Affiliate Commissions

[StephenT]

I tried to find this in older threads, and I'm sure it's there somewhere, but I couldn't so here goes. What is a reasonable or average affiliate commission? I am sure the range is pretty big, but I was looking at an affiliate program that offered 3-5% and that seemed low, but I'm new to this. Is it?

[Bonnie]

I'm not a super-affiliate like Lynn (not even close!), but I'd say 3-5% is ridiculously low!

But I suppose it depends on the product. Most products on ClickBank, for instance, pay at least 50% commissions.

I pay 75% commissions on my product listed there, because the affiliates don't get any help from me (I don't provide affiliate tools) -- they gotta do all the work, so they get the bulk of the money.

I guess if the 3-5% is for a very expensive product it might be worth your time, but still, that seems way too low to me.

[StephenT]

Thanks Bonnie. I thought so too, but as I said, I'm new to this, so I'm trying to get a ball park figure.

[Lynn Terry]

With info-products or digital products, the commission is usually 50% though it ranges from 25-75%. There are even 100% commission products too, as the purpose is for the merchant to build the list of buyers.

Physical products on the other hand, range from 3-12% commission. There is a much lower profit margin on physical products that are physically shipped. That said, they are often an easier sale than info products, and see a higher conversion rate with less sales work.

[StephenT]

Thanks Lynn. I was looking at linkshare and saw the various percentages and wondered.

[Lynn Terry]

You'll also see pay-per-lead or CPA instead of the usual pay-per-sale. So instead of earning x% per sale, you might earn a flat rate per lead like with Netflix referrals as one example.