Alexa Says No!
Yesterday evening I took the evening off of the SAC because I felt I needed to post to my niche website. All went well as I put together a 1200 word review for some professional quality dog grooming clippers.
Tonight I was going to proof read what I had written before adding the links and publishing, so that I could get on with the SAC.
My plans were scuppered early on when I received an email from Amazon Associates telling me my account was going to be closed down in seven days and to remove any links from my website. Fortunately, I only have three previously set up. The reason they gave was that I had made no sales for 365 days.
This may be true, but I have had the account for around 18 years and there have been several gaps of over a year with no sales during that time. I guess the rules have changed, I just wish they could have waited another week or two before applying them!
This evening has been spent trying to find alternative affiliate programs with alternative merchants that have the exact same product and will ship internationally. This has not been an easy task! I have found a couple of possibles, but I think I am going to wait until my Associates account gets closed down and then apply for a new one.
Until then its full steam ahead with the SAC! Only eleven more posts to write before May 10th.
Keep on moving forwards everyone.
Steve.
Recent Comments
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Ohhhh bummer, Steve. I'm about to be shut out myself, and I have a LOT more than 3 Amazon links. I wish I had waited with applying until I had some good traffic. With focus on the SAC, I'm just going to remove the links & worry about the fix later. I've heard there are way better programs than Amazon...hard part is finding them! Good luck in your search!
Yes, having had 24 hours to think about it, I might wait until I have 2,000 visitors per month rather than the 200 I have now before re-applying to Amazon. The chances of converting then are higher. I have joined two other programs, I'll concentrate on those for now.
Good luck with your hunt for affiliate partners also,
Steve.
There is always a new catastrophe, and the Amazon one is on the list. However, it's not the end of the world, and, as you say,in a short time you can reapply.
I don’t think I can claim that I didn’t know the rules. It’s just that Amazon had never closed me down before so I wasn’t expecting it.
Sorry to hear that Steve, how frustrating for you. We don't affiliate with Amazon but they apparently need their affiliates to produce at least three sales every 180 days. From what we have read, Amazon does seem prepared to let you open another account more or less right away after shutting down your original one. Good luck.
Colette and Philip
I got an email too,although I am only 4 months old with them, but alas their products were the only ones I mostly used in my product reviews so a big bummer when it happens, so like you will prob have to look for other affiliates.
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Although we are aware of their rules, they are not very fair.
They are brutal and sometimes demotivating.
Cheer up!!
Ingrid
I'm always smiling inside WA, Ingrid 😀