Etsy Affiliate Program
Etsy is one of the most popular marketplaces for people looking for handmade items, whether for weddings or other special events or to give as gifts to their loved ones. But did you know that there is also an Etsy affiliate program that you can join easily and conveniently?
In this post, we’re looking at how you can become an Etsy affiliate and whether the Etsy affiliate commission rates are worth the effort or not.
How to join the Etsy affiliate programme
There are several requests that you have to tick in order to be able to join the Etsy affiliate programs available. For example, you should be the owner of a website and have a number of articles published before getting approved.
Your content also needs to be relevant, meaning that it should be in the jewelry, home decor, creative design, or even beauty department. If you wish to use social media to promote your affiliate links, you might also have to provide the links to your social media pages.
What Etsy affiliate marketing doesn’t allow is any comparison price site or any website that offers coupons, discounts, or offers of this kind. On top of that, the program doesn’t allow websites that have suspicious content, such as adult content, religion, politics, or anything else. If you’re a CBD affiliate, for instance, you also have a slim chance of getting approved.
You do have to pay $5 as an application fee.
What products can you promote?
Creating individual reviews for the products you might want to recommend is probably not a good idea if you want to use this program as one of your main monetization methods. After all, the products can be removed from the site as they depend on the creators’ stock.
You can, however, create content about any of the categories of products available on the site, and they range from toys and games to party decorations, clothing, home and living decor, jewelry, and vintage items (whether they are replicas or actual, original vintage products).
Commissions and payments
Etsy pays 4% for every sale, no matter the category of product you are recommending. This is a bit better than what Amazon Associates has to offer, for example.
But what stands aside, especially when comparing the Etsy affiliate program to other, similar ones, is that the cookie lasts for 30 days. This means that if a customer clicks on your affiliate link, even if they purchase something later on in the month, you’ll still get a 4% commission.
You are not going to get any commissions on direct listing links on Pinterest or any other type of social media.
From what we have gathered, this program pays its affiliates through Paypal or direct deposit. To be able to receive the money you’ve made, you should first complete your payment details under Account Tab -> Payment Details.
How can you promote Etsy?
There are a number of techniques that you can use for this monetization method, but the one that offers the best results by far is content marketing. While linking from social media is allowed, you might not get a commission, so we recommend promoting your web pages so that you direct people to Etsy indirectly.
Pros and cons
In short, there are both advantages and disadvantages to being an Etsy affiliate. On the upside, this marketplace is one of the most popular ones in the world, and it generates billions of sales every year. People know about it and trust the brand, so you aren’t going to encounter that many difficulties in this respect.
Since many of the products are budget-friendly, most of the buyers are impulse shoppers, which means that your task is even easier.
When it comes to the disadvantages, some bloggers and marketers feel that the 4% commission could have been higher, especially given the low value of many items. It can also be a challenge to get approved, which is a nuisance.
Is it worth it?
If you’re in the right niche and you market to a specific audience, you can make some pretty decent passive income with the Etsy affiliate program.
Pretty much anybody in niches that deal with special events (the holidays), weddings, event planning, or anything that relates to handmade products and DIYers can achieve success.
On the other hand, if you have a somewhat general site and you don’t publish content that deals with the topics that we have mentioned, you’ll find the commission to be too low, and so is your conversion rate going to be.
Here are some examples of posts that can do well if you want to use this affiliate network on your blog:
- 10 Great Gifts for Moms/Dads
- Top 10 Minimalist Jewelry Pieces
- Best Sustainable Clothing This Year
- 5 Pieces of Handmade Furniture for a Lovely Home Decor
- 10 DIY Projects for People of All Ages
Want to learn more about affiliate marketing and SEO? Get in touch to find out what plans we have available and how we can help you.
Craig Campbell
I am a Glasgow based SEO expert who has been doing SEO for 22 years.
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