What Does It Cost To Become a CJ Merchant?

[mannmade]

Hey All,

I've looked around the CJ website but I do not see any info on how much it costs to become a merchant.

Anyone know?

Thanks

[WyndhamVacation-EricEwe]

definately cheaper than linkshare.
negotiate it with them to get a better idea. there is no published rate

[mannmade]

Thanks for the heads up.

I've submitted a request for a sales rep from CJ to contact me and was required to include phone number. So, I'm hoping for a call on Monday and I'll see how good my negotiation skills are.

Thanks again, mate!

[Linda Buquet]

Last I knew it was 5,000.
1250 Set-up + 3,000 deposit toward commission + other random fees
Plus they charge 30% of whatever you pay affiliates per month
Plus there was a 500 minimum. So even when you are new if the amount you owed them based on commish paid out was 200 - you still pay 500.
These fees may have gone up.

They are also VERY particular and I doubt they would take a brand new site and unproven new products. PLUS they need financials and a bunch of other stuff.

mannmade - I saw your post that was sent to the spam can. Based on the product and size of market and competition, I don't think CJ is a viable option. I know you are excited but it's just not going to be practical.

IMPORTANT - again I know you are excited and think these prodcuts are going to be the hottest thing since sliced bread...

I DON'T CARE! No matter how hot the product (and this is not as hot as you think) and no matter how great you think the site is...

If it's a NEW site and especially new-to-market products

DO NOT START AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM YET - TRUST ME!!!

You need to do some PPC and conversion testing before you even CONSIDER an affiliate program. If you start a program and your site can't convert or products don't sell or copy is wrong or cart has too many steps or prodcut price point is wrong or any number of other factors are not lined up right - you will BURN affiliates and never get them back.

Getting good affiliates is the hardest thing there is. The last thing you want to do is go to all the trouble of setting up a program, creating all the creative, recruiting only AFTER the fact to discover your conversions just aren't there.

TRUST ME, TRUST ME let me save you time, money and heart ache!
Do not rush an affiliate program to try to grab holiday sales.
YOU ARE NOT READY!

You only have a temporary site up. CJ will probably not even call you.
The products are nice but limited and in a VERY competitive market.
I'm so sorry, I know how very excited you are but you are not ready to even think about an affiliate program yet. When you are I would suggest ShareaSale, but you need to get a pro site up, PPC and conversion test 1st.

After you spend 5,000 in PPC and tweak to get up to 2% conversions, then you can consider an affiliate program. It could take you a year to get to that point. Just being blatantly honest.

[StephenR]

Originally Posted by Linda Buquet

Last I knew it was 5,000.
1250 Set-up + 3,000 deposit toward commission + other random fees
Plus they charge 30% of whatever you pay affiliates per month
Plus there was a 500 minimum. So even when you are new if the amount you owed them based on commish paid out was 200 - you still pay 500.
These fees may have gone up.

[Whistles] That is a little more costly than I realized. Obviously there are major benefits of partnering with a networking giant such as CJ, LinkShare, etc. but if I were just implementing an affiliate program with a new product or service I would definitely start out by launching an in-house program.

[mannmade]

Hello All,

Originally Posted by StephenR

[Whistles] That is a little more costly than I realized.

Wow, Stephen, you took the whistle right out of my mouth.

Linda, thank you so much for your dose of reality.

I never realized just how much $$ would be involved with CJ and you're right, it makes more sense to slow things down and shoot for those 2007 Holiday sales.

Thanks to both of you for the advice.

[jyramones]

Well, what kind of affiliate you guys suggest? Any ideas? I mean of i want to promote my own products? Let's say a t-shirt, where can i find a suitable affiliates? Is Cafepress.com is reliable? Sorry, I'm a newbie. Since starting from the big guns like CJ and LinkShare is out of a question. I just don't know where to start?

[StephenR]

Are you looking for a managed or unmanaged solution?

If you're looking for a simple but highly reliable self-managed solution with a solid customer support staff you may want to investigate idevaffiliate tracking software. They are one of the industry leaders and very reliable. You can set up and manage your affiliate program relatively easy with them.

I gotta run to class but I'll come back and post some other ideas soon.

[jyramones]

Thanks Stephen for the info. I'll check idevaffiliate soon.