Amazon associates affiliate program feedback

[Handruin]

I'm interested to hear all your input and feedback on the idea of me registering an amazon associates affiliate program for this site. I'd like to keep basic advertising off the forum but I thought that this might be a non-intrusive opt-in method to provide a small amount of support in the operating costs by way of using an online retailer that many of us already shop from anyway. This would happen only if and when members may choose to buy products through amazon that they would use a storageforum.net affiliate link to support the site. This would of course create a session which tracks what you buy based on links here so amazon would have some additional information about your web habits.

I haven't created an account or done anything to integrate advertising but was thinking that I've done this before to help support other websites I visit and it really didn't cost me anything when I was going to buy things from Amazon anyway. If you all think this is an acceptable idea I'd like to give it a try. Any compensation is intended to support the operational costs of this site. The site and operational costs are currently healthy but I wanted to explore this as a very minimalistic way to help support it. Let me know what you think...

 

[ddrueding]

Totally in. I'd redirect ~$5k/mo through the link. No idea how much income that would generate.

 

[Handruin]

Totally in. I'd redirect ~$5k/mo through the link. No idea how much income that would generate.

Wow, that's very generous of you to be willing to do that. I believe it completely depends on the item being purchased for a qualified amount and the number of purchased items in a given month but I think with that high of a reocurring amount, it could be significant.

 

[Handruin]

I've set one up to try. I believe this is the affiliate link for Amazon and storageforum support. I still need to research this a bit more.

 

[Handruin]

I'm not able to test the affiliate code with a purchase because it is against their ToS for me to use my own affiliate to purchase products. With that said, if you or anyone else does happen to buy something using this affiliate code, could you let me know if a transaction was made so that I can see if it actually registers? There is no implied obligation here.

 

[ddrueding]

Just placed an order after following the link on a computer with ghostery paused. No idea if you are able to monitor it that closely?

 

[Handruin]

Just placed an order after following the link on a computer with ghostery paused. No idea if you are able to monitor it that closely?

I'm not sure if that link alone gets the affiliate purchase. After I researched a bit, each item may need to have the tag appended which I realize is a huge pain in the ass. The tag is "&tag=storageforum-20". I appreciate you giving this a try. I'll let you know if it shows up in the reports that they provide me.

 

[ddrueding]

So I would need to take a product link that looks like this:

http://amzn.com/B00NRHNPUA

and make it look like this?

http://amzn.com/B00NRHNPUA&tag=storageforum-20

??

 

[ddrueding]

[video=youtube_share;o-hheAbrx38]https://youtu.be/o-hheAbrx38[/video]

 

[ddrueding]

Just completed another $5k sale after following the link to get to Amazon. Hope that works.

 

[Handruin]

[video=youtube_share;o-hheAbrx38]https://youtu.be/o-hheAbrx38[/video]

So, there it is...thanks! A little more reading suggests that by clicking the URL it will add a cookie/session for the next hour (I think) so that anything you buy during that session accounts for this affiliate ID and supports the site much like Linus explained. I think I'll see my stats update once the item(s) you bought actually ships.

 

[Handruin]

Just completed another $5k sale after following the link to get to Amazon. Hope that works.

Awesome! Thanks for giving this a try I'll be curious to see if this works out in supporting the site. I checked the stats and nothing has updated yet but like I mentioned above, I may have to wait until the item(s) ship before I see credit on the account.

I also need to fill in the tax info to get this setup properly for payments. This could end up being very helpful to the site. If this works I'll add a link at the top of the forum for people to optionally bookmark if they want to contribute.

 

[CougTek]

I'd really like to be able to spend 5K$ on a random test, apparently at will and without a hint of a second thought.

I haven't watched the video yet. Does it also work for amazon.ca? Or amazon.au, if there's such a thing?

 

[Handruin]

I'd really like to be able to spend 5K$ on a random test, apparently at will and without a hint of a second thought.

I haven't watched the video yet. Does it also work for amazon.ca? Or amazon.au, if there's such a thing?

Yes, I believe it does. Let me get the right links together and I'll post them all for each country-specific amazon session.

 

[ddrueding]

The video is from LinusTechTips, and they are based in Vancouver.

And the purchase wasn't specifically for the test; just a coincidence of timing. Doing lots of proxy Christmas shopping this time of year.

 

[Handruin]

I'd really like to be able to spend 5K$ on a random test, apparently at will and without a hint of a second thought.

I haven't watched the video yet. Does it also work for amazon.ca? Or amazon.au, if there's such a thing?

Looks like it will work but I'll have to sign up an affiliate account in each country that I'd want to participate in. I'll have to look into this more as I don't know what the tax and money conversion implications may be.

 

[Stereodude]

I placed an order with Amazon this morning after landing there using the affiliate link. Hopefully it shows up.

 

[Handruin]

I placed an order with Amazon this morning after landing there using the affiliate link. Hopefully it shows up.

Thanks, I appreciate you giving this a try. I can see from the amazon dashboard management panel that one item has shipped to someone (does not tell me who or what items) which has generated a referral fee. There are 9 other ordered items that have not yet shipped. Amazon updates the report at 7:00AM PDT each morning so I should know more tomorrow. Now the bigger question will be if Amazon approves my application which is still pending review. I was reading about people who have had their application denied so it's a possibility.

 

[ddrueding]

That would be some power adapters and DC motors. The Surface Books are shipping later today. Tomorrows report should look pretty good.

 

[Mercutio]

Sadly, I made my big bundle of stupid purchases last week.

 

[Handruin]

Sadly, I made my big bundle of stupid purchases last week.

Sadly I should have looked into this years ago...

 

[Buck]

I just gave it a try with the purchase of a 3 meter HDMI cable.

 

[timwhit]

Am I reading that chart correctly? If Dave spends $5k per month, that would be upwards of $300.

 

[Handruin]

Am I reading that chart correctly? If Dave spends $5k per month, that would be upwards of $300.

:dunno: I think so. I have to pay taxes on the money also so I had to fill out a W9 tax form during the application. I'm not super clear on how the percentage table works because they show two tables of which I listed one of them. That one is fixed quantity rates and the other has different percentages based on the type of items purchased. If this works out then I'd like to use the money to help improve the site. I'd like to explore a slightly bigger container (more RAM and CPU) to start. After that I'd like to consider other forum software packages and maybe even some additional mechanisms for improved availability and regional performance.

 

[ddrueding]

Am I reading that chart correctly? If Dave spends $5k per month, that would be upwards of $300.

I may have underestimated expenditures a bit. A lot of my purchases have moved to Amazon lately.

 

[Handruin]

I'm updating this thread also, amazon denied the application today. I need to investigate in their forums to understand more. Their response was vague with a message of "After careful consideration, we have decided that your site may not present a mutually beneficial business opportunity. We have therefore decided not to approve your application to become an Amazon Associate.".

 

[timwhit]

Dave was going to cost them too much.

 

[Handruin]

Dave was going to cost them too much.

I think so. I saw the advertising fee this morning in my account before they closed it. :-/

 

[Stereodude]

Dave should make sure he makes all his purchases on another site's affiliate account then. Just to make sure Amazon is paying someone.

 

[ddrueding]

Not sure what the appeals process is, and I don't want to waste your time, but it might be worth pursuing further if there is an opportunity to do so.

 

[timwhit]

Dave should make sure he makes all his purchases on another site's affiliate account then. Just to make sure Amazon is paying someone.

Or send Amazon an email saying he's going to move all his business to a competitor if one even exists.

 

[Handruin]

I've just posted a question for help in their associates forum asking for some possible clarification on the denied application. From what I had seen Amazon doesn't elaborate on the reasons which makes it challenging to possibly correct whatever it is they may not like. Perhaps I should just wait some time and re-apply but remove threads like these from their view. Maybe they read something in this discussion that they didn't care for when reviewing the site?

 

[Howell]

To me, "mutually beneficial" screams reviews site.

 

[Stereodude]

To me, "mutually beneficial" screams reviews site.

Yeah, you're probably right. They don't see much of anything on this forum that is going to drive additional purchases from people for things sold by Amazon. This of course presumes that is the goal of the program.

 

[ddrueding]

While we don't have a section dedicated to reviews, any crawler should be able to see how many links are posted here that point to Amazon product pages.

 

[CougTek]

In the wake of these events, it seems like a good time to avoid Amazon to me. Not only me, but my entire company, since I'm the one telling project managers where to buy their computer-related stuff.

Not a wise move, Amazon.

 

[Tannin]

This sucks, Doug. I don't spend much these days but I'd certainly direct it through here. I tend to avoid Amazon as a rule but I'd change my habits if the buggers would play ball.