Hey, buddy, you wanna buy a ...

We just got our 300,000th page view since moving to TypePad. It came from here, which just goes to show.

I've been thinking about setting up an Amazon Associates account. (Actually I have, but I don't know whether I'm going to use it.) Those 'buy this now' link promo dealies. How do people feel about that? From an ethical, aesthetic and political angle? Is it crass and dismaying to commercialize one's personal site - a sign of surrender to the gods of the market? I don't have paid advertising in my home. But in private life I like to urge people to buy books I like. This would be that, plus beer money at most. (More of a 'wonder whether I could actually get to $10' kind of an experiment, really.)

For example, I might recommend truly superior products like the book I quoted yesterday. (You might even search inside it if you thought I was kidding about that word.) Or this exceptionally low-priced DVD that everyone should own. Obviously 5% of $10 or less won't buy much beer, however, so perhaps I should pursue a different strategy. (Like when Calvin starts a lemonade stand - $20 a glass - and explains to Hobbes: "I've only got to sell one.') And so, if it's thrills, spills, chills and kills you crave, I can guarantee you'll find all those and more in ...

I'm actually just testing to see if this looks right and works. If you are in the market for a nice dictionary, do me a favor and wait three days. My account hasn't been cleared yet or something.

Comments

[PZ Myers]

Before I can comment on the ethical angle, I'd like to know what you're going to do with the buckets of pennies that come pouring in. Make donations to Malaysian terrorists? Buy textbooks for underprivileged children? Get some ice cream for your kids?

And if it's just for beer money, is it cheap beer in quantity, or good beer to be savored?

I'm only going to complain about the esthetics if it gets in the way of the Cappucino Pudding recipes.

[jholbo]

We'd almost certainly buy Amazon books or DVD's with any proceeds. It suddenly occurs to me that there is a scam to be run here - such an obvious one that Amazon must be on to it. Suppose I actually wanted an OED, or just generally wanted a lot of product. Why not link it from my own site and buy it through my own site at an effective 5% discount? (I haven't read the fine print, but surely that's not allowed.) If Amazon forbid commissions on purchases with my name through my site, the solution would be to get some buddy willing to help. (No, I'm not proposing this to anyone.) Maybe the hassle of setting this sort of thing up, and the relatively small size of the savings, would be enough to keep this low-grade fraud to such a level that Amazon is better off ignoring it? Are there any tales of Amazon trying to put a stop to such shenanigans?

[fafnir]

Alas I do not buy my books an DVDs an music at Amazon John an Belle. I buy em at cheaper Amazon knock off stores like Alldirect an Amazorn an Bigbreastedwarriorwoman.com. Fafnir is poor, he must comparison shop!

[Gary Farber]

Do the account; rake in the pennies.

[Kieran]

I have an Associates account and I link books I mention to it, but I never use the buttons and mini-ads shown in this post, just plain links --- or, in the sidebar of my blog, a little image of the book cover. I make between $40 and $120 a quarter, typically about $60 or so. This ain't paying the rent, but can sometimes justify the purchase of some expensive statistics textbook or fancy DVD box set that I wouldn't otherwise buy.

[PZ Myers]

Hey, $20/month isn't bad. Although translating your likely traffic to mine, I'd probably bring in 15 cents...probably not worth the effort.

On the other hand, though, biology books cost a fortune; I'd only have to sell one.

[woof]

I will ask you to create links to products I wish to purchase from Amazon in the future, and we can split the 5% kickback.
5% is not enough to change consumer behaviour, especially since almost all Amazon products can be purchased elsewhere for at least 10% less, with a little searching around.

[Prometheus]

I've noticed that every Amazon Associates account id ends with -20. I've also noticed that when one creates reading lists in a TypePad blog, the result is a list of links to Amazon items with the account ID sixapart-20. This is apparently all part of Ben and Mena Trott's master plan to create an army of Amazon disciples under the guise of running a blogging service. :) Just do it, man. De Long's been shillin' since 1998.

[Jacob T. Levy]

Yep, buying through your own link is explicitly verboten. But I always click through *somebody's* Associates link before starting Amazon shopping.

[dave heasman]

Well, "Customers who bought The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition (20 Volume Set) also bought:.." a whole shedload of stuff, so the punters *are* out there, you just have to hook 'em.
Recipes, I think. And photos. That'll get 'm.