Uing Clickbank in your “multiple streams of income” bag of tricks is a great way to make extra money with your blog. There are so many products available you will be spoiled for choice. No doubt, you’ve heard about Clickbank and I’m sure you’ve read a few Clickbank reviews. But in this Clickbank review, we’ll walk you through some of the shocking complaints we found. So buckle up!
What is Clickbank?
Clickbank.com is an online marketplace for digital and physical products. In other words it’s an affiliate network. The company is currently based in Boise, Idaho and was originally founded in 1998 by Tim and Eileen Barber in San Diego. Clickbank connects vendors with affiliates for the purpose of promoting digital and physical products to consumers. In 2016, Clickbank was ranked in the top 100 Internet retailers by Internet Retailer Magazine. It has a wide presence and is available in over 190 countries.
How Does Clickbank Work?
As we mentioned earlier Clickbank brings vendors and affiliate together. So there are two paths. You can sign up as a vendor to have affiliates promote your product.
Or you can sign up with Clickbank as an affiliate which is very easy and free. Once you log in, you will go to the Marketplace to find products to promote. Due to the volume of products available, you’ll want to take some time choosing products. You can then promote the product on your site using Clickbank’s Hoplinks. Your product links can also be banner links and/or images depending on the vendor. You’ll earn a commission for each product purchased. Clickbank is similar to other affiliate programs such as CJ Affiliate and MaxBounty.
Clickbank Features
Here are a few features worth noting:
- Free for affiliates to join
- Available worldwide
- Referral Program: Clickbank will pay you a commission for referring product vendors. The commission rate is 22% of their $49.95 activation fee. Additionally, you will earn 5% of each sale your recruited vendor makes for the period of one year.
- The website can be viewed in several languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese.
- Tons of digital products to choose from in many different categories.
- Clickbank has an A+ rating with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) at the time of this review.
- Easy to use.
One of the exciting things about being a Clickbank affiliate is the sheer number of products you can promote. But in order to make decent money with any program, you need a lot of traffic to your site. If your site can use more traffic, consider joining Wealthy Affiliate where they will teach you how to get tons of free traffic to your site.
There are plenty of other networks out there you can also join. Check out Maxbounty.com, Traffic Jam Media, iGain.com or Ezoic. These networks have similar, and in some cases better, features than Clickbank.
How Much Can You Make with Clickbank?
Your earning potential will depend a lot on the commission rates of the products you promote as well as the traffic you get to your site. If you think your traffic numbers will hinder your income potential, check out Wealthy Affiliate. They can teach you how to get a ton of free traffic from Google.
In any event, you can also earn even more Clickbank commissions if the vendor you promote has upsells and memberships. But ultimately Clickbank commissions range anywhere from 1% to 75%, depending on the product and vendor. Commissions are calculated based on the product price, minus any charges multiplied by the commission rate. The rate is calculated AFTER charges have been subtracted. You can find out more about the calculations by clicking this link.
Determining your commission after applicable charges have been subtracted can eat into your commissions. If this doesn’t appeal to you, take a look at other networks such as Maxbounty.com, Traffic Jam Media, iGain.com or Ezoic.
When Do Clickbank Affiliates Get Paid?
The minimum payout is $10. Payments are made through Payoneer, wire transfer, U.S. and international direct deposit and or by check. Payments are made on Wednesdays two weeks after the end of the pay cycle depending on the payment frequency you have selected. To find out more specific information about Clickbank’s payment schedule, refunds and chargebacks, click this link.
Clickbank Requirements
Here are a few requirements to joining Clickbank:
- You must be 18 or older
- You must provide valid contact details, including a working email address and phone number
- Your site must not promote violence, illegal activity or market products to children under the age of 13.
These requirements are pretty easy to meet for most bloggers, but should you be rejected for some reason, you can always try other networks like Maxbounty.com, Traffic Jam Media, iGain.com or Ezoic. Either way you should have multiple streams of income.
How To Login To Clickbank
To log into your Clickbank account, click this link.
Clickbank Support
For affiliates, you can start with the Affiliate Help section. Clickbank has a live chat feature where you can get answers from a real person. There is also a toll free number you can call within the U.S. which is 1-800-390-6035. Their international phone number 1-208-345-4245.
Clickbank Complaints
We’ve taken a look at how Clickbank works. Now let’s get into the nitty gritty since it may not be pretty.
Vendor Reputations Could Hurt You
Anyone that wants to sell a product can sign up with Clickbank and have affiliates promote it. According to our research, there are vendors that have shady business practices such as automatically signing customers up for additional products they didn’t order or being charged for shipping when the promotion clearly says free shipping. This could have a negative impact on your site and your business.
Chargeback or Refunds
Another reason to be careful about working with reputable vendors is because of refund requests or chargebacks. A vendor can incur these if a customer is unhappy with the product you promoted which means Clickbank accounts will be debited for any product refunds requested by a customer. You as an affiliate will have the commission you earned on that product debited from your Clickbank account for future payments which will further impact your bottom line.
Dormant Accounts Will Cost You
Your account will begin to incur charges if it is left dormant, but still has a balance.
See details listed below:
90 days without earnings – $1 per pay period
180 days without earnings – $5 per pay period
365 days without earnings – $50 per pay period
No PayPal Option
While Clickbank offers a good range of payment options, PayPal isn’t one of them. For affiliates that have limited payment options and/or rely on PayPal, this could be a problem.
Information Overload
When you first open your Clickbank account, the Marketplace can be a bit intimidating. There are tons of products to choose from with lots of information about the product and commissions. Plus, other statistical information about average sale, average rebill, gravity and more. For the beginner, this can be quite confusing and intimidating.
Commissions Are Based On Net Sale Amount
So this is where things might get a little confusing, but it’s worth taking note here. Your commission rate only applies AFTER Clickbank applies it’s own fees. For example, let’s use a product that retails for $29.95. The commission rate is 55%. Clickbank charges are 7.5% plus $1 for a total of $3.25. The net sale amount is now $26.70 so your commission will be 55% of $26.70 which works out to be $14.69.
Should You Join Clickbank?
Clickbank is a legitimate affiliate network that’s been around for years, but you do have to be careful about the products you choose to promote. It’s important to do your homework before promoting Clickbank products. Be sure you check the reputation of the vendors to safeguard yourself against poor quality products that will have your site visitors seeking information elsewhere.
Commissions are calculated after applicable charges. This means that you’ll also need decent traffic to your site. If you think your traffic numbers could use a boost, consider joining Wealthy Affiliate. They will show you how to get tons of FREE traffic to your site.
I guess that’s all for now folks. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Clickbank so chime in down below. And if you have any questions, feel free to check out their Knowledge Base section here.
Until next time,
Eddy with a y
ClickBank.net Review
