As an eBay affiliate, one thing that always annoyed me with making links to eBay on my blog or website was the fact that they were links to items or search results for only 1 country. Making links to eBay UK and eBay US on the same page is timc consuming and just a hassle.

So thats why I made the eBay Geotargetted link script!

What with the eBay script do for me?

The script allows you to link direct to the eBay search results for a product using a common URL standard - but it will also detect the location of your visitor based on their IP address and then send them to their nearest eBay store!

This means that US visitors get to view products on eBay US (www.ebay.com) and UK visitors get to see items from eBay UK (www.ebay.co.uk). The same goes for other visitors from different countries.

You get to post 1 link to eBay which contains your eBay Partner Network campaign ID and the script does the rest!

Your eBay cookie gets dropped for the right country and will send your eBay Partner Network profits soaring!

Examples:

When you buy the script, it comes as a file called go.php so to activate the links, you FTP the file to the relevant place on your domain and then from your blog or website, link using the following URLs:

http://www.yourdomain.com/go.php?xbox+360+GTA4

The xbox+360+GTA4 part is the product you are searching for. Just change it to what you want to search for, separated by + and the script will do the rest.

The link will send the user to their nearest eBay store and show them a search result for "xbox 360 GTA4".

Custom CustomID field

The eBay partner network has a method of allowing you to track where your customers come from by using a field called CustomID. By default, the eBay Geotargetted Link Script takes the URL of the page that the link was clicked on, takes out the messy HTML code and tags and inserts that as the CustomID - up to a maximum of 256 characters.

If you want to use your own CustomID field instead of the referring URL, you can manually enter that information into the go.php file too.

Extending the script further

If you are comfortable with editing your .htaccess file on your hosting provider, you can add this line to further extend the capability of this script:

RewriteRule ^go/([^/]+)?$         go.php?$1 [QSA,L]

This means that any requests to http://www.yourdomain.com/go will be sent to the go.php file, along with the search parameters too. Heres the same Xbox 360 example we used earlier, but with the .htaccess method turned on:

http://www.mydomain.com/go/xbox+360+GTA4

My script even recognizes the need for SEO friendly URLs, so the following link will work too:

http://www.mydomain.com/go/xbox-360-GTA4

You can also rename the go.php to what ever you want! Make the relevant name changes to the line in the .htaccess too (if you want to use that method) and the go.php script becomes something more powerful and unique to your site:

http://www.mydomain.com/shop/xbox-360-GTA4

(file renamed to shop.php and .htaccess method with friendly URLs)

http://www.mydomain.com/recommends.php?xbox+360+GTA4

(file renamed to recommends.php and not using the .htaccess method)

http://www.mydomain.com/link/xbox+360+GTA4

(file renamed to link.php and using the .htaccess method)

For these examples, we would need to change the .htaccess as follows:

RewriteRule ^shop/([^/]+)?$         shop.php?$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^link/([^/]+)?$         link.php?$1 [QSA,L]

Installation

1. You will need a host that supports PHP and you will also need FTP access to your domain to upload the file.

2. Purchase the eBay Geotargetted Link Script

3. Unzip and upload the 3 files via FTP to the root of your domain or blog:

go.php
geoip.inc
GeoIP.dat

4. Open the go.php file in a text editor and enter your 10 digit eBay Partner Network campaign ID into the line as follows:

$campid = "1234567890";

5. If you want to add your own customID, enter it between the quotes in the line as follows:

$customid = "";

See above for more information on the CustomID field and its usage.

6. Save the file - and start linking!

This script works great with the WordPress aLinks plugin by the way! (The aLinks plugin developers site is down at the moment, but you can grab the plugin here).

Testing

The eBay Geotargetted link script also allows you to perform testing and debugging too so you can make sure that it is going to do what you want.

To enable this, edit the go.php file and change the line as follows from a 0 to a 1:

$debug = 0;

Save the file and test a link and you will be shown a page similar to the following, showing debug information:

eBay Linking Script

You are from GB - Therefore I am sending to you eBay GB

And am using this link: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?type=3&campid=1234567890
&toolid=10001&customid=xbox-360-page&ext=xbox+360+gtaIV&satitle=xbox+360+gtaIV

Multiple Scripts

You can also run multiple scripts on your site if you need to use more than one eBay Partner Network campaign ID.

Just save the file as something else and change the script accordingly.

This would be a good way to perform "split testing" or have a site where more than one author could link to eBay using their own Campaign ID.

BUY!

This script is available to buy for the amazing price of only $9.99!

Build A Niche Store (BANS) is a software product that allows you to easily create an online store providing affiliate links to products from eBay.  BANS sites are often referred to as "Niche Stores" as they target a small subset of items from eBay rather than an entire market.

An example of this would be a site that sells "pink ipod cases" rather than just "ipods".

How does it work?

When a visiting customer to your site clicks through to eBay, a cookie is dropped onto their PC and anything they buy from eBay in the next 7 days gets attributed to you and eBay credit you with a proportion of their fees for the sales.

eBay also give bonuses for signing up new users who register from your website and then confirm their new account via the automated email eBay send them.  This bonus can be as high as $25 per signup.

How do I use BANS?

To set up a store using the BANS software, you will need to obtain several things:

1. An account with the eBay Partner Network (EPN).
2. Purchase the BANS software.
3. Have web hosting capable of hosting a PHP and MySQL site.
4. Have the ability to complete analysis and research of your chosen "niche".
5. Have the time to commit to the maintenance and development of the BANS site.

Common Misconceptions

BANS is not a "set and forget" site.
Google loves sites that are crawling with unique information and quality articles.  If you install BANS "out of the box" and do nothing to make your site unique, informative or "value adding" to your niche market, Google will drop you from their indexes.

BANS does involve work.
Working with the BANS software is a dream and it makes the setup of the store a breeze, but there is more to it than that.  You need to be able to commit time to promoting the site through internet marketing techniques, writing pages of information, getting quality back links and directory submissions.

I would expect 1 BANS store to take at least 1 hour of work per day to slowly become profitable.
This hour would need to continue even after the store has become profitable.

eBay and Google can kill your site - dead.
There has recently been a tide of account terminations from the eBay Partner Network initiated by them in a drive to weed out "bad affiliates" and sites that send them "low quality visitors".  There are many possible pitfalls to setting up a BANS store and being dropped by eBay is just one of the ways your store could come to a prompt close - possibly through no action of your own.  Being de-indexed from the Google results also makes your store somewhat invisible to searchers - unless they use alternatives such as Yahoo or Live.com.

Research, research, research!
People who buy BANS expect to be able to create a site in 10 minutes that sells the latest games console or MP3 player and then get tons of visitors within hours who will buy through them.

This is the most common pitfall of the 1st time BANS user.

If you created a BANS site that sold iPods, then you will be competing with the other 371 million pages on Google that also feature the word "ipod".  And how many of them do you think sell iPods?  Lots.

To succeed with BANS, you need to be able to grasp the concepts of keyword research to find out what people are looking for.  You also need to know which products sell and what people are actually typing into search engines to find them.  Be prepared to learn as much as you can about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and keep abreast of the latest internet marketing techniques.

What to do next.

Firstly, and if you are serious about starting using BANS as a way of making money online - I would get yourself a website and set it up with WordPress.

Secondly, I would start writing about something you love - a hobby or something you are passionate about.  But also think of how you could make money from that passion too.  Are you interested in Stamp Collecting?  If so, an enthusiastic blog written about the subject could drive sales of stamps, albums and books.  If you are passionate about Mustang Cars then you may be looking to link people to sales of those cars, car parts or modifications on eBay.

Also, it's easier to write about things you know and love.

• Write for your visitors.
• Give them information and advice.
• Respond to any comments and questions.
• Drive people to your site who are looking for that information or product.

Thirdly, and once you have your site up and running and are starting to get visitors and searches from Google, apply to the eBay Partner Network and list your site as part of your application.  It's certain to "grease the wheels" and speed through your submission to acceptance.

If eBay do not accept your application, there are other affiliate networks available you can join, but ones that do not work with the BANS software:

• TradeDoubler
• PepperJamNetwork
• ClickBank

Sites like these will help you hook up with other affiliate deals related to your website.

Sign up for the PepperJam Network and get a $10 sign on bonus

eBay accepted me!  What's next?

Well done!  You are on the way to making money online as an affiliate marketer.

Head over to the Build A Niche Store website and purchase your copy of the BANS software.

I strongly recommend using Dreamhost as your hosting provider.  I have used them for several years and have had no issues with either WordPress or BANS running.  Hostgator, as recommended by the BANS owners often gets blocked by eBay and looses people money in the process!

• Read the BANS manual!  it will tell you all you need to know to get started with BANS.
• Join the BANS Forum where you can get help from established BANS users - some of whom are making 1000s a month from BANS.
• Hook up with Soggy at his website and purchase the combined BANS and WordPress templates that will allow you to easily link your existing website we talked about earlier with the BANS software.
• Make money!

Once you have cracked your first store and are making money from it, replicate the same principles and make another - and another!  Then you will be making three times the amount.