Thread: How much should I offer affiliates?

If I'm considering using affiliates for my site, how much of a percentage of a sale should I offer them? I've seen some sites offering affiliates large percentages of sales, especially for digital products; how can I compete and look like a good merchant to affiliate for?

It is not uncommon that digital product owners give big commission to their affiliates (say 50% or even 75% of the selling price), as they spend almost nothing to create the products. Don't offer too big commission though, otherwise they will question your product quality.

Get affiliates to promote your product by providing a commission that is comparable to what others are paying. Digital products pay high commission because there is no cost to produce it over and over. Physical products pay much less. Then provide resources for your affiliates to use to market your product to encourage more people to promote your product over others.

I think it depends on what type of product/service you're offering and how much it sells for. It's best to do research in your area and find out what your competitors are paying their affiliates. Then, simply sweeten the deal.

I agree with what some have stated in that you can offer higher affiliate commissions for digital products because you have almost no cost involved in those. There is another factor as well. Ideally, the affiliates are producing sales that you would not get without the affiliates. Therefore, even if you only make 25 cents from each affiliate, that is 25 cents more than you would have made without them.

You may want to consider registering with an affiliate network. You'll probably get more affiliates to promote your product if they feel sure they'll get paid. For physical products, one of the most highly regarded is Commission Junction. Companies listed there pay between 4-15% commission. For digital products, Clickbank or PayDotCom are your best bets.