Making money as an ebay affiliate

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I don't get it. What do these do that eBay's editor kit doesn't? The samples just look like someone took some editor kit code and slapped it into various templates.
 
I have quite a few sites where I just found a huge list of products (16k about of similar items) and stuck them all into a big php array. I pull in partial feeds for some 'unique' content and make it look like a blog basically with some modrewrite action. (My friend and I call them ebay splogs)

The biggest secret to all of this is link your thumbnail images to your affiliate link that goes to a search page for that product. That boosted my ctr and earnings considerably.

-the mole
 
Great info everyone. Something tells me WPMU will become handy again :D

Anyone else gets declined by CJ for the ebay aff program?
 
I've heard that people get declined when applying for the ebay program, but I've not had any problems. I signed up initially with CJ just for the ebay program and used one of my domains that I was gonna develop for it during the sign-up. It was approved right away.

<shrug>
 
I actually work for an E-bay company that is doing quite well in a very small niche and they also have the lowest prices from their competitors. I want to start one of these e-bay/autoblogs for their site. I already did start one, but I don't know how I should promote it. With the small commission from E-bay. Most likely I won't making anything from PPC.

So organic seems to be the only way, but it's going to cost me to outsource link building (enough links to compete in SERPs), not sure if it's worth it. Since I may or may not making anything with the small e-bay commissions. I know the company I work for probably spends around $4K a month or more on E-bay fees so I'm not sure how much e-bay takes out of that and how much I would get. I also have a new domain, so it's going to take me several months to get up in SERPs. after spending all the money on promoting just this one blog.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

I really want to start a network of these E-bay autoblogs, but I don't want to have to pay to outsource link building on every blog. Do you think Eli's "seo empire" would be a way to go for this?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I think every website, as long as it pays it own rent, plays a role in your seo empire. Thats the point of elis post :)

And maybe the ebay commission isn't so high, but the traffic you receive with this kind of autoblog is very targeted. So the conversion rate shoud be pretty good.
 
I haven't done any SEO or anything of the sort for these phpBay/WP blogs. Just been strictly pushing them through ads on CL.

Actually, I take that back - I did submit each through Eli's QUIT tool. But that's it.

I wonder if I would be able to get them to show up in SERPs without a ton of effort. Probably not.
 
PHP redirect for my 2nd method...

To elaborate a bit on the 2nd method I posted about - I will create a subdirectory for the day I'm posting on (calling it "121307" for today, for example). In that directory, I'll just have 1 file - index.php and will use a PHP header/array redirect script within it:

Code: 
<?php


// Filename: index.php
// Placed in the directory you're using to redirect from.  

/*
Very easy to use just change the values between "" below the array function.
E.g If you have an auction you're promoting 
http://yourdomain.com/subdirectory/index.php?kw=yourkeywordhere. This example has the same meaning for the other entries in $links variable.
*/

$links = array(

      "keyword1" => "http://ebayaffiliateURL1.com",
      "keyword2" => "http://ebayaffiliateURL2.com",
      "keyword3" => "http://ebayaffiliateURL3.com",
      "keyword4" => "http://ebayaffiliateURL4.com"

      );

header("Location:".$links[$_GET['kw']]);
exit;

?>
That way you're just modifying 1 PHP file per day in 1 subdirectory...and using keyword values to denote that particular CL ad/auction, pointing it to its corresponding ebay affiliate URL.

If you're just copying/pasting auction URLs from ebay blogs you've created w/ phpBay pro, then that works. But if you're not even bothering to set the blog up w/ phpBay to pull in auctions...you can use ebay's Flexible Destination Tool to create an affiliate URL from any ebay auction. Just copy/paste the ebay auction URL into that tool and it will create the affiliate URL for you. So you can pick & choose that way w/out using phpBay.

EDIT:
To clarify - if I wanted to link to an ebay auction for a Dell XPS M1330 laptop...I would go find the ebay affiliate URL for that particular auction (or create it using the Flexible Destination Tool), create another entry in the index.php array replacing "keywordX" with "dellm1330" and replacing "http://ebayaffiliateURLX.com" with the ebay affiliate URL for that particular auction. Save index.php w/ that change. (upload it to the subdirectory if it's not already there)

Then, the link to point to that would just be MyDomain.com – Buy Domains for $8.95 – Free Domain Name Management tools

That's the link you'd put in your email autoresponder for your CL ad. I never just type the link out for the person to see. I'll say something like, "You can see a lot more about it HERE..." and hyperlink the word "HERE" w/ my redirect link.
 
This seems very similar to Build a Niche Store. I purchased BANS several months a go and built several sites. I have done pretty well with the Christmas season. Although, I expect to take a hit in the next few months.
 
Ebay doesn't pay a lot in commissions because their fees are so small compared to the final auction bid. However, if you target markets where people have never used eBay before, you can make a killing in $25 referral commissions. How difficult is it to get someone to register for the site if they see something that they REALLY want?

I use PPC to drive traffic to my eBay affiliate sites and my ROI is often 100-300%. It's just a matter of setting up ultra targeted pages.

There are so many niches you can target on eBay that it's absolutely mind boggling.
 
gordon gekko said:
For a n00b such as myself, would these methods be advisable for me to try? I've read that becoming an eBay affiliate is with Commission Junction is not recommended for n00bs.

GG
Click to expand...

I'm basically a noob and I do really well with Ebay. I don't bother with the Craiglist stuff because Craiglist hates me and blocks me at every turn, but I think article marketing works just as well for less work. I don't target the big obvious niches like electronics, ipods and laptops. There's a ton of collectible related niches with virtually no competition and some of that stuff sells for big bucks -- much more money than your average laptop sells for because people who collect stuff are CRAZY. I usually do 5-10 articles per niche, submit to the article directories, and move on to the next one.
 
BigWill said:
So what is the % you actually get from the sale? Is it more then amazon? Does anyone feel that promoting ebay instaid of amazon would pay more?
Click to expand...

Hell yes! The length of the cookie alone makes Ebay a more viable option. I think it is 7 days for surfers already registered on Ebay and 30 days for newbies. I get several new sign-ups per week, plus the commissions for auctions won. The commission is 50% of Ebay's fees from the seller, but with the right niches those commissions can easily get you $50-$100 per auction. That won't happen as often as the dollar here and .50 cents there, but I usually get at least a few big dollar commissions a week and 10 to 30 commissions per day at even a dollar or so each add up. Enough to make it well worth my time to pump out more sites.

Oh, and new users don't need to win an auction to get you the $25 ACRU. They just have to become an active user. So the minute they bid, you get the sign-up commission. Even if they lose the auction.
 
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I agree with paradise, the new user registrations are where the money is at. More than 50% of my ebay commishs come from new users.

As far as getting listed in the SERPs, I've had success with super small niches. Some of the niches I'm targetting are getting ~10 uniques per day from the #1-4 spots but any popular keyword research tool would have predicted 0 traffic. Just 10 or so uniques per day was getting me $25/week. Adding in CL ads (max 25 ads every couple days), put me at $100/week per site.
 
thank you for the info,

why you use auto responder?

it is not OK to have a link to your blog from your ad on CL?
instead of replaying to those who are interested by auto responder?

isn't it risky to loose your account on CJ?
sorry if it is n00b question.

I used to use Craigslist Assistant, as you may know Craigslist Assistant shorten the ebay aff link, I did send email with this shorted link to people who had ads on wanted area, anyway I got an warning email from CJ that I am not suppose to run email campaign to promote ebay, if I continue my account will be deleted.
 
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