Getting Accepted into EPN: What it Takes to Be an Ebay Affiliate

October 14th, 2009 → 9:12 am @ Mike

The Ebay Partner Network

It has gotten to the point where I receive an email every other day about Getting Accepted into the Ebay Partner Network or EPN as it is referred to, so here is a short article on exactly what it takes to get in.  I have borrowed from a few other resources for this article to ensure you have the best information available.

Is EPN Worth it?

First, before I start, I get questions as well asking if EPN is a valid way to make money on the web and what do I think about Quality Click Pricing (QCP) and its effects on Ebay Affiliates.  QCP is Ebay’s way of measuring the quality of your site’s traffic.  They use your Campaigns to measure this as well as your click volume and the sales/ sign ups that these clicks from your campaigns generate.  $.14 cents per click appears to be the threshold for sites that generate decent traffic, but not an immense amount of sales.  It is an artificial limit set by Ebay’s system.  This is not what EPN says, this is strictly my opinion based on numerous sites running Auction2Post and phpBay right now (I use phpBay on my WP Mage sites).  I have moved around and managed campaigns quite a bit in testing this theory and I believe it is solid.  I have several sites that have beaten this metric and are big earners with one being in the $1.90 cents per click range. 

So I guess the question is:  How should I manage EPN on my sites?  The reason I say this is because when using EPN, you need to make sure you have targeted campaigns.  This does not mean having a lot of campaigns.  I went from having 20 campaigns down to 12 campaigns.  I consolidated sites that were similar in their Niches and my QCP value went up.  Yes, I have campaigns that cover up to 10 different sites right now and I am making more money with EPN because of it.  More clicks, more click value, and more money.

I definitely think EPN is a great way to make money, but you have to be smart about how you use it.  There are sites and forums dedicated to this very prospect and I suggest you use them.  Bot clicks (from Search Engine Spiders and other Crawlers) are a big threat to EPN Affiliates, but I think the Plugins and Ebay have largely taken care of this issue with specific setting that are recommended by each and the upgrades to these specific Plugins have occurred as well. 

How to Get Accepted into EPN?

Getting Accepted into EPN is not hard.  It is only hard if you want to get in and take short cuts to get it.  Ebay has become more stingy on the sites it accepts and rightly so.  it is important to have focused, product oriented sites that have value to the Ebay product in order to get accepted. 

Here are the basics covered by Greg Jacobs of WP Mage fame in his Warrior Forum Post:

• Applying from US/Canada/Western Europe/OZ/NZ – If you are outside these countries, It may be difficult unless you have a really compelling site to show them. And don’t bother with proxies. Ebay knows them all.
• Your IP address matches your Stated Address. (You can’t give a US Address, but apply with a Brazilian IP)
• Domain has Quality Content that would be relevant to products that Ebay sells.
• Domain is NOT a Review type site.
• NO EBAY Ads or other Ads on the Site.
• Site is registered with PUBLIC Registration for at least 2 years. (Not required if you have a really good site.)
• Public Domain Registration Information and email matches your Ebay application information.
• Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Contact Information on site.
• Your site is aesthetically pleasing and looks like a place the Ebay would be proud to have association. (don’t forget this one!)

To understand the Ebay Partner Network and what they want, it is also important to understand their Policies and Guidelines.  Take a Look and READ them and it will give you insight into what you need to do,not only to get into EPN, but to stay a Member as well:

1. Register a Domain that does not Violate any Trademarks or have the Terms: Best, Top, Cheap, Low Prices, or any other Adjective that describes how your site is better than everyone else’s.  Your Domain should already have some Backlinks pointed to it as well.  Posting up a new site and applying to EPN in a few days or weeks is not going to get you in.  2 Months is a minimum or buy or use a used/ aged domain for building this site.
2. Build a site that has a Professional looking theme and a graphic Logo.  Do not use the Text Page title in your Theme.  Get a Logo Made or make it yourself and put it into your site.
3. You must have 15-20 Unique Posts with an average of 400 Words per Article on your site.  They must be submitted over the course of a few weeks and not all at once.  You can manipulate this if you know how.  Your Article Content must be focused on a Niche that is also oriented toward a specific Product category on Ebay.  Do not use BIG categories like Digital Cameras and LCD TV’s.  You should look for a tighter Niche.  Specific Product categories with Articles on the Products and then articles on How to use the Products work really well.
4. DO NOT put any ads or affiliate links on this site.
5. Make sure your site has a Privacy Policy (Use the Easy Privacy Policy Page, Contact Page, and Terms and Conditions Page with Disclosure about your intent to make money from the site via Affiliate Links (for FTC Purposes).
6. Be truthful about who you are and describe your intents when you apply to EPN.  Do not say you want to Auto Blog 100 EPN sites.  Make sure they understand that you want to build Niche oriented sites like the one you just created and that you will build more like it in order to help both Ebay and yourself make money.  Period.

The bottom line is that your site has to be a Value added addition to the Ebay Network.  If it looks good and has good content that is focused on a Niche that will benefit Ebay Visitors, then you will get in.  You shouldn’t have to ask someone if your site looks good.  If you are unsure, then your site probably isn’t good enough.  It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece either, but take a hard look at what you have created before you Apply.

If you want to take the guesswork out of it, there are a few services which will actually build a site for you.  I recommend using SyndramDesigns as they have a 99% rate of acceptance for the sites they create and the Price isn’t bad at all