffiliates, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  7. bond007

    bond007 Peon

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    #7
    that is very nice of you. Id like to take you up on your offer when you get a chance :)
     
    bond007, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  8. PixelHut

    PixelHut Active Member Affiliate Manager

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    #8
    Have you try clickbank yet?
     
    PixelHut, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  9. bond007

    bond007 Peon

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    #9
    No, i thought they are for digital sales only
     
    bond007, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  10. purdue512

    purdue512 Well-Known Member

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    #10
    Hello all. Check out

    http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=482820

    Limited time offer is 100% commission, paid directly by Amazon and CJ...

    We have some merchants doing well with it. The key is being able to script your links and seed them with a keyword that's relevant to the page the visitor is on. This way the landing page at the affiliate link shows similar products - thus higher conversion..

    Cheers
     
    purdue512, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  11. bond007

    bond007 Peon

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    #11
    uhhhhh

    k lol
     
    bond007, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  12. anton-io!

    anton-io! Active Member

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    #12
    I'll put my vote in for shareasale. I currently manage a program there and they have been awesome!

    - low cost entry
    - datafeed option available
    - great support from SAS

    The alternative is to go inhouse & manage program youself - check out idev affiliate

    what e-commerce system do you plan to use? You may want to run this by your potential affiliate network to see if they currently support the commerce system

    I'm curious to know what you will be using
     
    anton-io!, Sep 24, 2007 IP
  13. bond007

    bond007 Peon

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    #13
    thanks im pretty much settled on SAS now... Im not sure what you mean by e-commerce system but I have my own coder that build a shopping cart
     
    bond007, Sep 25, 2007 IP
  14. purdue512

    purdue512 Well-Known Member

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    #14
    Where did I lose you???

    Merchants already have tons of pages full of products on their sites.. Right???

    So, we have some merchants who are looking for extra income as an affiliate aside from selling the products they already sell. Sooooo, with a little scripting, they take their affiliate link to http://Compare4.us and seed it with a keyword or product name for the page the visitor is on and offer it as a "see similar products" link or see products related to "X" link. We give instructions on how to do this. The user clicks, they see products related to the page they just left, which is usually good for conversion, and the merchant makes 100% of the commission if there is a transaction (paid by Amazon and CJ directly)... Merchants with hundreds or thousands of products do well with this scripting system..

    I think of it this way, merchants already have this huge Google net, why not expand the possible revenue streams aside from just what they sell / distribute...

    Hope that helps..
     
    purdue512, Sep 25, 2007 IP
  15. 5starAffiliates

    5starAffiliates Well-Known Member

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    #15
    purdue512 - Where did you lose him???
    I don't think you did!

    I think the "uhhhhh k lol" was due to the fact that you hijacked
    bond007's thread where he is asking for help - by in effect saying
    "hey guys click here here and go check out my program."

    Not cool! I thought he was pretty laid back with his reply considering...
     
    5starAffiliates, Sep 25, 2007 IP
  16. purdue512

    purdue512 Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Okay, now I'm lost. I thought bond007 was a merchant looking for affiliate programs to join that could maximize his revenue?

    Are you saying he's looking to build his *own* affiliate program for his own site? If so, I totally see that my response was inappropriate... And all due apologies.

    I didn't read it that way... Sorry for my confusion..
     
    purdue512, Sep 25, 2007 IP
  17. fvasquez

    fvasquez Peon

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    #17
    I don't know, something came to my mind after reading your post: based on your free tips/advice, why don't you create an e-book (or something similar) focused on merchants (or some niche this "market" may have), market it and sell it?

    Ok, you may ask something like "why would I sell something that I offer for free?". Correct thinking, but you could think that, through this e-book, you actually could be selling the permanent and 24-hour/365-day access to your advice.

    I mean, I could think myself as the merchant that needs help. So, what could be better: every time I need some advice I get the phone and call you or simply take your e-book and read it? If the merchant needs help regularly, I believe that could be a market here, even more considering that no one alone can be available 24 hours a day (we all have to eat, sleep...).

    Sorry if I extended myself too much. It just came to my mind, seemed somewhat logical and I wanted to share... :)

    Success!
    Fabio.
     
    fvasquez, Sep 25, 2007 IP
  18. john269

    john269 Notable Member

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    #18
    The 3 major networks for merchants with US prices are ShareASale, Linkshare and CJ.

    I have put them in order of how I prefer them when it comes from the affiliate side of things.
     
    john269, Sep 26, 2007 IP