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amazon affiliate links (8)

03-09-2017 03:22 PM #1 zenith (Member)
amazon affiliate links

Hi everyone,
I am starting to run amazon affiliate programme. I plan to run ads on facebook and when the users click on the ads they will be redirected to the product page of the amazon using my affiliate link. Just wondering is there a way to fire postback on amazon side so that i could track the conversion on my side?

Thank you everyone.

03-09-2017 03:26 PM #2 jackit (Member)

it's against Amazon's TOS to use their affiliate links in paid FB ads.

you'll need to direct the FB ad to a lander, which then can have an amazon affiliate link.

besides all of that, you'll find that it's not worth it. the ROI just isn't there. and Amazon has recently lowered their commission rates, making it even worse in terms of ROI

03-09-2017 05:36 PM #3 cmdeal (Veteran Member)

Bloggers are panicking over changes to Amazon’s affiliate system
from http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/28/14...e-network-fees

Thursday night, members of Amazon’s associates program got some urgent and unexpected news. Rumors had been swirling for weeks, but a late-afternoon email made it official: on March 1st, the affiliate rates would be changing, shaking up one of the web’s longest-running ways to make a quick buck.

“These changes simplify the fee structure,” the message read, explaining the new rate structure. “We want to reward associates that can refer sales across those categories.”

“I DON’T THINK IT’S REALLY HIT YET WHAT THIS MEANS.”

For Tracy E. Robey, who runs the beauty blog Fanserviced-b, the impact was more stark: a pay cut. With the affiliate cut for a typical purchase dropping from 8 to 6 percent, she anticipates that her checks from Amazon will go down by as much as 20 percent. For Robey, her blog is still more of a sideline than a job, but as she looks to expand her growing business, she says that drop could have real consequences.

“[Amazon‘s affiliate program] has been a really good thing for a long time for lots of people,” Robey says. “I don’t think it’s really hit yet what this means.”

Small-scale bloggers like Robey won’t be the only ones hit by the rate changes. Publications like The Wirecutter have built thriving businesses entirely on affiliate payments, which are made by vendors like Amazon whenever a referred customer buys a product. Though a number of companies offer similar programs, Amazon’s affiliate system is the most lucrative, and auto-tagged product links have become a significant part of many online businesses’ revenue. (That includes The Verge, which auto-generates affiliate links in some cases.) Though the relationship can be lucrative, it’s also entirely subject to Amazon’s discretion — and as Robey and others are learning, it can often change with little to no warning.

It’s hard to predict exactly what Amazon’s new rates will mean for those participating in the program, but there’s plenty of reason to be nervous. The most immediate change will be the end of Amazon’s “variable standard program fee” rates, which gave sites a higher cut as they drove more business to Amazon. The scale ranged from 4 to 8.5 percent, depending on how many products visitors bought in a given month. Robey says she never had trouble selling enough products to earn an 8 percent rate.

“THERE’S DEFINITELY SOME PAIN AS A RESULT OF IT.”

As of March 1st, that standard will be replaced with a new category-by-category system. That means affiliates selling products in certain favored categories will get higher rates, including “digital video games” and “luxury beauty,” while most products see a steep drop-off. Amazon says the changes were made to simplify the system and that most associates will come out ahead, although it’s unclear how to square those predictions with the falling rates.

Amazon has already made similar adjustments in many overseas markets. In 2015, the company moved its European affiliate program to a category-based structure, and according to the affiliate management firm GeniusLink, the result was more of a subtle chill than a freeze-out. “There’s definitely some pain as a result of it,” says GeniusLink CEO Jesse Lakes, “but we haven’t had a single client who stopped doing business because of the new payout structure.”

Amazon has long offered short-term bounties and bonuses around specific products, but the new system gives the company more power than ever to promote certain brands and categories. Affiliates hawking Amazon’s own products, like Prime Video, Prime Music, and Kindle Unlimited, will receive significantly higher rates than physical versions of the same media from traditional publishers.

Robey is particularly rankled by the distinction between “beauty” and “luxury beauty” — a difference between a 6 and 10 percent commission under the new system. Almost none of the products she covers are grouped in Amazon’s luxury beauty category, although she considers many of them luxury goods. The result is a major incentive to write about brands in the favored category, although Robey says she won’t change the products she writes about.

Still, as Amazon shifts its attention to new ventures in streaming and personal assistant hardware, many see it as an ominous sign for the affiliate program. “Amazon has done such a great job taking all their profit and dumping it back in to their business. And investors are now asking Amazon to show a profit,” says Lakes. “I’m not surprised that they’re whittling a few percent here and there.”

03-10-2017 02:47 PM #4 johnaff (AMC Alumnus)

Interesting.

03-10-2017 05:55 PM #5 pekadis (Moderator)

It's not about Amazon needing to show investors a profit.

It's Amazon saying thank you for a great job, but we don't really need you anymore. So here you go - lower percentages.
Up next - even lower percentages or a cancelled affiliate program.

Close to half the people looking for a product go to Amazon first. With things like Dash and Alexa become more popluar expect that to grow.

Time to set up your own ecommerce site and get thos people to buy from you, not Amazon.

03-11-2017 06:56 PM #6 zenith (Member)

thanks guys for the reply,
in this case how do you track your earnings on amazon affiliate links if you can't do a postback

03-11-2017 08:58 PM #7 jessejames (Member)

I have some amazon affiliate sites. One important difference is that these are running amazon associate, but long term the winners will be ecom sites. The rest repurposed (CPA, cont'd Amazon or sold). One thing to keep in mind now though-- you may. ot want the interest based native ads anymore.

03-12-2017 07:31 AM #8 buck johnson (Member)

Originally Posted by pekadis

Exactly, after all those stores and affiliates have gotten even more people used to going to Amazon first not they don't need them anymore (probably would explain all of a sudden all those programs to show you how to make money with selling on amazon, them possibly knowing they aren't making the money like they used to unless your one of the big ones). But I think that Amazon is shooting themselves in the foot and here's why. All those affiliates and stores are driving people to Amazon, pure and simple. Yes saying that they are already and not needing them anymore is one thing but how long in the future will that last if and when Amazon gets hamstrung or don't change and someone else or a bunch of someone else find a better way and a higher commission structure to sell their wares on and drive traffic. I mean can you imagine another platform (overseas, offshore or a non/low tax bracket area) that set up commissions where you can keep 50% or more. They set up their platform and put in major money on the front end to entice people to be affiliates and also set up stores and sell products through them for that. And by doing this they can make up their money on the back end via all the affiliates and such acting like agents working and selling their wares on their system.

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