EBay Partner Network Announces Change in Affiliate Program

The eBay Partner Network has officially announced a major change to their affiliate program. There have been many smaller changes to the program over the last year, including harsher regulations guarding entrance to the program, and more stringent guidelines over what kinds of sites are allowed to operate within its rules.

There is nothing minor about this change from EPN however... it's a landslide, and it will heavily impact every affiliate currently operating niche websites with the eBay Partner Network.

The eBay Partner Network affiliate program has been operating under a commission structure. By listing eBay products on a website, when someone clicked through from your site and ended up making a purchase, you would receive a portion of eBay's commission from the sale, upwards of 50% depending on the monthly volume that you dealt with.

Now EPN is switching to a pay-per-click or PPC structure similar in nature to Google Adsense. This means that every time someone clicks on one of your product displays, you'll earn a small fee based on the quality of the traffic you send to the site. The new program is therefore appropriately entitled Quality Click Pricing and it will come into effect on October 1st. New EPN enrollees will immediately be started in the Quality click Pricing program starting on September 1st.

The quality of your traffic will be determined by a number of factors including bids made, auctions won and purchases made, the proximity of the purchase from the click (the sooner a person makes a purchase after clicking over from your website, the better) and more. The exact details are still unknown, and there is concern that the exact details will never gain transparency.

Beta testing for the new Quality Click Pricing in the eBay Partner Network affiliate program showed that the average Earnings Per Click for affiliates was between $.06 and $.21. The EPC you earn will be determined each day for the previous day's traffic, and will be an equal number for all of your individual campaigns and programs. It will not be the same EPC value that you currently see in your EPN reports, which is a direct measurement of commissions versus clicks.

Recently interest in the eBay Partner Network had been gaining steam once again due to the release of the Number 1 Way to Make Money Online guide. This is after a frustrating year long period where current and prospective EPN affiliate marketers were facing constant changes and uncertainties in the program.

Once again, those using the eBay Partner Network will be left in a wait-and-see situation. Many fear the worst, that this will severely limit their potential revenues. Others are more optimistic, and plan to deploy slightly different marketing tactics to make their websites more adequately prepared for the transition.

Reports comparing the revenue you would be generating in the new program will be available to eBay Partner Network affiliates starting in the end of August. The eBay Partner Network affiliate program will also be hosting several webinars with affiliates to help them better understand the switch.

Source: eBay Partner Network Announces Quality Click Pricing