I’ve been an eBay affiliate for a few years now (going back to when they ran their affiliate program through Commission Junction). In 2016, I got an invite from eBay to join their ‘Insiders’ community. At the time, I didn’t quite understand what it was and what it was all about. That said, I wasn’t too active in the community and didn’t get much out of it. Last year, one of their emails spurred me to re-engage in the community and understand what it was all about and the benefits of participation.
eBay Partner Network
Once upon a time, eBay ran their affiliate program through Commission Junction (CJ) and in 2008, they killed their relationship with CJ and decided to go it alone with their in-house platform. In April 2008, they launched the eBay Partner Network (EPN), a global affiliate program for publishers driving traffic to eBay. One of the reasons for the decision was, according to eBay, ‘…. to more fully align the programs across eBay’s global properties and give affiliates expanded access to revenue opportunities across its platforms.’
EPN Insiders
In 2015, EPN launched a ‘pilot’ publisher community which they called ‘Insiders’ with one of the aims being to recognise and reward partners who helped in growing EPN. In the first quarter of 2016, the community was opened up to all publishers and now boasts a community of 1500+ Insiders.
Some of the benefits of being an Insider include:
- Learning about EPN tools
- Early access to news, events and new tools
- Exclusive insights
- Networking with other publishers
- Playing a part in shaping the future of EPN
- Rewards
Participation is mostly centred around completing various challenges with Insiders also have the opportunity to engage in various discussions and communicate with other community members.
eBay Partner Network Insider Rewards
Insiders administrators regularly set challenges for the community where members gain points for completing the challenges. The challenges may be as simple as answering a few questions, being directed towards various resources to learn a few things or they may be task orientated where you have to complete a task in order to gain points. The points accumulate and can be later used to redeem rewards ranging from eBay swag, gift cards and tech.
At the time of writing this post, I have managed to accumulate a total of 19,564 points and have redeemed an Apple Watch Series 3 and more recently, a Google Home Smart Speaker & Home Assistant.
Some of the benefits of being an @eBayPartnerNet #Insider:
📚 #education
🗣 #networking
🎁 #rewards
My recent reward redemption ➡️ #AppleWatchSeries3!#EPN #eBay #eBayPartnerNetwork #Insiders @eBay #AffiiliateMarketing
Thanks @eBayPartnerNet! pic.twitter.com/QeuaCahPaU— Gerri Ndoro 🇿🇼/🇳🇿 (@gerri50) January 20, 2018
Yes, for eBay, having a circle of advocates works in their favour in that they help to drive business results. As ‘Insiders’ become more educated on EPN products and implement tricks, tips and strategies discussed, this could lead to a possible increase in revenue. If partners realise an increase in revenue, this also translates in an increase in revenue for eBay. Win-win situation for all!
If you are an eBay affiliate and haven’t yet signed up to Insiders (Click here to apply to be an Insider), it wouldn’t hurt to give it a go to see what its all about and all that you gain from it.
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