paying up for the forums

[Priscellie]

Ahhhh why did no one tell me this? I order my textbooks through amazon.com and they cost quite a bit, is the amount that goes to the site based on a percentage of how much is spent ?

I think that for books, it varies between 6 and 10%.  They have a complicated system of variables involved in determining the percentage.

[Priscellie]

Could it work for other countries? I preordered GS for Kindle, but I probably will be buying another ebooks.

As long as you're buying through Amazon.com, it should work.

[Priscellie]

this sounds realy neat, as I do buy stuff from amazon from time to tiem. it also sounds a bit on techy side. as a sugesting, would it be possibel to make a genric 'buy it from amazon thru us link'?

That's what our site store is!  Clicking on any item in the site store will take you to our "branded" Amazon page for that item.  My little tutorial only applies when you're buying an item not offered in our store, like some other author's book or a Blu-Ray player or a sweater set for your dog.

[Priscellie]

That would be very useful, since the process sounds complicated. And I'm not really that good with computers

In fact, it sounds a little complicated. I'll worry when I'll buy something, though.
But Duck's suggestion would be really useful, as many of us buy things in Amazon.

Complicated?  It's a single copy and paste function.   Grab the ASIN for the product you want and paste it into the "branded" URL generated by any item in our store.

[Ms Duck]

What Im sugesting is streamlining and advertising it a bit, outside this thread

like put a section area called 'buy thru us' with a stickied set of instructions, and a blank item order button they can just put the ISN in
 
then, considering how competive and geeky we forum types can be, maybe allow members who go thru this to have a $ beside their stars?

speaking as a buissinessperson, I bet you will double your regular intake if more folks than just the ones who happened to stumble on this thread down here in the bottom of the mods section were aware of how this can be done?

it pays to advertise 

[Dina]

I agree about the need of advertising!

[Glorificus]

Truly, what you need is a connection thru PayPal to eBay.

Big moolah would be yours!

[Phid]

*writes down notes*

[contraducktory]

In fact, it sounds a little complicated. I'll worry when I'll buy something, though.
But Duck's suggestion would be really useful, as many of us buy things in Amazon.

You guys buy stuff through a rain forest? I prefer to get mine from the antarctic circle myself, seems to be fresher coming from the cold climate.

anyway, Priscellie, you guys have anything like that for B&N?

[Priscellie]

You guys buy stuff through a rain forest? I prefer to get mine from the antarctic circle myself, seems to be fresher coming from the cold climate.

anyway, Priscellie, you guys have anything like that for B&N?

We get a residual when you buy from B&N through our store, but we don't have any magic code to apply to non-store stuff.

[lovejoy69]

1.  Go to the book/Kindle book/CD/electronic device/foot massager and scroll down to the "Product Details" section
2.  Copy the ASIN -- it should be something like "045146365X"
3.  Click on the Amazon link for any item in our store.
4.  Replace the numeric value in the URL with your item's ASIN:
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/045146365X/iagonet
5.  Go to that URL.  It should be identical to your item's product page, but the "iagonet" at the end is a tag that lets Amazon know we sent you.  Place your order from there.  You'll pay the same price as before, but Amazon will give us a small cut of the transaction.
6.  Bask in the knowledge that you're helping the boards stay alive and healthy!

We get a residual when you buy from B&N through our store, but we don't have any magic code to apply to non-store stuff.

Amazon.com and BN.com info is covered above, check.
Do Borders and, for that matter, the Shop Indie Bookstores links in the Store also pay referral compensation to jim-butcher.com or to jimbutcheronline.com?

For example, say that there's a Borders link for a particular item at jim-butcher.com/store.
- Is it solely Amazon and Barnes & Noble which actually help support the main site and forum site financially or do all four of the bookseller links do so?
- If the Borders or indies links do pay compensation, do all four linked booksellers pay roughly equivalently?
   Please understand, I'm not in any way trying to be improperly nosy. I don't want numbers at all.
   It's just that if I as a purchaser am choosing between the same item at close to the same price which is offered by more than one seller, then if I knew that Bookseller-A pays twice as much compensation to the site as does Bookseller-B or Bookseller-C, then I could make that one of the factors when I decide where to transact my purchase.
An answer of more, less, they're equal, or "that's none of your never-mind, that is our proprietary information and not for you to know" -- any of those would be completely up to you.

Thanks!  When I'm going to spend roughly x number of dollars on a purchase anyway, then it's advantageous to know whether one choice entails more overall benefits than another choice.

A reply in the thread or a personal message, whichever you may decide is appropriate, would be fine with me.
I didn't want to bother a mod or admin with my question, so here in the thread you have the choice to answer or not, whiatever you feel is best.  Thanks.

[Serack]

I wanted to point out that I bought the DFRPG even though I don't tabletop game because a) It looked like an awesome product and wanted another Dresden Files hit, and b) Since Fred Hicks (Iago, the owner of the forum) is the one that runs Evil Hat, the guys that made the DFRPG, I felt it was a pretty good way to help support the forums.

Heck maybe if enough sell it'll cover some daycare

[Shecky]

I didn't want to bother a mod or admin with my question, so here in the thread you have the choice to answer or not, whiatever you feel is best.  Thanks.

(Psst: 'Cellie IS a mod/admin. )

[Serack]

(Psst: 'Cellie IS a mod/admin. )

I think the idea is that she can ignore it at her leisure within the topic, whereas a PM might seem more urgent.

[Priscellie]

Amazon.com and BN.com info is covered above, check.
Do Borders and, for that matter, the Shop Indie Bookstores links in the Store also pay referral compensation to jim-butcher.com or to jimbutcheronline.com?

If so, it's negligible.  I think Booksense never paid out over the course of the several years we used 'em (save for a pittance right at the end), and I haven't heard Fred mention anything about profits from Borders or IndieBound.  B&N's affiliate program is maddeningly opaque.  Whenever he and I talk about the money he generates from the site store, it's always in terms of Amazon and CafePress. 

And hey, the greater number of sales of each item Jim's store gets from Amazon, the greater percentage we get in profit!  You can view the percentage breakdown here.  Say 300 people buy GHOST STORY through our affiliate link.  The book is about ten bucks on Amazon ($9.99), so at 7%, we'd get $210!  It all adds up beautifully.   I have no idea if that's anywhere near the numbers we see from the store (in fact, I'm pretty sure they're higher), but that's just an example. 

And never underestimate the value of appending the store-friendly identifier to other products not advertised in our store.  I know that in 2011 alone, I've spent nearly $100 in Amazon mp3 products, which are at a 10% fixed residual rate, so because I appended the identifier, $10 of that went to Fred.  When I bought my Blu-Ray player, $8 went to Fred.  Plus about $12 in residuals from everything else I've bought on Amazon since January.  $30 from ONE PERSON's Amazon spending!  Stuff I was planning to buy anyway is helping to pay for the website and Evie's daycare. 

If more forumites took the extra thirty seconds to append the store-friendly identifier to their purchases (as I detail here--I promise, it's less complicated than it looks!), things would bode very well for the site's future AND Evie and Hickslet mk 2's college funds.   It's better than any "Donate to keep the site alive" button, because it doesn't cost you a dime!