Affiliate cookies - who gets the money?
Well at least this curious mind has been wanting to know the answer to this question for a loooong time.
Scenario: I'm cruising around the net looking for a specific item. I land on a page, follow some of the links to Amazon and maybe a few other websites that have products I might want to purchase. I don't buy anything and continue on my merry way looking through other websites that have what I'm looking for. I see another site that has a lot of the same products so I click through and follow the links but this time I purchase something from Amazon or say one of the other affiliate sites.
Both of these sites were created by people like all of us here, working on getting our sites up in the SE and selling other peoples products, both of the sites have their own unique tracking code, both of the sites got my clicks so which one gets the credit? The first site I visited or the site I came from and then purchased?
I hope I asked this question in a way you all can understand.
It's just been one of those burning questions I've actually had for over a year and am just now getting around to asking.
As always thanks for any and all feedback.
~ Audrey
Recent Comments
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I always wondered the same thing,. Also, this might be a silly question, but what if the person goes to amazon first, then looks up the product on an affiliate sight and clicks the link to amazon? I'm thinking the cookie would go to the affiliate. Is there any cookie to tell a place like amazon that the customer already looked at the product on their (amazon's) site?
Each and every website you visit will place a tracking cookie on your computer, but whether or not Amazon can connect the dots is a question for the big dogs.
If you go to Amazon on your own to look at a product, then you go through an affiliate to purchase it, nobody gets paid, because you were already looking at that product directly through Amazon. They get the whole purse. I hope that makes sense.
The main thing to remember about Amazon is the TRUST FACTOR. People shop on it because of this and even though the commissions are low in the beginning, the catchall factor that ehswift71 has pointed out is so important. Basically you will get paid for products you haven't even promoted.
Welshy is right. Each affiliate has a unique ID and when you click on that affiliate's link and then buy he/she gets the credit for the sale of the item in the ad being displayed.
But here is something interesting that a lot of people don't know. The affiliate gets 4% of the purchase price of the product shown in the ad + 4% of any other unrelated products that are purchased at the same time!
I've actually had that very thing happen. Someone ordered something from Amazon that wasn't even remotely close to what I was promoted and I got the commission for it. That was a really nice surprise when I went into my account to see that. Thanks for bringing that up because when you're new to all this you don't realize all the ways you can make money.
Audrey
You're welcome. Is being an affiliate for Amazon working out for you like you expected it would?
To be honest, no not yet, but I also know I have a lot more work to do to the site. More products to add and lots more content. It's not getting the traffic yet that I'd like so I'm working on content right now for the site. We shall see how it goes from here on out. :)
I believe with Amazon it's a 24hr cookie and last cookie wins. So last affiliate link clicked gets the credit.
Craig, do you know if this is true for Clickbank and other affiliate sites? I'm thinking I'll have to read a little bit more in depth the TOS for each affiliate site but figured I'd ask here.
BTW I Googled "how to ad Google Adsense to my site" and your YouTube video came up. I watched it, installed the plugin Ad Injection and it didn't want to work with my site. :(
But I love your vidoes and your way of explaining everything. I've learned quite a bit from you. Thanks
~ Audrey
It's different all the time, but most cookies are last cookie wins, same here at WA.
But WA cookie are lifetime cookies I think.
Clickbank is 60 days last cookie wins.
Aweber is first cookie wins.
But remember that some people have their browser setup to clean/remove temp files and cookie upon closing browser.
Thanks for the comment about the video, shame the plugin didn't work for you.
if someone visits through your amazon link and adds something to their wish list, it becomes a 60 day cookie, im pretty sure in that case your cookie would still win
Now that's something I didn't know Dom. Very interesting. Now my mind is spinning with ways to guide them to put it in their wish list. LOL
~ Audrey
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Audrey:
The answer is the LAST AFFILIATE LINK GETS THE SALE (if the product was placed in their cart within 24-hours ... and purchased w/in 90 after that). Here's your answer from the "horses mouth":
"...this 24-hour window for most Amazon sites .. will END before it expires once the customer submits his order OR REENTERS AMAZON.COM THROUGH A LINK THAT IS NOT YOUR SPECIAL LINK.
Here's a more comprehensive explanation from Amazon:
"In most cases, you earn advertising fees for visitors that come to an Amazon site and place any qualifying items in a customer's Shopping Cart within 24 hours of their arrival at most Amazon sites...
However, this 24-hour window for most Amazon sites .. will end before it expires once the customer submits his order or reenters Amazon.com through a Link that is not your Special Link. Once the window is closed, you will not earn advertising fees on any subsequent purchases.
However, if the customer then returns to Amazon.com through one of your Special Links, this opens a new 24-hour window for most Amazon sites ...
It is of course possible that a customer may arrive at an Amazon site via your Special Link, add an item to his Shopping Cart, and then leave Amazon.com without placing an order. As long as the item was added to the customer's Shopping Cart during this 24-hour window for Amazon.com, you will still earn an advertising fee if the order is placed before the Shopping Cart expires (usually after 90 days). The advertising fee will not be credited to your Associates account until the customer has purchased the item, accepted delivery, and remitted full payment to Amazon.com."
***TIP:*** find them a sale or a discount on Amazon. These usually END SOON. This give them a reason to buy now OR AT LEAST CLICK OVER. Everyone loves a discount so they'd be curious to see what's on sale.
Here's a simple widget I put up to tell them about discounted espresso machines: http://nespresso120citizespresso.siterubix.com/
Good luck with your marketing!
Charlie