ClickBank 101: The Ultimate Guide

Are you looking for a detailed guide on ClickBank?

We will tell you everything you need to know about this affiliate marketing platform. It’s no big wonder you’re interested in this — affiliate marketing has become a popular source of passive revenue. 

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According to a 99firms report, this is a lucrative industry. The affiliate marketing sector is set to pass seven billion dollars in worth by the end of 2020. This is an industry that predates the Internet, but it has begun fulfilling its true potential online in the past twenty years.

In 2020, there are thousands of online networks dedicated to affiliate marketing. Each one has similar promises — high earnings through a passive income source that doesn’t require too much hard work. ClickBank is among the most popular networks out there. 

Plenty of marketers have reported good experiences with ClickBank, but there have been complaints as well. Affiliate marketing is a sector notoriously filled with fraudulent imposter companies that only seek to scam their affiliates out of their money — the real question here is if ClickBank is one of them. 

We will provide you with an in-depth look at the intricacies of ClickBank’s affiliate structure and deduce the truth.

What is ClickBank?

Online affiliate marketing is an industry as old as the Internet itself. ClickBank can claim proudly to be one of the pioneer companies in this field. It was founded in San Diego back in 1998. The premise that raised ClickBank to affiliate stardom is the one it advertises today as well — the ability to earn a living as a marketer or vendor without spending most of your days in an office cubicle. 

ClickBank Affiliate Earnings Snapshot

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There are a couple of facts you should know about ClickBank to understand the company’s gravitas:

• It services about 200 million people worldwide

• It is among the 100 most significant e-commerce facilitators in North America

• There are more than 100,000 affiliates on the ClickBank network

The point of these statistics is to illustrate an important fact — ClickBanks is a legitimate company, and you can make money there. Vendors of all kinds use this network for advertising their physical and digital products of all kinds.

ClickBank makes good on its promise of a substantial passive income without labor-heavy work, at least for the affiliate marketers who are adept at reseller marketing. It can also help vendors who do not have the budget or the inclination for online marketing to increase the reach and popularity of their products.

Is ClickBank Real?

ClickBank is not a scam. 

That much can be surmised from its combined longevity and success. A company does not reach this level of prominence over two decades without being legitimate. Considering that, where do complaints about the platform come from? 

ClickBank has plenty of upsides for all vendors and affiliates, but it has its issues as well. We will go over both in detail. 

ClickBank Benefits

The most significant ClickBank upsides are:

1. Ease of use

2. Low barrier of entry

3. Versatility

4. Vast product selection

5. Excellent commissions 

One of the best things about ClickBank is its utter simplicity. There is no fuss regarding the registration process. It only takes a couple of minutes to create an account and begin your affiliate marketing career or start selling things through its marketers. You won't encounter a lot of paperwork or other kinds of red tape to go through. 

Anyone who wants to become an affiliate marketer can join ClickBank without paying any fees. It’s free, making it perfect for marketing amateurs who wish to gain some valuable experience and industry knowledge. 

One of the network’s main selling points is its versatility. A majority of networks for affiliate marketing require you to choose whether you want to become an affiliate or a vendor upon registration. ClickBank is among the rare ones that offer you the ability to do both simultaneously. 

This is an amazingly powerful feature for marketers. A lot of marketers who go into affiliate work often have their products to sell as well. ClickBank allows you to do this while also marketing other vendors’ products as an affiliate. As a professional marketer, you could sell white label marketing software under your brand — but also work as an affiliate for other ClickBank vendors.

If you want to work only as an affiliate, it's crucial to notice the incredibly varied selection of affiliate products you can choose to market using the platform. There are thousands of different brands across a vast variety of niches — the choices seem almost endless. 

The final ClickBank benefit we’ll mention is also the most important one — high commissions. These vary depending on the product and niche, but some of them bring affiliate rates of 75% and more. The waiting times for payouts are better than in most other affiliate markets as well. 

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ClickBank Downsides

A superficial glance at the affiliate experiences of ClickBank users is enough to reveal a satisfied majority. There are also a couple of consistent downsides that come up when people describe their work on the platform:

1. Unresponsiveness

2. Dormancy penalties

3. Junk vendors

4. Constant competition

5. Shipping issues

There are two types of issues that pertain to consumers, not ClickBank affiliates: an unresponsive customer service department and potential shipping problems. According to the Better Business Bureau, a portion of the platform’s consumers have had similar troubles.

At first glance, such logistics may not seem important to marketers. Affiliate marketing is a heavily personalized field, however. Regardless of whether you’re plugging fitness books or working as a software reseller — it's under your brand. 

Tying yourself up with shady affiliate networks can damage your brand value in the long run. ClickBank is a legal and legitimate business, but consumer dissatisfaction is something to keep in mind as a factor as well. 

ClickBank also charges inactive accounts on the network. This is a tactic to force dormant affiliates into activity, but also to purge the platform of people who are not motivated enough to create value. The charges grow progressively for as long as you’re not active:

We've mentioned the wide variety of products you can choose from. There's another side to that coin — many of the products are junk that won't be easy to sell. This is a challenge for even the most experienced marketers. 

The quality products are the subject of heavy competition. This is not so much a problem as it is a fact — those most passionate about affiliate marketing win as they put in the most work. 

How to Start on ClickBank? How to Create a Clickbank Affiliate Website

ClickBank has no sign-up fees for affiliates. 

If you want to start working in reseller marketing on ClickBank, you don't have to pay anything. There are a couple of requirements that you need to fulfill to become an affiliate:

• Location in a ClickBank eligible country

• Browser cookies

• Social Security number (only for U.S. citizens)

The list of countries where ClickBank can make deposits of your earnings is:

Enabling browser cookies works differently, depending on your browser. In Google Chrome, the steps to enable them are:

1. Navigate to your Settings menu

2. Enter the Site Settings section

3. Toggle the Cookies option on

You have to pay a fee to become a vendor on ClickBank — this option is not free. It's not a recurring subscription, however. There is only a one-time payment of $49.95. Activating additional vendor accounts costs $29.95.

ClickBank Payment Methods

There are four different payment methods for ClickBank members:

• Payoneer

• Wire transfer 

• Direct deposit

• Check

Once you choose a payment method, you are not tied to it indefinitely. You may change how you receive your commissions whenever you want. This change will come into effect after seven business days, however. 

ClickBank takes fraud prevention seriously. For instance, you also cannot change your payment method within a week of editing your account details — meaning your email and password. This is a method used to prevent malicious hackers from hijacking user accounts and using them without permission.

Affiliates can set their lower payout limits as they please — a rare case with ClickBank alternatives. The smallest payment amount is ten dollars. 

Payoneer

Many ClickBank users opt to receive their money through Payoneer, a global payment service available in most countries where ClickBank affiliates operate. You can order a Mastercard from Payoneer that usually arrives within a month and use it to make payments and withdraw funds from ATMs. 

This card is connected to a U.S. bank account in which your commissions will be deposited. Alternatively, you can transfer the funds to another bank account located in your home country. 

Check

A paper check is one of the ClickBank payment options. You receive it via mail, once you designate a home address in your ClickBank account. 

Direct Deposit

Direct deposits are also an option, but only in the United States and a limited number of other countries. These bank deposits are realized within two days of the payment request. 

Wire Transfer

You may receive your ClickBank earnings via wire transfer as well. This is the default payment option for the countries in which ClickBank does not make direct deposits. Depending on your location, wire transfers take a business week at most. 

How to Use ClickBank to Sell

There are plenty of affiliate programs and products hosted by ClickBank that are of subpar quality. Merchandise with plenty of hype and zero quality is a common sight on many affiliate networks, and ClickBank is no different. 

That’s one of the most common complaints tied to ClickBank. The reality is that junk vendors are something that could be stated as a problem of affiliate marketing in general. If you’re expecting every product on the network to be high-quality and something you can be passionate about — find another line of work. 

Once you make your peace with that, you will realize the flip side: there are plenty of reliable products you can resell too. Think of ClickBank as a huge retail store with all kinds of goods. If you don't like something, just keep browsing. You're bound to find something that suits your preferences and something you're confident you can sell. 

Digital and retail entrepreneurs alike use the ClickBank platform for marketing all kinds of goods. As an affiliate, it's your job to sift through all of this and find something you can make money reselling. Due diligence is crucial to making money as an affiliate while also not damaging your reputation. 

There are five crucial things you should consider to avoid garbage products on ClickBank:

1. Review samples

2. Product reviews

3. Gravity scores

4. Hype

5. Shady vendors

Before you decide to use the ClickBank platform to resell a specific product, it’s not a bad idea to ask the vendors to provide you with a review sample. It’s not only disingenuous to promote a product that you haven’t tested first-hand, but it’s also just more difficult. 

Many vendors don't want to comply with this. If you're passionate about that particular product, think about buying it yourself first. That's the smartest way to look at the transaction from the consumer side and adjust your sales pitch accordingly. There is no better way to make sure the product is authentic and genuine in its advertising. 

Product Reviews

Most vendors that sell products online tend to have a trail of customer reviews in their wake. This is particularly true for low-quality products. Consumers tend to be passionate about sharing their experiences about these. They don’t want others to make the same mistake they did. 

Go through these reviews to find out the objective truth about a product. Make sure to go deeper than other affiliate reviews — these are naturally biased. The most significant number of varied reviews can be found on review aggregate websites. 

Gravity Scores

ClickBank is a time-tested affiliate marketing platform that’s maintained its success for two decades. There is plenty of information about using it efficiently to make money online. The mileage on these guides may vary, but there’s one thing they all have in common — gravity scores.

This is an unavoidable metric for ClickBank affiliate marketers. It represents the number of individual members that have succeeded in selling a specific product in the previous twelve weeks. ClickBank gravity is directly proportional to the product’s quality and the vendor’s trustworthiness. High-gravity products are the holy grail of ClickBank affiliates. 

Hype

ClickBank is a platform that’s only as good as your marketing skills. Many ClickBank beginners close their accounts in disappointment due to a lack of earnings after a while. The success of every affiliate depends on their marketing know-how as much as the platform they’re using. 

If you want to learn more about promoting ClickBank products, check out our comprehensive guide. 

Affiliate networks that provide 100% guarantees on earnings are fraudulent scams and should be avoided as such. ClickBank is not among them. 

Shady Vendors

Many affiliates are not honest about the quality of their products — but neither are the vendors. A sizable portion of them is just scammers looking to provide junk products at steep prices. 

Do a Google search for a vendor before applying to sell their products, at the very least. Vendors without a traceable history on the Internet are not worth your time.

Other Affiliate Networks

The ClickBank marketplace isn’t the only affiliate platform out there, and it’s not the only good one either. Plenty of marketers and entrepreneurs opt for other networks for various reasons. It’s important to note that legitimate affiliate networks differ only in the details. There is no guaranteed success, and there is no platform where all of the affiliates and vendors are bona fide legitimate business people. The tips we’ve outlined above will serve you on other networks too.

Conclusion on ClickBank Affiliate Marketplace

ClickBank is a popular affiliate marketing network, dating back two decades. It is legitimate, it is legal, and it’s not a scam. There are minor inconveniences for customers on the platform, but vendors and affiliates enjoy it due to a sprawling marketplace and decent commissions. 

It's free for affiliates, making it an excellent entry-level network, but it still requires extensive research before earnings start piling up.