I've noticed from trying to sell numerous different affiliate products that there is a balance that has to be made between targeting a high-margin product and being realistic about what people will actually buy over the web. For example, I usually prefer to pick long-tail products with high price points so that I can afford lots of PPC clicks for each sale. Generally, these industries can pose as low-hanging fruit because there is very little competition and what other players are out there are usually of the newbie sort. I'd rather take my chances in these fields than trying to complete in a higher volume area that is more competitive and has a smaller price point. The problem that inevitably arises is that consumers generally don't like expending a large amount of $ for a product without first picking up a phone and calling the retailer for legitimate questions about shipping/warranty/service/etc. Its at this point that many affiliate sales are lost, because most saavy retailers would rather take a sale over the phone than lose the affiliate commission by sending the user back to the web. So, what is that point in which a consumer feels compelled to pick up a phone? Generally, I find that anything over $100 fits that bill. Specifically if it is NOT a commodity-type product or has unique shipping requirements. Obviously its specific to the industry, but I'm curious if anyone has found a general range. Any thoughts?
Good question, I have often wondered the same thing. A few years ago I use to sell a product that retailed for about $500 however I only talked to about 25% of the people who bought. I did though communicate via email with about 50% of the remaining customers. I wonder if it has changed much?