we want to start an aff prog

seeking advice

[Belinda]

details:

based on sales only, and linking though to our site for the actual sale.

5% on an average order of 115-130gbp

or is it better to offer a fixed fee?

Could anyone advise on software-set up as this is slightly unique b/c we have to assess orders manually before accepting.

thanks in advance

[Drastic]

Personally, 5% does not get me excited at all.

You really need to size up the market to determine this though. Are there other sites out there selling the same thing with aff programs? If so, you want to be competitive with rates.

[Belinda]

5% will be good enough in this market, as stated elsewhere it may not sound like the best but it should be an easy average, and no funny holdbacks.

This will be our own programme and each affiliate will have direct contact.

[CromeYellow]

We use myaffiliateprogram which allows you to manually approve orders.

Cy

[universetoday]

I've got to agree, 5% is pretty low. The point is that you want to get your affiliates really excited and working their tails off to present your wares to their audience - what would you expect to pay a sales person? I'm signed up for a bunch of programs and the low commission ones get a text link or button off to the side of the page - or frankly nothing at all. The one with a 30% commission gets top billing. I mention the sponsor all the time, incorporate it into my email messages, and generally push it whenever I can.

So, you need to find that magic number where you can really set your affiliates on fire. And if you've got a product that you can offer additional products down the road, a large commission up front is a great way to acquire new customers - who you can make money off of for years.

Finally, you need to pick an attractive affiliate % from off the top because all your best potential affiliate partners are going to find out about it fairly soon, and then either sign up or write you off as being too low to consider. It'll be hard to win them back again down the road.

[eljefe3]

At 5%, you're not going to get "type A" affiliates ( that is those that specifically set up websites to promote products). However if you can find sites that will be complimentary to your site and prodcuts, these "type B" affiliates can also help you, but you'll have to actively seek out these affiliates as they won't be actively seeking out your products to sell.

[devildude8989]

no offense but 5% is horrible.

I have a hard time (sometimes) getting affiliates and mine is %35!

BTW, check out hotscripts.com

[dmorison]

I'm considering starting an affiliate programme for my service so i'm following this thread with interest.

However, rather than "X% doesn't get me excited" etc., surely the commission percentage is not as important as the actual earning potential of the programme.

What i'm saying is that 5% of GBP 100 on a product for which the merchant has a whopping 25% closure rate will earn more for an affiliate than a programme that offers 50% of GBP 100 on a product for which the merchant only manages a 0.5% closure rate.

In the first case, the affiliate would earn GBP 1250 for 1000 qualified leads. In the second case, they would earn GBP 250.

So I don't think it's actually that clear cut as I can think of other factors that come into play (trying to think as if I was the affiliate).

[Belinda]

Thats exactly it. I could offer 50% on products that never sell.

5% to sell products that do sell is a better deal surely.

Maybe this whole thread is doomed b/c I cannot state what we sell...but i can assure you its going to be good.

I have mentioned us in the section that allows us to i.e. the outsourcing bit.

[Essex_boy]

Well I think 5% is not at all bad, only magazines aff progammes offer on average 30% most of the programmes im on are around 3 - 5%.

I guess you guys are laughing your heads off right now but sure as hell these products sell and I get a regular payment.

Now with the 30% magazines, Ive sold 2 subscriptions all year.... 30% of begger all is begger all.

My own aff programme from my site is set at 7.5% increasing to 10% for those that make more than 4 sales per month.

[universetoday]

If your product sells at a fast rate, then it should be worthwhile for affiliates. I would start it at 5% and see if you're attracting the quantity and calibre of affiliates you're looking for.

Remember, you can always increase the rate later on, but it's almost impossible to decrease it again.

[Belinda]

Just to add to that point.

I think you'd be doing something wrong if you didn't reach at least 20 sales per day, which puts the 5% in some kind of perspective.

I also would appreciate any e-mails from anyone interested in becoming our first aff's.

[mfishy]

Are your margins so razor thin that you cannot offer more than 5%? I can only think of a very select few industries where this would be acceptable.

I agree with the earlier post that you will have a tough time getting "type A" affiliates (the money makers) with this offering.

Maybe you would be better off just offering a flat sale rate you can afford. It may at least sound better.

[dmorison]

Hi Belinda,

The maths for working out how much you should be paying your affiliates is relatively straight forward. First off though, you said:

I think you'd be doing something wrong if you didn't reach at least 20 sales per day

How many qualified referrals do you anticipate an affiliate having to make [in one day] in order generate those 20 sales?

[Belinda]

If every referral was done right i think it would be over 50%.

2 Points-

1.we are cheap which gives the referrer more of a chance of actually making a sale. (this also supports the idea that 5% of a likely sale is better then say 15% of a harder sell because the price is higher).

2. I would only offer a fixed price for someone I thought was really worth their salt. At the moment there are only two people I can think of. My seo and a competitor.

In which case perhaps I need to find a few of the big boyz in this field.

How?

[eljefe3]

I'm in a lot of different affiliate fields and I've never seen ANY product that converts at 25-50% regardless of price. If you can get 10% conversions once the surfer lands on the page, you're doing well.

I still don't think 5% will get any "super affiliates" for a product that sells for 100-130 Pound Sterling. Plus if margins were that low for the actual program that they could offer only 5% to good affiliates, it tells me the pricing and margins either aren't correct, or that the merchant is being greedy.

[Belinda]

well..to be fair, we had looked at changing the normal business model on this one before we launched.

We had not intended to use an aff. network.

But once again, forget the % the variable has to be "will it sell?"

If I sell widgets at £100 and my competitor sell at £50, I can offer higher %ages.

But the affiliate selling the 50 quid prob gets better volume, and has more options open to him. E.g. a price comparison chart etc.

Then again maybe it is all about position rather then the above variable...

Anyway thanks for all your kind feedback

B