Amazon Blogger

How To Display Amazon Products On Your WebPages Without Using JavaScript

2007-05-05T19:42:00.002-07:00

By Heris Yunora

Do you promote Amazon Associate Program and want to present their products on your webpages? There is a stand-alone PHP script which is released under the GNU GPL that can be used for this purpose.

There are several advantages you can gain by using this program:

- It is written in PHP and not JavaScript so that Search Engines will not ignore the contents generated by this program. It could increase the uniqueness of your webpages. It is useful especially if you use reprint right or private label articles.

- The script allows you to insert specific search phrase to display specific products for each and every webpage you have. Not only that, there are several categories you can choose. So for example if you use "herbal medicine" as search phrase you can choose to display products from "books" or "health" category that contain that phrase. Amazon contains thousands products you can promote which means you should not too worry that there will not be any products to be displayed when using specific search phrases.

- You can even use it along with programs to display RSS feeds like Crap (http://www.geckotribe.com/rss/carp/). This will make your webpages become more unique. By adding updated products from Amazon and RSS feeds from other websites, you turn your static webpages into dynamic ever changing webpages.

Now here are the steps on how to do it:

- Visit http://www.chipdir.nl/amazon/ and download the following files: amazonh3.phps, data.phps and language.phps.

- Change the extensions of the files above become .php.

- In the root directory of your hosting create a folder and name it as "cache".

- CHMOD the folder to 777.

- Open amazonh3.php through web browser and now you should see Amazon products related to 'Machiavelli' which means that the script works properly.

- If you notice, the program always displays ten products on a single webpage. You can customize the script so it will only display, for example, 2 products on each of your webpage. You should also remove words like "Searching for ....", "Number of products: ...", "Page 1 of .." or other words that you don't want to appear. You may have to try several times to make all things work properly.

- After customizing the program, place the code (all code in amazonh3.php) into your webpages and save them with .php extension. Change the search phrases so that they will correspond with the contents of your webpages. Note that if your webpages have already been indexed by search engines you should not change their extensions. That means you should not use this script on such webpages.

- After all don't forget to insert your own Amazon Associate ID.

Now, once you have uploaded your webpages, your site will automatically pull in updated information of products from Amazon. Simply follow this illustration for any websites you have.

eBay Auctions vs Amazon Auctions

2007-05-05T19:42:00.001-07:00

By Mark Kenny

Every day, buyers and sellers log on to the world wide web in the hopes of finding a treasure or earning some big bucks. In that spirit, this article attempts to compare two of the largest, most well-known auction sites in existence. They are both popular, offer excellent features for both buyers and sellers and are in constant competition with one another. Amazon and eBay are the auction sites of topic and while, in many ways they are alike, there are an equal number of ways in which they differ.
Bay, the minimum fee is $0.25 for a starting bid of $.01 to $0.99. If an e Beginning with similarities, both eBay and Amazon charge their sellers a listing and final value fee. The listing fee, from both auction sites, is non-refundable even if the item does not sell. However, an unsold item may be relisted for free at both Amazon and eBay auction sites. Amazon Auctions charge their sellers a $.10 listing fee with the possibility of having all listing fees waived if the seller signed up for a Pro Merchant Subscription. Where listing fees are concerned with eBay seller opens an eBay Store, listing fees may be as low as $.05 each.

An unfortunate aspect of internet auction commerce, but a presence nonetheless, is an uncompleted transaction. This usually occurs when a buyer fails to send payment. In this instance, both eBay and Amazon auctions will refund the final value fee for that particular auction, which is based on the final bid amount. Both auction sites also provide seller tips and a bulk loader program, which allows the seller to upload a number of auctions all at once.

One of the greatest differences that stand out amongst these internet auction powerhouses is their policy on poor seller performance. According to Amazon's website, the company reserves the right to charge sellers a fee for poor seller performance. The amount of this fee is not mentioned and, therefore, sellers have no way to know how much this fee may be. According to Amazon Auctions, reasons for this fee may include excessive refunds, high rates of A-Z Guaranteed claims filed against the seller and/or credit card chargebacks related to Amazon Auction payments. According to Amazon Auctions, they will communicate any charges to the seller prior to assessing them. On the other hand, eBay auctions has an entirely different approach to seller performance. Their 'Item Not Received' complaint process was recently changed to a 'Fraud Alert' system, which allows buyers to file a complaint with eBay if they do not receive their merchandise or if it is not as advertised. Much like the non paying bidder complaint process, the seller has an opportunity to respond to any complaint and communicate with the buyer in order to resolve the dispute. If an amicable resolution cannot be reached, the buyer may close the complaint and request a refund under eBay's Buyer Protection plan. In order for an item to qualify, it must be priced at a minimum of $25.00 (excluding shipping & handling).

In recognition of it's most well-performing sellers, eBay offers it's PowerSeller program. This membership is restricted to sellers who earn a minimum of $1,000.00 in sales each month and maintain a 98% or greater feedback rating. The PowerSeller program is exclusive to eBay and it's members. Few other auction sites can come close to the number of buyers, sellers and merchandise that is offered on eBay every day. Regardless, entrepreneurs are grateful for the competition of other auction sites. It is this competition that inspires greatness, which promotes more customer incentives and lower listing fees for sellers.

Marketing Lessons From Amazon

2007-05-05T19:41:00.001-07:00

By Cathy Stucker

You may not have the funds to build an e-commerce system on the scale of Amazon, but there are several lessons you can learn from them that will help you sell more, online and offline.

Make it easy to buy. Amazon pioneered One Click Ordering, where customers’ shipping and credit card information is stored for future purchases. They make it easy to buy without pulling out your wallet and inputting a lot of data. Can you set up accounts or keep customer billing information available so they can buy with a phone call or a signature?

Get others to sell for you. Amazon.com Associates was the first online affiliate program. Associates link from their Web sites to Amazon.com, and they are paid commissions for the sales they refer. Today, more than 900,000 Web sites send customers to Amazon.com. You can implement your own affiliate program with inexpensive software, or by using one of many services that will administer your program for you. Offline, reward customers who send new business your way with free products or services.

Show related products. While shopping at Amazon, you will see suggestions such as “Customers who bought this item also bought . . .” Make displays of related products in your retail location, group products and accessories in your catalog, and list product suggestions on Web pages.

Provide customized information. Amazon remembers what you buy and even the products for which you have shopped. Your shopping habits are used to provide personalized recommendations when you arrive at Amazon.com. You may be able to use features in your online shopping cart to make upsells based on the item purchased. Send e-mails or postcards to customers who bought certain products when you have a new product or service that might interest them.

Encourage the growth of community. Customers can post reviews to any product page on Amazon.com. Want to recommend a favorite product, or warn others about a dud? Post a review. Although the system isn’t perfect, you can get a lot of good information from customer reviews, and the availability of this information encourages customers to shop at Amazon. A user group or online forum can make customers feel a part of your community.

Do what you do best. If you visit Borders.com, you will discover that it is run by Amazon.com. Borders decided that they did not want to reinvent the wheel when it came to e-commerce, and turned over their Web site to Amazon so they could focus on their brick and mortar stores. You can learn from both sides of this relationship. If something doesn’t fit with your core business, outsource it. If there is something you do very well, consider offering the service to others, even your competitors. Everyone wins.

Although you may not (yet) be a giant, you can learn lessons from the giants such as Amazon.com. Apply them to your business and increase your profits.

Save at Amazon With Coupons and Cashback

2007-04-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ever since the online shopping industry took off, Amazon has always been a leader in the field. Through the years they have expanded their business into many different categories to be the one-stop shop for online purchases. In addition to this, they have created several opportunities for consumers to save money while shopping at Amazon. I'll show you these methods and how you can take advantage of them to help you save while spending.

Promotion Codes

Amazon promotion codes are "online coupons" that you can use to apply a credit towards your purchase. Amazon does not regularly advertise these, but they can easily be found on the internet. The good thing about promotion codes is that they are deducted from your total shopping cart order which enables you to get free shipping on items that are less than $25 after checkout. Amazon will regularly have promotion codes that are applied directly to products or overall categories. Some examples are:

$25 off $125 purchases in specific categories.

$25 credit towards the purchase of memory when purchasing a digital camera Once you obtain a coupon code; all you need to do is enter it in the "Promotion Code" box during your checkout. At that time it will be applied to your order and you'll see the instant savings immediately.

Cashback Through Gift Certificates

Want to save on every purchase you make? Amazon has introduce their own branded Platinum Credit Card that allows you to accumulate points that get converted to Amazon Gift Certificates. For every dollar you spend at Amazon, you will receive 3 points. For every dollar you spend anywhere else, you will receive 1 point. For every 2,500 points you accumulate, Amazon will send you a Gift Certificate good for $25. If you use this card solely for making purchases at Amazon; you'll get a $25.00 gift certificate after spending $834.00 at Amazon alone. This turns out to be a 3% cash-back reward which is fantastic compared to most industry cards that only offer 1%! Best of all, when you apply for the card and become approved, your first purchase at Amazon is eligible for a $30 discount. Once you receive your gift certificates, you can apply them during your Amazon checkout for instant savings.

Free Shipping

If you're in no rush to receive your orders, we recommend that you take advantage of Amazon's Super Saver shipping. Most items purchased directly from Amazon (and through an Amazon Store or third party retailer) are eligible for free shipping as long as your total is over $25. We have found that most orders arrive in a timely manner even when this method of shipping is used! With postal rates on the rise; this is a tremendous savings opportunity.

Do the Math

Now that we have showed you three great ways to save, let's see how our savings add up. Let's say you were in the market for an MP3 Player that was selling for $149.99 and there was a $25 off promotional code available for all MP3 players. Factor in the Amazon credit card first purchase, the 3% cash back and the free shipping.

$149.99 retail price
Subtract $25 - Promotion code
Subtract $30 - Bonus discount for first purchase using the Amazon Card
Subtract $2.85 - 3% cash back (285 points)
Subtract $0 - Free shipping on orders over $25.
Your total: $92.14 - A savings of 39% off of the retail price!

As you purchase more from Amazon you'll see what a blessing it is. As a frequent customer to any store you should be rewarded. Amazon makes it easy through their programs!

Richard Iglar is a contributor for Anticost.com an online shopping resource website where you can find free Amazon Coupons and apply for the Amazon Card.

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