I have been looking around at different places at ad pricing. I am shocked at how many sites are underselling and wonder even how they even stay afloat.

Two things that bother me if selling ads for under cost and worse yet those who run to buy those ads.

I thought perhaps it was some did not understand how to calculate an ad price and thought a discussion on checking whether the pricing is substantial or not was in order?

I was looking at advertising on another forum for a new site today and was calculating pricing and was shocked to see ads being sold with guaranteed clicks for example a 1/10 Cent Email to 1000 for .75 cents. If you calculate this out 1/10 X 1000 would come out to be $1 and that is without referral earnings or any profit. I can understand a site with a special and having other advertising for more to make up the cost BUT this particular new site was running most of it's advertising pricing for less then cost.   How long will this site survive selling like this?

If a person cannot recoup the cost back to cover the cost of the ad and the referral percentage to members it won't for very long! Even more shocking is the site I was looking at which was new had an activity requirement of being 50% as active as your downline with only a 5% commission on referrals ugh...

How many would like to know how to calculate and to check site stats before joining? Any other suggestions for everyone to check before signing up at a site? What can we do as members and Program Owners to help members learn more about a site being stable?





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~Owner: PecoMail~Blog: Freebies and More~

I think that would be great.  That is something I didn't used to think about but I realize that it is something important to consider now.  Unfortunately I'm not a whiz at math but I might be able to get a general idea if I at least knew how to do it.





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Want a break from PTP/PTR? Check out TheUnKnownZone. You can even get your very own folder for almost any topic you want. http://theunknownzone.us/smf/index.php

I think it is a great idea.

I have looked at several sites and went "wow" because you know they wont stay afloat long.  And inevitably a few months later they are whining about not being able to pay.  Which makes me really want to smack someone with a stupid stick.  Sorry for the bluntness but it is how I feel about the whole mess.

Ive had folks complain about the pricing on Misha Mails both advertising and upgrades.  And I always end up telling them: "We haven't kept Misha Mails going this long for nothing, the pricing has to sustain the site."

Here is how I do it on site and the formula I use to calculate on sites I'm checking. I even have an excel worksheet set up to automatically do it for me when my calculator is not handy or I'm not in the mood to use windows calculator.  If anyone wants one, I can set one up for you with any info you would like on it.  Ive got some which are quite complex, but you just input the link value, ref percentage and the total they are selling for and it works out the rest automatically for you.

cost per click + ref percentage = link cost X amount of clicks = Basic ad cost

It also amazes me how many sites do not add for admin fees.  Admin fees do not have to be a lot. Just something on top to help cover some site running expenses.

Here is how I figured ads for our site.

link value + ref percentage = basic link cost X amount of clicks = basic ad cost + 25% = total ad cost + Admin fee
.0025 + 15% = .002875 X 100 = .2875 + 25% = .359375 (.36) (as you see the admin fee is less than a dime on this ad. not a lot but still something on top to help cover running costs like hosting.)

As there is ref earnings on every click, that is why I figure the ref % in first. It ensures every click is covered.

Hope I havent confused anyone or gone too far.  Just trying to share how I run the figures.  

There used to be a calculator running around out there that was web based.  It is ok for basics but I found it to come up with errors from time to time.





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There are always some, whom you can never let go of. Do you remember them justly or do you degrade their memory?

Hi there,

  I am glad that finally someone has explained how to do the ad pricing.

  I have belonged to some sites in the past that I knew would not be around for very long

  because there pricing was way too low and they did not pay their members they just

  went bye bye...

 Thanks for the Information...it is really Appreciated.

Marcyaz





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Have a Happy Day/Evening..

I am sure some of you know about checking with the cash crusader script on the site stats and referral earnings. But if you don't you can check info on if a site is legit, the referral earnings and activity level by going to:

This page will give you the last backup
Commission settings for Points and Cash
Activity level. ie how often to stay active (how often you must login) and how active you must be to earn from your downline.
And Any Sales Commission a site might pay

http://www.siteurlhere.com/scripts/runner.php

Now why I bring this up is it has a lot to do withcalculating those ad prices. If the commissions are structured in tiers for instance the ad is going to have to be calculated by Number of members X cost + Referral earnings + overhead cost (this could include paypal fees or other overhead cost) + a percentage to go towards other overhead and profit. So when a site is underselling ads it leaves nothing to pay members with.

Lets bring up what Jade posted about a percentage towards hosting. One has to calculate hosting cost into this .. if you only figure a small percentage and sell enough ads you should be able to cover at least min of hosting monthly, and what about a small profit.. (now I have to laugh at times cause wth PTR unless a site is hauling in big bucks there isn't much of a profit) If I sell a .50 cent ad and say 45 cents of that is going to paying the members, hositing and referral earnings I made a profit of a whooping 5 cents .. I can take you all out to dinner now....

But to be serious here all members should take into consideration when pruchasing ads or joining a site these factors. If a site cant cover the cost of the ads then they cant long term pay the members.

And I know some will argue that banners, text links sponser ads dont cost anything. Wrong! They do cost bandwith on the server and if the server load increases so does the cost of hosting. So yes they do cost and many seem to forget to factor that in when selling those items.

I just am shocked at times that some come in with no idea .. The ads to me sometimes look like well so and so is selling them for x amount so geeee I can sell them for less. They are not considering long term.

Wouldn't members and sites be happier looking at long term? Or is it all about right now? A quick buck today?

Edited to add I skipped over explaining sites with multiple referral levels to calulate this you take all levels so for instance if a site has 4 levels of earning say 10%, 5%, 5% and 2% you would add these up divide by 4 and use this amount as your referral earnings calculated into an ad. I dont want to confuse you all with the math on this but the point being I see many ads out there that don't even cover the cost of the ad to the member. How is one going to get paid if the site isn't bringing in enough to even cover the cost of the ad?





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~Owner: PecoMail~Blog: Freebies and More~

That's the first thing I do when reseaching a site. I use http://www.patricksears.com/calculators/adcalc.php and there's also one at http://www.gptboycott.com/sustainability/. If there are some better ones, let me know. OR, I could just do the math on my own lol.

One thing that I notice while reading various sustainability articles is clickthru rate. Now, it's all well and good if a site only has a clickthru of maybe 75% at best but I would think that it should be calculated as 100% all the time just to be on the safe side. What do you think?





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Polar ~ AdPaid ~ Aqua

Many sites don't have a CTR at 75% so it would depend on the site. Now if you are calculating guaranteed clicks then yes 100% should be used but average CTR is 50% and sometimes lower on a site. If a site is calculating 50% or higher along with the referral earnings and a percentage for themselves and the ad cost then they should be on the stable side but when a site is calculating with none of the above. And Yes I would love to calculate all ads on 100% but the truth is very few sites will give you 100% unless you are buying guaranteed clicks.





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~Owner: PecoMail~Blog: Freebies and More~