Hi all
Some exciting news in the OZCT world I thought I would share with everyone.
I've discovered a way to create some income for this site. This will allow us to continue offering this great site without grovelling for donations as we have had to resort to lately
We've signed up in the eBay Partner Program.
I've had it operational for the past month as a trial, and while it isn't making enough to retire to the bahamas, it's looking like it will make enough to cover the costs of the server and bandwidth and all associated running costs of the site. Because of this, we've now disabled the donation bar on the website. A huge thank you to those who have donated to us in the past!
HOW DOES IT WORK ?
Without going into the nitty gritty, every time you click on a link going to eBay on Ozcards and make a purchase of a card or any other item, we get a small commission back from eBay.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP ?
Continue as you are doing - click on eBay auctions throughout the site and make purchases. I've also put up some links to eBay on the top menu bar and on the front page of the site which you can use every time you want to make a purchase on eBay - by clicking on this link on the front page or in the menu bar you will ensure we get a small commission from your purchase.
**PLEASE NOTE - IF YOU USE ADBLOCK IN YOUR BROWSER YOU MUST DISABLE THIS ON OZCARDTRADER IN ORDER FOR THE LINKS TO WORK.** If you have it enabled, it blocks the script which tracks the clicks to eBay, and the site will receive nothing from your purchases.
CAN I CLICK THE EBAY LINKS 1 MILLION TIMES ?
You can, but it won't help. The eBay program is all about quality of clicks rather than quantity. A person clicking through to eBay from OzCards and making a purchase of a card will earn us some commission, but someone clicking the link 1 million times will do nothing.
WHAT DOES IT COST THE USERS OF OZCARDS ?
Nothing. Apart from the cost of the cards on eBay which you are already buying. And some time to click on the links throughout the site. That's it.
DOES THE FACT YOU ARE GETTING A COMMISSION MEAN THE SELLER WILL MISS OUT ?
Nope not at all. The seller will still receive the exact same money from a sale as they currently do. The commission we get comes direct from eBay. Yes it probably comes out of the fees that are paid to eBay from the sale of an item, but these fees won't change because we get a commission - it just means eBays take is going to be smaller
HOW MUCH DOES OZCARDS MAKE OUT OF THIS ?
Not a huge amount. In the first trial month we made around $200. So it's not a huge amount, but it will cover the costs of the server and associated costs of running the site (software for the site, domain names etc etc) Hence we no longer need to request donations to fund the site
CAN I OPT OUT ?
Nope - there is no way of selectively changing the links. All ebay links on OzCardTrader are included in the Partner Program.
CAN YOU PROVIDE MORE INFO ABOUT THIS?
Sure - ask away by posting your questions below. I will answer what I can.