ePN Slowly Dying
Everyone knows eBay has been struggling lately. Between their new policies and business model shift towards sales instead of auctions, eBay is on shaky ground. This is why I cannot fathom the thought process behind banning 90% of the publishers in the ePN (eBay Partner Network).
For those who do not know what ePN is, it is eBay’s affiliate program. They give commissions on sales of items purchased by buyers affiliates refer. Each month, around the end of the month, a small portion of the partners get banned for “low quality traffic.” eBay is looking for traffic that is more engaged with their site, which just means buys multiple products. This month was different though.
A few days ago about 90% (my estimate based on eBay forum posts and friends of mine who run ePN) of the partner network had their accounts closed for this reason. I was lucky enough to escape with my account in tact, and I’m thankful because I have been using eBay’s affiliate program for almost 2 years now and it is my most successful online venture to date. Hopefully I can keep my account next time they decide to close another set of accounts. This is not the way to keep the people who make you millions upon millions of dollars happy. Get with the program, eBay.
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“A few days ago about 90% of the partner network had their accounts closed for this reason…”
90% ! Where did you get this figure?
hey gd, i got this number from the amount of people i know who were running ePN to who got banned. its probably not accurate, but it’s the only number i know.
I am also one of the lucky ones that kept my account this time around. I hate sitting around wondering if one day I will wake up to an email in my inbox telling me that a good portion of my income is now being terminated. Ebay sucks!
yes, its very annoying that they won’t say why and we just sit here waiting for the ban hammer. at least they give you your final revenue before cutting you off. my thoughts are to keep working on other project and not to put any more time into ePN.
How did you come up with the figure 90%? I also managed to keep my account this time around. I think it is because my EPC mtd is $25+ and YTD is $12+. The folks being banned seemed to have $5 or $6 EPC, right? eBay has been my best producer as well so far with affiliate marketing. I hope they get their act together soon.
i dont think it has to do with epc. my friend had a 12+ epc and got banned…this month i’m at $5 epc. epc really doesn’t mean much. its about how active the users are AFTER their first purchase. i think it has everything to do with what niche you are sending traffic to. if its a niche that people buy multiple items over time, you’re better off.
You know, I was wondering how many were banned, but 90%? I find that number high. I wonder were you will get an honest answer?
I haven’t been, thanks to being in the program so long (I think that’s the reason), but it has opened my eyes to making the traffic going to them, more targeted and hopefully rich
90% was my estimate…probably not accurate…i will revise my post.
A work at home internet business is really no different from a physical business in that it takes time to get it started. A work at home internet business still requires plenty of marketing work that needs to be done by the business owner.
I dont understand why EBay, Google, and etc. target affiliates when undoubtly making alot of money from us.
google has always disliked “thin affiliates”…but even sites that provide value and affiliate links still get screwed by google.
as for ebay, they just got taken advantage by black hatters too much so i kind of understand their actions. thankfully i still haven’t been banned yet, because my traffic quality is high.