ePN Policy Changes To Be Aware Of

The eBay Partner Network have again been playing around with their policies as well as other things which may affect the way some of their affiliates operate.

The news came from the ePN blog yesterday, which I frequent on a regular basis to keep ahead of things in the ePN community. The changes will bring into effect several new things which it's important you are aware of.

1)Domain Validation

Many affiliate networks require you to do this when you sign up anyway but EPN, until now, hasn't. As of the 20th of July all new affiliates signing up for the eBay partner network are now going to be required to submit a domain name for validation. This won't be mandatory for current affiliates but they (EPN) do recommend that you validate your domains; the explanation for this is as follows:

"It will help us know which domains you are sending traffic from and serve as additional information helpful in conversations with customer service or confirming your identity if your account has been compromised, etc."

2) Payment Threshold Increase

EPN are introducing a payment threshold onto all accounts of 25 which is a rise from 5. That is 25 of whatever currency your account is paid in. Hopefully for the majority of you reading this it won't affect you, unless of course you are just starting out or having a very very bad month.

3) No Trademark Infringement in URL's

You must not violate trademarks in anyway which includes, but is not limited to the use of URL's with trademarked names in.

This is a huge mistake which many people often make. Buying domain names with trademarks in is a big mistake and I know of several affiliate sites I have come across in Google which use trademarked domains. Use of these domains will likely result in EPN expiration.

But as Mark mentions here at The Niche Store Builder, this has some grey areas which will need further investigation.

4) Affiliate Links MUST Be On Your Own Sites

Publishers are advised that they must post links onto their own sites only and not onto third party sites which they do not own such as craiglist and myspace. In addition you shouldn't be using services like TinyURL to hide affiliate links.

5) Direct Paid Search and Direct Paid Placement Not Allowed

This is similar to what we saw with Amazon a few months back when they stopped affiliates sending traffic directly to their site from PPC through affiliate links. The only way you can send any kind of the aforementioned traffic is through your own affiliate website.

This very last one made me smile... so no explanation for inconsistencies then?

"Your earnings may vary from month to month, depending on eBay’s revenue generated by qualifying transactions.  Therefore, eBay Partner Network makes no guarantee that the level of clicks and impressions you drive and that may generate qualifying transactions will remain the same from month to month."

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