Affiliate Program.....

[klaw07]

I own a sports website, and I'm looking to sell sports related producted (books, posters, apparel) from the site. What are some good sites where I can sell their products and get a percentage of what they make. I know that Amazon.Com lets me sell books, but I can't think of anything else. Anyone?

[JamesR]

Buy.com has some of the best prices in my area (digital audio)so I assume they would be good all the way around. Try the general affiliate sites like linkshare.com, clickxchange.com, associateprograms.com etc. You can search some of the major directories for affiliate directories also. If you see a site with good products and prices, email their advertising and ask them if they have an affiliate program if they don't have one posted. You'd be suprised how many big companies have one or are trying to get into this area.

[Drastic]

I would recommend commission junction. (cj.com) They have over 1100 merchants and they aggregate payments owed by different merchants, you just have to meet the $25 monthly minimum for all merchants combined. They pay monthly, and on time. I use cj, linkshare, befree, Onresponse, websponsors, and many others. I like CJ the very best. Stay away from Linkshare, I could go on and on about problems with them. (I still use them for 1 merchant who does not have their program anywhere else - but may be wasting my time with them as well.)

If you want to try an individual program, dig around and ask other webmasters if they have been paid, and on time. I have been burned, and many others have, by many individual programs.

Good luck!
Ken

[rcjordan]

Drastic is right, CJ is well organized and I think it has another value; Join and then read the forums (assuming they are still there). The tales of the other affiliates, when viewed with a huge dose of skepticism, can tell much about the various affiliate programs.

[klaw07]

Can anyone in here give me a good description of how Commision Junction works...so we join the affiliate programs, and sell the products, but CJ pays us? Not each affiliate program seperately? And also, I'm having troubles finding what I'm looking for. Example) Posters of specific athletes.

Sorry, I'm new to this. Thanks!

[rcjordan]

>we join the affiliate programs, and sell the products, but CJ pays us?
Correct, if CJ gets paid by the merchant (evidently a growing problem in all affiliate programs).

As for specific products, that's going to be hit-or-miss. Look at some of your competitors and watch for affiliate coding in the urls as you click. That will tip you off on some possible prospects.

[Drastic]

CJ does combine all payments into one account. As long as you meet the $25 minimum payout, you get all your commissions from all merchants every month.

I have only had one problem with a CJ merchant not paying. That was several months ago, and from what I understand, they now have tightened up with merchant payouts (I saw part of a contract that showed CJ would have some control over the account from which payment was drafted). I don't think this is a real problem with CJ anymore.

Instead of trying to find something to promote specifically, look around CJ and figure out what merchants they have that you can fit into your site. Keep your mind open and take your time when checking out the merchants, it takes a while to go through them.

[eljefe3]

On a slight tangent, if you want to see which programs among the various merchant offerings are making money, do some searches on goto.com and see which are just affiliate fronts for other companies (time permitting of course) I've seen some affiliate websitespay up to $1.00 per click.

[Mike_Mackin]

eljefe3

Interesting idea.

I would like to add that just because one person will bid $1 does not prove the point.
That indiviual my be misguided.

If, on the other hand, there are multiple bidders all from the same affiliate that are bidding against eachother in terms of bids, title and description - then that makes for further investigation of that affiliate program.

It then might indicate that the sites convert and the affiliates get paid in a timely manner.

[eljefe3]

Mike,

I'm in total agreement with you on that point. If you see the top 2 way outbid everyone else, chances are they have that cash cow generator (for goto) "take me to the top". If on the other hand there are a number of affiliates bidding in the same range, chances are there's gold in them there hills.

[Mike_Mackin]

>cash cow generator (for goto) "take me to the top"

You must mean www.bizbuyer.com :)