Hubpages will probably lose big bucks from Amazon.

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   bgamallposted 11 years ago

   Hubpages is going to lose since they will likely exceed the free book threshold which will mean no commission from Amazon. Since we are now connected to hubpages we will likely lose too. I think I will pull all my Amazon ads since it will do no good to have them here if I understand the following link correctly:
   
   http://forums.prospero.com/n/mb/message … sg=42118.1
   
   Here are supplemental links:
   
   https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp … ng/compare
   
   and
   
   https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp … s/help/t58

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      calculus-geometryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The key phrase is
      
      "Associates who we determine are promoting primarily free Kindle eBooks"
      
      Now I am not privy to all the inner workings of HubPages' business, but I'm pretty certain they are not doing this.  And if you are also not using your Amazon Associates account mainly to promote free eBooks, then you have nothing to worry about.
      
      This change was likely made so that people who mainly promote free books do not get commissions for incidental sales. Amazon only wants to pay people if they are promoting products that also make money for Amazon.

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         bgamallposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         You could be right. But it also has a threshold of numbers, not percentage. So if your program has volume of customers driven to Amazon, you could be swept up in the changes. Clarification from Hubpages would be nice.

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      tnvrstarposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I prefer eBay affiliate which is integrated with the ad program. I Usually get more clicks than sales. In my scenario Ebay is way better than Amazon.

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         bgamallposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Integrated how?

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      galleryofgraceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      1 question- Where in hubpages is anybody giving away free kindle books?

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   torrilynnposted 11 years ago

   bgmail, interesting i didnt know that something such as this would or could happen. overall, i do agree with calculuss-geometry in the fact that amazon will only pay those people who are promoting products that Amazon can make money off of as well. makes sense.

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3. 79

   sabrebIadeposted 11 years ago

   I switched to eBay ages ago

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4. 66

   DIYmommyposted 11 years ago

   In my honest opinion, Amazon would never drop HubPages.
   
   Even though there is a threshold, it is proven that companies like Amazon, when dealing with outlets like HubPages, will likely do so on a very personalized one-on-one basis.
   
   Take for instance Google's premium Adsense publisher program. Google literally works one-on-one with those website owners that drive to them a tremendous amount of business.
   
   While I'm sure HubPages sells its fair share of free eBooks, the potential loss to Amazon would be too drastic. There's no way a Top-100 global website would be allowed, by Amazon, to be cut loose. JMHO.

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5. 79

   Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

   Also remember that Hubpages has yet to switch capsules over so that our sales are credited to HP's ID from which we are paid a portion. We only earn the commission when the sale is credited to our own associates ID. Amazon is only going to judge our accounts by what we sell.
   
   This is a wise move. Even I had figured out that I could up my commission rate by selling a lot of Amazon Instant Video and Kindle items for low prices, which would give me a better commission on the big-ticket items I sold.

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6. 82

   ologsinquitoposted 11 years ago

   Greekgeek, I think I had heard somewhere that we don't get paid on Kindle items, but I"m hoping that's not true. Do you know?

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7. 89

   Eccentric-Lheeposted 11 years ago

   It is my understanding that our associate ID is associated with hubpages ID and that the two combined together create our own special ID (how we get our percentage of sales) so after reading what Amazon has to say, my 'special' associate ID should not be related in any way to someone on hubpages linking to free ebooks on Amazon. That is how I read it anyway.

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   Relationshipcposted 11 years ago

   I think that Amazon should remove free kindle books completely, then they wouldn't have to worry about this problem. I think that paying nothing for books makes people feel as though all books should cost nothing, and then it becomes harder to sell a book for a few bucks around the free books.
   
   I'm not worried about it affecting HubPages though.

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      Greekgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Free books lead people to buy kindles, and maybe to buy more books by the same author later.
      
      So why would Amazon tinker with its successful site to cater to Amazon Associates? Remember, they're using us as an extra way to make sales; if we're inconvenient, then the Associatea program is no longer cost effective, and they ditch is. In this case they caught people gaming the system and moved to block the loophole.
      
      I have occasionally earned money from Kindle ebooks through my Amazon Associates ID. They just have to cost enough that my 6.5-7% commission comes out to a few pennies.
      
      Eccentric: our Amazon Associstes ID is not associated with the HP associates ID. Instead, HP randomly displays our Associates ID when our pages are viewed 60% of the time, and the other 40% of the time, it substitutes its own ID. So sales are credited to one ID or the other, with no overlap.
      
      Thus this would have no impact on HP, since the majority of Amazon links posted on vsrious hubs are not for free ebooks. And it would have no impact on any individual hubber, unless he/she mostly had capsules selling free ebooks.

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         bgamallposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         My understanding is that if people download a bunch of free ebooks on Amazon through Hubpages or anyone else, the threshold is passed and there is a penalty. But it will affect the Hubpage account, not likely anyone here.

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   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 11 years ago

   If there is one thing people will always be willing to spend money on, it's books. I worked at a library for 7-years and even then, people would come in and say, "If you don't have the book available right now, I'll go buy it."
   
   Offering free e-books allows authors to showcase their work in a way that lets readers decide if their hard-earned money is worth spending on that author. People are willing to pay for good writing--there's not enough of it out there!

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10. 82

    ologsinquitoposted 11 years ago

    Hi Greekgeek,
    
    Thanks for clarifying. I didn't know if it was possible to make a commission on kindles. Now I realize it is.

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    Xenonlitposted 11 years ago

    This is all speculation and a waste of time. Someone from Hub Pages needs to answer this question.

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