Pleo Robot Dinosaur – Promoting Big Brand Merchants Does Not Equate to Better Commission
The Pleo Robot Dinosaur as you are aware is on the upper end of the price spectrum for toys, however it has proved to be immensely popular.
As an affiliate some are conscious about finding products which are competitive in price & are in stock or can be pre-ordered if not.
As an affiliate you have to look at which merchant also provides suitable commissions for your efforts in pre-selling a product, amongst other important factors as part of your decision making process.
Unfortunately, too many affiliates don’t look beyond the end of their nose & promote via the largest recognised merchants, not realising they, the affiliate, could only be getting a fraction of what they could be potentially earning.
As part of my decision making process their are a number of factors, the combination of conversion & commission to create an EPC being the top two when “combined” generally.
However, big brand has little influence in my ultimate decision of which merchant to promote, and I have been fortunate enough to do relatively 0kay within the industry for the financial security of my family.
Recently there are been some vociferous threads on the froum pertaining to Next, Play.com & Dixons who have been offering unattractive commissions to affiliates, when the price of the product is very comparable and if not cheaper via other merchants. Resulting in you the affiliate earning a fraction of what you could be earning.
Here is a little summary of several merchants on that terrific network Affiliate Window who sell the Pleo Robot Dinosaur.
I have done a little homework for you on the Pleo Robot Dinosaur, pulling prices from Shopwindow, to illustrate just a typical example where Big Brands Pay Less & that affiliates should look further afield.
😀 Iwantoneofthose
Price £249.00 : Commission 10.00% – 15.00% = @ £25 to £37.50 : Delivery £3.95 : You Can Pre Order
🙂 Gadgetshop – Price £249.95 : Commission 7% = @ £17.50 : Delivery £3.95 : Out of Stock But In Feed : No Pre Order
🙂 thetoyshop – Price £249.95 : Commission 7% = @ £17.50 : Delivery £3.95: Out of Stock But In Feed : No Pre Order
😡 Play.com – Price £249.99 : Commission 4% = @ £9.99 : Delivery £3.95 : Delivery Free : You Can Pre Order
mad: Dixons – price £249.99 : Commission 2.5% = @ £6.25 : Delivery £4.95 But not available to buy : No Pre Order
I classify Play.com similar to Next & Dixons as taking advantage of their brand size by paying lower commissions.
So ….
IWantOneOfThose pays @ 400% to 500% better commission than Dixons
IWantOneOfThose pays @ 250% to 375% better commission than Play.com
IWantOneOfThose pays @ 142% to 214% better commission than TheToyShop
IWantOneOfThose pays @ 142% to 214% better commission than TheGadgetShop
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I haven’t ascertained yet if we get paid commission on the delivery cost for any of the merchants … I am waiting to hear back so I can update this blog entry accordingly.
See Deal or No Deal
If I was promoting this product, based on “just” the information above, then [b]IWantOneOfThose (IWOOT)[/b] would be more favoured. Even though Play.com has Free Delivery, along with the other two merchants at 7%. But certainly not Dix0%ns.
So I wonder who as an affiliate would take a £15 less commission per item (ie as in Play.com example) to save the customer £2.96 from delivery charge & price differential. i.e. You lose £15 for the customer to save £2.96 … Unless you are a saint of course.
Maybe offer the option of the best commission & lowest overall price, however on face value (not inc delivery cost) IWOOT is the cheapest & offers the best commission (by a cinsiderable margin. I expect after doing the maths, it would probably be more financially rewarding to primarily list the main option as the one from IWOOT.
P.S. Play.com grates me with their poor commissions & conversion is only on a par with other options … & … I am not impressed with the management at The Toy Shop & The Gadget Shop or their draconian keyword policy. And don’t forget with Dixo%ns you cannot be sure commissions get categorised correctly.
FAO IWantOneOfThose affiliate program … I WANT ONE OF THOSE !!. Hint Hint
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