jatiN mahindrA doT coM

On October 1st – Everyone in the eBay affiliate program (ePN) will be compensated using the new QCP – Quality Click Pricing Structure. I have to be honest, I think eBay made a mistake on this one… At least with their timing… right before the Holidays!

When the change was first announced and we were able to see side-by-side comparisons in late August, it was not too promising and many people ended up earning quite a bit less. I was down roughly 1-2% in August earnings, and Sept has trended almost flat on the EPC level, though I made several site changes to increase the EPC factor. (EPC is well up, but I sacrificed 3 higher volume sites and their revenues to do so)

Before I get too far along – I want to say that I DO have a good presence in the ePN system still across several sites. But I have definitely looked at eBay much more closely and even removed sites that were earning good money but hurting overall quality. Its a real kick in the ass when you remove a higher volume site that is earning steady income… simply to try and increase the quality of the crappier sites that aren’t earning as much.

Go figure… it is what it is… and it’s a mess!

Will eBay Regret this Change so Close to the Holidays!

Now that we have almost a full calendar month of side by side stats to look at… I predict a HUGE amount of regret from eBay on the timing of this change, and here’s why:

The Busiest Shopping Season is Coming FAST

No need to really say anything more about that. Christmas is right around the corner! My wife has already started her shopping… and once the wheels of shoppers get into high gear, ALL of these affiliate websites that used to promote eBay listings… well, they are now directing traffic elsewhere.

eBay has partially qualified the QCP change by stating that some of the buyers we refer were already going to buy on ebay, regardless of our website interaction. What they don’t account for however, is that we have now built hundreds of thousands of web pages that are right between eBay and the buyer… and we have the power to direct those buyers where we choose, thus influencing that buying decision.

Like I said, it is what it is… a mess.

Affiliates are Removing eBay Links, Moving to Other Shopping Networks

Just read around affiliate forums – heck, you only need to read at eBays own affiliate forum – there are quite a few people who have spent the last month removing eBay links from their sites! And these are only the ones talking about it… imagine everyone who just moved on?!

Check Alexa ranking – At the time of this post – eBay has a significant drop in traffic for the last week or so… I am only guessing, but its likely related top the mass of affiliates REMOVING links, and it is only going to get FAR worse over the next 30-60 days. eBay should have realized this was the time we should be building momentum for the shopping season, not stifling the growth and creativity of a massive affiliate program.

Edit: Added AuctionBytes Link – Thanks to Jake

Big mistake – big mess…

Whats the best way to help your competition? Encourage HALF OF YOUR SALES FORCE to work for them! On the three sites I moved away, 2 are promoting other affiliate programs, one was reduced to AdSense ads that pay well for that market.

The result is more than $1200/month of my own eBay affiliate income lost. True, that’s only about $24,000 in total eBay sales revenue, but when you compound this by thousands of affiliates doing the same thing… Mess. Big Mess. For myself, I am going to make it up with a different affiliate venue… what is eBay going to do to fill the void?

Affiliates Are LOST in the Shuffle of Irrelevant Metrics and No Goals!

If you tell me: “You will be paid 5% commission on every sale you refer”, I understand that. Very clearly. And I KNOW what I as an affiliate, need to do to make money… refer more buyers. Period. “More buyers = higher earnings”.

With QCP,  we truly don’t know WHAT TO DO as affiliates, everything is clouded behind a mask of secret algo’s and the only real goals we have are retroactive goals, showing me what I will earn today, based on yesterdays metrics… and oh, I can’t even see THAT metric until 12-16 hours into the day in my timezone!

When you make it hard to understand HOW we get paid, we will simply take the path of least resistance, and promote what we have a clear understanding of. I was able to discern the issue on the sites I removed… they sent alot of non-immediate buying traffic. On the sites I left in ePN, if they begin going down the same road… they will be removed as well.

The Worse is Yet to Come – Just in Time for the Holiday Shoppers!

The biggest ball is about to drop next week when the new pricing structure goes into place… and many people truly start paying attention to the details. You know who you are… the ones who have yet to do a full comparative analysis of your eBay driven sites, waiting to see how it will work in October.

Get your big-boy pants on… you may be in for a shock!

I am fully aware that not is all doom and gloom with eBay partner network and have several high quality sites delivering traffic and sales. BUT… this was likely the worse time eBay could have chosen to make this change. You simply don’t stir up the entire sales force before the biggest shopping season of the year. The uncertainties of staying will lead them to the next best game in town, where they KNOW what they have in store for them.

How about a simple show of hands… If you have changed even ONE LINK from eBay to a different affiliate program, drop a comment below.

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