Most of you who read my blog know what an information product is and because of that, you probably are quite aware of Clickbank, too.  Clickbank is kind of a haven for affiliate marketers and information product sellers alike.  Since we have been talking about merchant accounts lately, let’s focus on the merchant aspect of Clickbank…

Should you use Clickbank to sell your information product?

Pros:

• Easy to set up…approval within days
• No need to go through merchant account creation
• One-time set-up fee
• HUGE affiliate network to help promotion
• Most charging related issues (i.e., refunding, etc.) are managed by Clickbank and THEIR support team

Cons:

• High per product selling fees
• Must have 60 day return policy (usually results in higher return percentages)
• Limited on pricing limits
• For recurring fees (like memberships…)

• Initial price must be equal or higher than recurring price (no trial pricing)
• Again limited on pricing limits
• 60 day full money back return even on recurring orders(tough for membership sites!)

• Clickbank may remove your product at their discretion

As you can see above, you are sacrificing ease with control.  For most, this is quite acceptable.  Also understand that the affiliate network that it provides is one of the largest in the world (and joining other types of 3rd party networks can sometimes be expensive or non-effective).

Personally, I think it gets down to your needs.  If you can get away with the pricing limits, refund and marketing restrictions that Clickbank imposes on all of their merchants, using Clickbank is a great idea.  It is a low risk, low cost solution for those selling information products.  Of course, you can always upgrade to your own merchant account in the future.  But realize that most of the people who are successful (meaning 7 figure plus successful!) at selling products on Clickbank choose to stay for both the ease of management as well as the strong affiliate network that it can provide.

Click here to Learn More about Clickbank Merchanting