Do people actually buy ebooks?

[scotty M]

I signed up for clickbank, and I gotta say that I'm not real impressed. I'd guess that ~90% of the stuff on there is a total ripoff. I'm sure there are a few good ones, but the majority are pretty bad. There are just tons of overpriced ebooks and digital products. For example, paying a monthly subscription service for online tv. I'm sure some people have paid for it, but there are 50 ways to get the same thing for free.

Another example, an ebook about dog training for $40. Would I buy this from a completely unknown author, or would I buy a similar book off of amazon that has good user reviews and sells for $14? Or, would I take advantage of the tons of free resources on the net?

Another question, why do internet marketers insist on using the same cheesy sales letter look for every single product?

I've never bought anything from a site that looks like that.

Another example, a french course for $50. Sounds good. But all I know about the author is that he's smart enough to make a sales letter website. And when I type "learn French" into google, the first 5 websites are free online courses. So would I take advantage of the free resources, buy the unknown course, or buy a course with a proven track record of success?

Or say I want to learn poker.Would I rather buy "sit and go pro", an ebook on a sales site by some unknown author for $99, or would I rather buy HOH, SS2,Theory of Poker, and a maybe a couple other books by established authors for the same price?

I'm not seeing a whole lot of earning potential being a digital product affiliate. Seems to me if you want to make money teaching french, you should create a free site and adsense it. If you want to teach poker you should make it a content site with affiliate links, ect.

Does anyone make any money selling this clickbank stuff?

Thanks.

-Scott

[avfletch]

Those products are not being marketed at you. They are being marketed at the idiot masses. HOH offers to teach you poker, MY POKER EBOOK LOLZ guarantees you'll make thousands or your money back (which, by the way, the idiot masses wont' apply for even when the guide screws up).

As for all the sales pages looking the same. That's because it works! If you think you can do better, go for it. Find a better way to sell these things and sell the secret using your system, you really woul make thousands.

[Nato76]

[ QUOTE ]
Those products are not being marketed at you. They are being marketed at the idiot masses. HOH offers to teach you poker, MY POKER EBOOK LOLZ guarantees you'll make thousands or your money back (which, by the way, the idiot masses wont' apply for even when the guide screws up).

As for all the sales pages looking the same. That's because it works! If you think you can do better, go for it. Find a better way to sell these things and sell the secret using your system, you really woul make thousands.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are absolutely right. I make great money on clickbank and so do others. You just have to do some research and look for some good products to promote. Also those sales letters are cheesy looking but they work very well.

[jaym]

I thought the same thing about 3 weeks ago when I first found clickbank. I started looking at some of the products offered and couldn't figure out how anybody actually made money promoting them.

Just remember that the people you are marketing to are often complete idiots.

[lala]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought the same thing about 3 weeks ago when I first found clickbank. I started looking at some of the products offered and couldn't figure out how anybody actually made money promoting them.

Just remember that the people you are marketing to are often complete idiots.

[/ QUOTE ]

yep completely true. People buy all sorts of crap they don't use much but are persuaded easily.

[Nato76]

I wouldn't call them complete idiots. When my car breaks down I don't want to spend the time to fix it. I send it out to a mechanic that rapes me on the price to fix my car. My mechanic probably thinks I am a complete idiot for paying those ridiculous prices. I'm sure if I took the time I could fix it myself.

Same thing with some of these buyers. They will buy a guide that will save them time. Most people don't want to search on the internet for days when they can buy a guide that they can read in less than an hour.

[avfletch]

[ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't call them complete idiots. When my car breaks down I don't want to spend the time to fix it. I send it out to a mechanic that rapes me on the price to fix my car. My mechanic probably thinks I am a complete idiot for paying those ridiculous prices. I'm sure if I took the time I could fix it myself.

Same thing with some of these buyers. They will buy a guide that will save them time. Most people don't want to search on the internet for days when they can buy a guide that they can read in less than an hour.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a subtle difference though. The mechanic fixes your car, he's not just providing you with information about how to fix it that you then won't even read.

[Nato76]

Yeah. Bad example. I realized it after I typed it.

[john kane]

very very few.

I just looked on the UK ebay. One auction for an Poker ebook after 3-7 days (depending on how long it had been on for) had 8 views. Now given a) some of those would be himself b) one of those was me c) of the other few views its unlikely anyone would of bought it.

it was retailing in $$$ terms of around $4.

[jaym]

Keep in mind, we are not just talking about poker ebooks. There are ebooks written on just about every topic under the sun and people are around to buy them.