eBay Affiliate Program: What It Is + How To Earn Money in 2024

Are you looking for ways to earn money online through your content monetization? Congrats, you have landed on the right page!

It is the dream of every good affiliate to monetize his online traffic. But wait, what about if you get all this in just a few steps? 

This article explains every aspect of the eBay affiliate program, its pros and cons, the tools you can use, and the methods to sign up as an eBay affiliate to earn money in dollars.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

eBay Affiliate Program Review

A Note on eBay:

Since everyone in the market world has heard a lot more about the term eBay, there is not any elaboration to be included. In contrast to Amazon, it is not as popular and readily available, but the people who have been using the Internet for years have an idea about how big it used to be.

eBay was founded back in 1995 and is available across 1500 plus cities. It is used by more than 170 million people worldwide who buy their favorite products (no matter what type) through it. 

To your great surprise, once every 3 seconds, there is a sale of any gadget, appliance, or any other type of electronics in the United States through eBay. Therefore it is perfect for your startup as you have a brand to recommend that people already trust.

Which Products should you Promote?

There is a wide variety of products when it comes to the eBay partner network affiliate program, you will be amazed. From musical instruments to vintage furniture you can find anything of your desire.

There are several major categories one can pick from, and they range from motors and electronics to collectibles, home and garden, fashion, sporting goods, business and industrial, jewelry and watches, and the all-time favorite ‘refurbished’ category, where anyone on a budget goes in hopes to find a steal. 

In the same way, just like Amazon, there are pages you can find that are created by both the companies themselves and the ordinary salespersons who are interested in affiliate marketing. For example, look for Adidas or anything else.

But here is a tip for you. Although it is possible that you may be interested in any niche, it is a good practice to choose electronics over other products to excel quickly in the affiliate world. So, if you regularly review gadgets or you have a rich audience that is interested in electronic products, you can consider becoming an affiliate.

What is the Operational Mechanism of the eBay Partner Network?

eBay Partner Network appears to be an in-house affiliate program at first. First, you need to need to have an existing eBay account to sign up for their program. 

The registration for their affiliate program does not involve any rocket science. It simply requires only the essential information and it takes just two minutes. This stands out in the affiliate marketing realm, where certain programs seem to request everything short of a DNA sample during the application process.

Additionally, the eBay Partner Network approval process is also very fast. The application request is promptly approved in less than 24 hours, relieving you from extra stress. They don’t waste anyone’s precious time. 

There are two important items to be discussed before going into further detail and they are:

1. Cookies
2. Buy It Now vs. Auction

eBay’s affiliate program used to offer a cookie duration of several days but now it lasts for only 24 hours. Now let’s see how it works for ‘Buy It Now’ vs. auction. 

Your referral must have to purchase the item within 24 hours of clicking on your affiliate link for “Buy it Now” items. It seems to have been associated with most affiliate programs with short attribution periods. 

Auctions are a little bit different. You could get paid for an auction that ends 10 days later, so long as your affiliate click lands within that 24-hour window. It means that there is a need to be focused on auctions with either a really short duration, or are within 24 hours of ending. 

What Tools Can eBay Affiliates Use?

There are various tools accessed by eBay Affiliates. Some of them are discussed below:

Smart Placements

You can create custom banners using this popular tool. There are various options to choose like size, product category, and even search terms. You can easily preview what the banner looks like which is a good feature. Then you will have to just copy the embed code and place it on your website.

Bookmarklet

This tool is very user-friendly in many aspects. You can create affiliate links right from the browser. There is an option for dragging the Bookmarklet tool to your bookmarks and then you will just click on it while browsing eBay.

Smart Links

This tool helps you in a way that it has a code snippet that you just copy and paste on your website. It will automatically convert all links to eBay to affiliate links.

There is a choice for you to use it either globally on all your pages or only on selected pages. The snippet code should be placed between <head></head> tags.

Link Generator

You can create deep links using the Link Generator tool. What you have to do is just paste the URL of an eBay product that you want to promote, and the Link Generator generates an affiliate link for it.

Creative Gallery

There is a choice given by eBay to you that you can either create your custom banners or use templates made by the eBay team.

How to Enroll in the eBay Affiliate Program?

eBay is a self-managed program. You will not find it on any affiliate network. All you need to do is go to the eBay website find the page offering affiliate program services and submit your application there.

After a couple of days or more, your request will be reviewed and responded to. Often this process takes less than 24 hours if you are applying on behalf of a well-stable and authoritative website.

You will get all of the marketing tools and various options on the platform once you are accepted by the program. For example, there’s a quite nifty Bookmarklet that lets you create links from any eBay page right from the comfort of your browser.

Key Factors to Keep in Mind for Successful eBay Affiliate Marketing

It is important to read the terms and conditions of the program before joining it. There is a lot more to be discussed before. Otherwise, you will boot out of it without even knowing what you have done wrong. 

Unfortunately, most of the affiliates do not abide by the rules and regulations which are very important to be known. There are two rules and both of them deal with the same thing i.e. FTC regulations. This means that you must make it clear to your followers that you are linking to products that could generate a commission for you.

For this reason, the disclosure in the form of hashtags needs to be mentioned right around your affiliate link – sometimes right under it. Such as #sponsored #ad or #commissionearned.

Some affiliates simply put a disclaimer in the header portion of all their pages to circumvent the rule of having to write this after each of their affiliate links. Similarly, you will have to mention this disclosure under your content if you have a social media channel or page, whether the content is on YouTube or anything else.

All other rules are pretty related to your ethical behavior such as you shouldn’t be engaged in any unethical activity including gambling, violence, or the construction of firearms. You should avoid being involved in cookie stuffing or any type of spam.

eBay Affiliate Program Commission Structure

The eBay affiliate program commission is the first question asked by most affiliates, so what is the eBay affiliate program’s total revenue percentage?

The eBay Affiliate Network resembles Amazon Associates and we all know how bad that became a couple of years ago, right at the start of COVID. But the good news is that you can earn a commission on anything that is sold on eBay. The products sold can range from computers and tablets to cell phones and video games, along with consoles.

Every time your referral purchases by clicking on “Buy it now” or “Winning bid” auditions, you will get a huge commission. It has category-level commission rates ranging from 1 to 4%. Here is the complete and up-to-date eBay affiliate program commission structure.

Here you can see,

There is also a cap on how much you can earn from a single sale on the eBay program. In case your referral bought an expensive house on eBay, you will receive just $100.

The first thing here that is disappointing is that there are some limits in certain categories. For example, in real estate, you will receive just a maximum of $100 commission, no matter the value of the sale that you facilitate. Another thing is that the cookie duration used to last for a couple of days, but now eBay decided to slash it to just 24 hours. 

eBay Affiliate Program Payment Methods

There is a choice for you on which payment method you prefer to use i.e. either you choose PayPal or electronic funds transfer as a payment method. You can withdraw your earnings once you have earned at least $10.

The drawback associated with the first method is that you will be charged a $2 extra processing fee every time you withdraw those twenty bucks. But the second payment method is free of charge, so you don’t need to worry about an extra fee. All you need to do is just provide your bank details, such as the beneficiary account name, bank account number, type of account, and ABA routing number. 

Keep in mind that PayPal has a 2% processing fee capped at $20.

Your commissions will take 30 days to get approved. For example, if you get a referral at the beginning of June, you can withdraw your money at the beginning of July.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Participating in the eBay Affiliate Program

There are always two sides to the canvas. Before deciding to become an eBay affiliate, you should be aware of both the pros and cons of the program. 

The biggest flaw associated with this network is that the commission rate can be considered quite low. Certainly, the customers trust the eBay platform due to its extensive reach, making them more comfortable with orders, even from individual sellers instead of companies themselves. But, despite the platform’s well-established reputation, the earnings potential may not be significant enough to be a noteworthy source of income.

When it comes to pros, it is easy for you to withdraw your earnings through PayPal if you don’t have an electronic bank account. And if you don’t want to pay any processing fees, there is an Electronic Fund Transfer method with a threshold of just $10.

In the end, it’s your choice whether or not you have to become an eBay partner network affiliate or not – keeping the fact in mind that the cookie duration is just 24 hours.

Substitutes for the eBay Affiliate Marketing Program

If you are not satisfied with this platform and want to explore more, here are some alternatives for you:

Target 

This option is quite better than eBay because of its higher commission rate and cookies duration. The cookie lasts for seven days instead of 24 hours and you can make a profit of 8% out of the value of the products you refer to.

Also, there is a wide range of payment methods available range from PayPal to bank deposit, but the payout threshold for most is $50 which is a little bit restricted.

Wayfair

This platform is associated with CJ Affiliate. You have an opportunity to make more money as it is very popular in North American countries where people prefer to do online shopping.

To your great surprise, the commission rates range from 5 to 7% depending on the respective category of products that your referrals pick. The cookie duration is also 7 days.

Walmart

Although the commission rate of this alternative is similar to eBay which is 4%, the cookie lasts for three days instead of 24 hours which is pretty good for most affiliates.

Wrapping Things Up

The eBay Affiliate Program offers a user-friendly interface equipped with a diverse set of tools. And resources tailored for affiliate marketers aiming to monetize by endorsing eBay products. Featuring a commission range of 1-4% and a 24-hour cookie duration. Affiliates can capitalize on income by directing traffic and facilitating sales within eBay’s expansive marketplace. Despite relatively lower commission rates in comparison to alternative affiliate programs, this platform provides distinct benefits. Particularly for individuals focusing on vintage, rare, or handmade items.

Despite its constraints, such as a brief cookie duration and a modest commission cap. The program stands as a viable choice for affiliate marketers seeking to broaden their revenue sources. And align with a well-established brand.