is it me? or are monthy payments a way to keep our commission %'s lower

when it comes to amazon, now-a-days anyway, i need the full 3 months to break into the higher paying commission structures.

often, it only becomes appealing around end of month 2 ... barely made $650 last quarter ... before Google smashed aws sites i was making that times 10 every quarter ... that's another story though.

it just seems to me, that paying us monthly is going to keep most affiliates commission rates in the lower bracket ... essentially boosting amazon's profits. heck at this rate ... i wish i was getting paid twice a year! it would make the total payout so much better.

am i missing something? or is amazon pretending to do us a favor by paying us more often and less?

 

The commissions haven't really changed. The quarterly levels were divided by three to make the monthly levels. It's exactly the same as the quarterly rates. The only way it would be better on the quarterly is if you made alot more one month than the other two months.

 

Amazon changes have not affected the commissions you will receive. For detailed analysis, see my post from a couple of weeks back:

Do Amazon Associates New Monthly Tiers Make it Tougher for Associates to Make Money?

 

Thanks for the input, Gene. I've been reading a lot of your posts and viewed your website, it is incredibly useful and much appreciated.

 

Thanks for your comment, affordabook -- my pleasure!

 

I do think amazon has decreased the likelihood that a person, with low sales, will achieve a higher payout bracket. They have in effect shortened the time that one has to make sales in order to qualify for a higher percentage of performance pricing. Those moving a high enough volume per month will not be affected in the sense that their high volume will qualify them for higher performance commissions. However, new affiliates who sell less items on a monthly basis will be less likely to move up the commission scale in one month as opposed to three.

So, I look at Amazon's payouts in the sense that they are skewing toward the high volume sellers, and skewing away from the lower volume affiliates.

In essence, Amazon's has streamlined one important variable: time. The longer time that one has to make sales, the more likely low volume sellers will move up the scale. The less time that low volume affiliate have to move products, the less likely it will be that they will qualify for a higher earned percentage.

 

I just enrolled in late December, so I am not sure how the old system worked, but if they payments were quarterly at least now you receive your commissions quicker right? I think I read that there is a 60 day window after each month for payments (I assume to wait on returns) but at least you will get monthly checks after the first initial 2 month period.

To the smaller sites who might be getting by month to month on their expenses, at least that helps. Personally I like a check every month better (at least right now), as I am only using revenue to fund my site after my initial investment (which is almost entirely used, so the checks need to start rolling in from CJ/amazon/google/etc )