[ad#phpBay]In the post about my move from Blogger to WordPress I mentioned that my first stint with WordPress was at the start of the year when I decided to give phpBay Pro a go and see what it was all about.
What is phpBay Pro?
phpBay Pro is an affiliate script for building niche websites with the eBay Partner Network (ePN). It is available as a WordPress plugin or a stand alone API version. It allows users to quickly and easily place and add content to a site and lets them chose a single listing or auction or a range of auctions based on keywords to place on a site. It may have been built with eBay in mind but it is not limited to the ePN as you can also earn revenue via Pepperjam, Mediaplex, TradeDoubler and Affilinet.
When a visitor clicks on a product and places a winning bid, you receive a commission based on a percentage of the revenue generated by the winning bid. And, if someone signs up for a new eBay account via your site (active confirmed registered users (ACRUs)), you receive a bonus as well. The commission rates and ACRU compensation amounts vary from program to program.
Earnings are paid out on a monthly basis via PayPal or direct deposit (in certain countries).
My Experience With phpBay
When I first tried out phpBay, I was still using Blogger and with that being the case and me not being accustomed to WordPress I went on a hunt to see if I could trial it without having to spend too much money. I got a cheap (.info) domain name on Go Daddy and the best deal I could find for hosting was with Hostgator (I found a $0.01 1 month hosting coupon via a Google search). With all of that out of the way, I went about setting up the site with a bit of help from Ben Johnson who sent through a guide on building stores and also provided me with a theme.
When I set up the site (Hair Extension Supplies) I told myself that if it wasn’t able to cover its hosting for the following month (at the least) I wasn’t going to carry on with the experiment. Two or so weeks in was pleasently surprised to see that the site had made itself $23.59. What impressed me the most was the fact that I really didn’t do any sort of marketing before it started earning money. Since then I have started another phpBay site which I have put a bit more work into which is doing well (a tip I got before I set up the second site was to look for a niche within a niche within a niche).
Is It Worth It?
I would say that phpBay Pro is well worth the investment. It doesn’t take a long time to learn how to use it, set up new sites or intergrate it into existing sites and once all of that it done you don’t have to do a lot to the site besides a bit of maintenance now and then and of course a bit of promotion.
You really can get rich while you sleep.
we can get rich while we sleep? I don’t think so. Its not easy.
I tend to think otherwise and say you can make money whilst you sleep. It will require a bit of work at the start but once you have got something up and running it should only require a bit of maintenance now and then and you should be able to make money whilst you sleep.