Amazon Commission Increase not Being Passed on?

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   Will Apseposted 11 months ago

   I see no evidence that the increases announced by Amazon for its affiliate program in April are reaching writers here.
   
   The commission rates shown on my earning reports for March and April are nearly identical.
   
   This is the first week of March 2022:
   
   
   
   This is the first week of April 2022:
   
   
   
   The average commission rate for March and April are both around 3 percent.
   
   Is HP getting the increase? Is it keeping the increase for itself? Or can we expect an earnings adjustment down the road?

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      Matt Wellsposted 11 months agoin reply to this

      The Amazon rate increase is passed on to Hubbers.

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         Kenna McHughposted 11 months agoin reply to this

         

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         Will Apseposted 11 months agoin reply to this

         This can only be true if the items in my Amazon reports are outside the categories that Amazon has given a boost to.
         
         It is hard to make sense of Amazon's categories but it would mean that, for example, garden hand tools are not included in home or home improvement.

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   PaulGoodman67posted 11 months ago

   When the rates were slashed, it took HP a number of weeks for HP to cut theirs, so I guess we give them a little time. It's tempting to insert some of my own Amazon links, though.
   
   You're right to ask what's happening, Will! This sort of stuff should be tackled in an official announcement: in the forums, or the email newsletter or both.
   
   You would think that they would be in trumpeting mode: publicly celebrating and keen to publicize.

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      Will Apseposted 11 months agoin reply to this

      Well, personally, I am disappointed. Assuming Matt is the honest soul that he appears to be, none of Amazon's largesse is coming my way.
      
      I should definitely join a union.

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         PaulGoodman67posted 11 months agoin reply to this

         I can tell that you're miffed, because you've awoken from your slumber and posted a forum thread!
         
         I'm p*ssed off, too. It's only a few percent, but it would make a pretty big difference to earnings.

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            Will Apseposted 11 months agoin reply to this

            I haven't really woken. This is just a bad dream, lol.

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               PaulGoodman67posted 11 months agoin reply to this

               I'm just relieved that your ticker's holding out.
               
               We can only hope that HP are currently negotiating a better rate for hubbers!
               
               I held onto my own links (the old system) for a long time, HP still got their share, but I wasn't part of their system. Then I was persuaded to switch links to HP system. It never gained me anything, as almost immediately after that, Amazon changed their system so that the rate no longer depended on the number of products sold.
               
               Now I'm in a situation where I'd be better off with my own/old links.

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                  DrMark1961posted 11 months agoin reply to this

                  The situation is so bad that I wonder if we would be better off with no links.There are so many ads though that I am not sure we would have any better page rank if the Amazon ads were removed, so at the moment  I am just leaving them.

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                     Will Apseposted 11 months agoin reply to this

                     I've gotten to the point where I just think "let the young people deal with all this cr*p". A few of them must know what they doing.

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                        DrMark1961posted 11 months agoin reply to this

                        I just keep imagining a group of young people in a room somewhere saying "I bet there is some guy in Thailand that can figure out all of this crap"

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                           PaulGoodman67posted 11 months agoin reply to this

                           So it appears we are reaping the benefits, they're just more underwhelming than we thought.
                           
                           I still get a bit chunk of my earnings from Amazon, it's just not the big chunk that it used to be. My feeling is that Google/Amazon will never give us that again.

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                           Will Apseposted 11 months agoin reply to this

                           Sadly, that person is not me. I am just grateful that HP allowed me to live well in a semi-paradise for a decade and still gives me a reasonable trickle of extra income.
                           
                           All things must pass.

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                              PaulGoodman67posted 11 months agoin reply to this

                              For a long time, as I'm sure you know, the only way to earn any significant amount of money on this site was through Amazon.
                              
                              Adsense earnings were crap and the HP Ads were mediocre, particularly early on. Over 80 percent of my earnings used to come from Amazon.
                              
                              Now the situation is reversed. Over 80 percent of my earnings comes from HP Ads. The overall amount is lower. The slide began in 2019.
                              
                              I still do okay here, even if it's worse than in the past, but my optimism levels are low. The site doesn't have the same buzz about it nowadays, which is a worry.
                              
                              I'm still here and I'm still writing. But it's all got harder.

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                                 Will Apseposted 11 months agoin reply to this

                                 It is good that a lot of people are still benefitting from HP, even if it is at a lower level than before.
                                 
                                 Amazon might increase commissions permanently after this short trial (if it sees a profit). I certainly hope so.
                                 
                                 No reason to get too gloomy.
                                 
                                 Nice to chat but I need to get back to the challenges of my present life stage, accepting things that I cannot change.

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         Kenna McHughposted 11 months agoin reply to this

         The promotional rate increase only applies to Home, Health & Personal Care, Home Improvement, Beauty, Office Products, Kitchen, Business & Industrial Supplies, Shoes, Handbags & Accessories.

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            Will Apseposted 11 months agoin reply to this

            Rationally, garden-related products would be included in the home category but clearly that is not the case for the stuff I get commissions for.
            
            As far as I can tell, my stuff gets sold through "sports and outdoors".
            
            Not many people take a hedge trimmer on a ski run.

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               Kenna McHughposted 11 months agoin reply to this

               My highest sales are "sports and outdoors" as well.

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   eugbugposted 11 months ago

   Don't forget if any articles are more relevant to UK readers, you can use your own Amazon UK links and not have to split the commission.

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      Kenna McHughposted 11 months agoin reply to this

      Good point, eugbug.

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   Solarasposted 11 months ago

   Amazon accounts for 5% of my earnings.  A meal for two at Burger King before any coupons have been applied.  HP earnings are 60% of what they were in December and January and 60% of what they were a year ago on an average monthly basis. 
   
   I'd like to know how those who moved their content to their own sites 2 years ago are doing now.  I'd like to know their hard dollar earnings, since there is no law that prevents them from telling us on HP how they do overall with Media Vine or Ezoic and Amazon or whatever affiliate combined.
   
   I'd like for someone at HP management to tell us that they have examined The Spruce and have determined why their lesser articles are kicking our's asses. I'd like a game plan from management other than, we are sucking the last yummy out of HP and preparing to toss the withered husk aside.
   
   I see blog style articles, where content just keeps scrolling down with similar articles winning the 1st SERP spot.  I see The Spruce winning the first spot.  Why? Has anyone spoken to Google in a few years?  No word makes it seem that management believes it is a hopeless downward spiral that cannot be reversed with any action on our or their part. 
   
   Writers here are willing to do the necessary.  Communicate with us, and we will respond accordingly.

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   wildernessposted 11 months ago

   I came searching to see if anyone else had seen an increase in commission rates from Amazon as many of mine have gone up a couple of percent or so.
   
   I also noted above that home improvement items is on the list to increase, which is probably why mine went up.  Most of them are from that category.

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      Kenna McHughposted 11 months agoin reply to this

      Some went up 2%, totaling 5 or 6% commission, while Beauty Care only 1%, totaling 2% commission.

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      eugbugposted 11 months agoin reply to this

      Some of my sales in the Home & Garden category had a 5% commission rate. However they were 3rd party sales and they can be higher anyway.

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