While gambling is under pressure and new rules are being enacted, other verticals are returning to service. For example, the “evergreen” niche of white hat products, which includes items such as massagers, fishing tackle, tactical pants, face lotions, skin care products, and teddy bears, has plenty of room for both newbie and professional webmasters. We have created this article using analytics and data from our internal media buying department. This is not an instruction, but rather a brief guide to the product vertical, including how it is performing currently, where it is being offered, and on what platforms.

So, what is arbitrage on goods? In simple terms, it involves accepting an offer from an affiliate program and promoting it in one’s own sources. The term “goods” is often used interchangeably with what was previously referred to as nutra-offers in the “beauty and health” category. Essentially, any offer in the PP that can be placed in a box and mailed to the customer can be considered a white hat product. It is not necessary to purchase the product oneself to engage in arbitrage.

There are two types of offers in the affiliate marketing business: white and gray. White hat arbitrage offers have a lower chance of being prohibited at the launch stage, whereas gray offers are more difficult to promote as they require additional skills such as evading censorship or cloaking, generating creatives that a social network or other source will overlook, and testing.

DirectAffiliate offers both nutra and white hat offers, and for a more profitable start, it is recommended to contact a personal manager.

Now that we have covered the basics, let’s move on to product offers.

Product Offers in 2021: Features to Look for

To avoid losing your budget, it is essential to learn about the differences between product offers, what features to look for, what the affiliate pays for, and what signs to consider when selecting a product offer.

Payment Types

Usually, arbitrageurs (especially beginners) are not concerned about how the product will reach the buyer. However, it is crucial to note that parting with money is always difficult, especially in remote purchases. Customers want their orders to arrive quickly, with a guarantee, and other benefits.

There are three types of payment for products:

• SS (Straight Sale) or payment on the site – when the buyer orders and pays for the goods directly on the site.
• COD (Cash on Delivery) – payment on delivery. In this version, the buyer pays for the goods upon receipt by mail.
• Trial or probes – a payment model where the affiliate receives money for the data that the user leaves in a special form on the site. The client does not pay anything initially; they send them a sample of the product for review and offer to buy the full version later.

Direct Affiliate operates on all these models.

Approval Rate

Approval rate is a figure that shows how many real orders users make and what percentage falls off at various funnel stages. For example, a user orders a massager and leaves a phone number, but they are called back only the next day. By that time, they might have forgotten about the order and changed their minds. Due to such situations and more, the rate of approval drops. You can use this indicator to understand how many real leads you will receive on average from a certain number of orders. At Direct Affiliate, our average offer approval rate is 60-65%, and we provide statistics for each specific offer. If you haven’t uploaded with us yet, it is better to consult your personal manager at the start.

Local Call Centers 

Having your own call center for order processing is great, but having a local call center is even better. Local call centers use native speakers to process orders. For example, if an affiliate is sending traffic to Sweden, they will communicate with clients by phone in their native language, taking into account language nuances. This has a positive effect on overall profit.

Direct Affiliate has local call centers for each GEO, even for exclusive offers. Speaking of which…

Exclusivity

Exclusive offers in affiliate programs are also worth considering. If a GEO like Norway or Sweden is available in only 2-3 affiliate programs, competition will be much lower than in more common GEOs like Spain, Italy or Portugal, which are available in almost every affiliate network. Therefore, we recommend paying attention to exclusive offers in affiliate programs, whether it’s a rare GEO or a product that has no analogues. DirectAffiliate has such exclusives: we offer rare GEOs like Scandinavia, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. And we also accept email traffic.  

Seasonality

The last thing we would like to focus on is the seasonality of offers. Some goods sell better in the spring, others before the New Year holidays, and others in the summer. If you are working in white hat arbitrage, it is important to be aware of these trends.

For example, after the New Year’s holiday, people often plan to start a “new life” and “lose weight by summer” to look good in a bathing suit or less clothes. Therefore, spring is the peak time for weight loss, exercise equipment, and similar offers. Before the New Year, various decorations and beauty products sell well, and during the coronavirus pandemic, masks and antiseptics were in high demand. The logic is clear. Seasonality and the hype surrounding a product can be tracked easily through Wordstat and Google Trends.

The Best Traffic Sources for 2023

Now that we’ve covered the offers, let’s move on to analyzing traffic sources. Let’s start with the more popular ones and move on to those that not everyone dares to use.

Traffic Arbitrage from Facebook to Product

Facebook remains the #1 traffic source for almost every vertical, including Product. However, there are some drawbacks, such as micro spends (when an account spends only a few dollars before getting banned), intense competition (arbitrage teams are prevalent in the product industry), and perpetual ban problems. Read our blog post to learn how to deal with micro spends. DirectAffiliate supports websites that are ready to work on Facebook, regardless of the circumstances.

Traffic Arbitrage from Teaser Networks to Products

Teaser grids are another classic arbitrage case. DirectAffiliate has a lot of experience with teaser traffic and can assure you that it is still possible to make significant money from it. However, dealing with bots, trackers, optimizing campaigns, and coming up with new creatives regularly are essential.

Traffic Arbitrage for Products from TikTok

To say that TikTok is growing quickly is an understatement. In terms of the amount of time each user spends on the platform each month, the social network has already surpassed Facebook. In terms of user numbers, TikTok has joined the “elite” – WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Chinese WeChat. TikTok has fewer restrictions, and video creators do well there. The white hat approach works well. Enjoy!

Traffic arbitrage from MyTarget to product

Little is said about MyTarget, but even experienced arbitrage teams use this source as an alternative to Facebook with reasonable traffic prices. Some affiliate programs also have agent cabinets – they help resolve any technical issues when launching advertising. For example, if your innocent creative was rejected, you cannot file a new one, but come to support and find out the real reason for the rejection.

Traffic arbitrage from Yandex.Zen to goods

Yandex.Zen, Yandex.Efir and everything else are excellent sources for white goods to start with little investment. Here, the affiliate only needs money for channels with the all tag – then everything depends on the articles and approaches. The disadvantages of Yandex.Zen are quite obvious – not all affiliate programs accept such traffic, articles are not always shot, Zen algorithms are updated every month and you have to look for new ways to get around the platform rules.

Cases for making money on goods

We will give some examples of our webmasters who are actively working with the “beauty and health” category.