E-junkie v Clickbank – Which is best for selling online goods?

by Ivan on September 11, 2011

Which is better for selling goods online?  Clickbank or eJunkie? You’ve probably heard of Clickbank, so why go with Ejunkie?

There are three ways to make money online. Products. Services. Advertising. The real money is in selling products. You own the product, make 100% of the sale, and can setup affiliate programs if you want. You can also create upsell opportunities with your newsletter. Sounds good?

So, how do you do it? I started with Clickbank. It’s very good, not perfect, for selling digital goods. I’ve used it for nine years and seen it improve dramatically. E-junkie is another site that lets you buy and sell digital goods online. Let’s compare them and see which is best.

clickbank-sell-digital-products-online

Why I like E-junkie to sell digital goods

E-junkie is less well-known than Clickbank but has some powerful tools for upselling, digital delivery and secure downloads. It’s not free but at 5 USD per month for 10 goods, it won’t break the bank.

  • Cost – It costs $5 dollars a month to sell 10 goods. The pricing structure is staggered depending on the number of products you sell and/or bandwidth you want.

ejunkie-sell-digital-goods-online

  • Quality – The quality of the information products and digital goods is high. The marketplace is smaller than Clickbank, I think. I stand corrected on this.
  • DeliveryDownloads are sent by email. With Clickbank, you have to create a web page where the customer goes to buy the product. Some customers don’t get it and expect an email with the digital good. Customer support can take time and time is money.
    ejunkie-sell-digital-products-online2
  • Affiliate – You can setup affiliate programs in a snap. Couldn’t be much easier.
  • Product Listing – you can add multiple digital products to its online marketplace. With Clickbank, you need to apply/create a master account and then link different accounts to each product. Takes time.
  • Guarantee – no guarantee. It’s up to you to resolve with the affiliate manager.
  • PayPal – integrates with PayPal, which also allows you to upsell digital productsl.
  • Upsell – it has a built-in tool that lets you create a shopping cart and upsell other products. Possibly the one reason to choose E-junkie over Clickbank.

Why I like Clickbank to sell digital goods

  • Cost – Clickbank is free!
  • Quality – The quality of the digital goods may not be as high. However, the range of products is larger.
  • Guarantee – you get a minimum 60 day guarantee on all products.
  • Affiliate – You can setup affiliate programs, add commissions and get tips in the affiliate newsletter.
  • Product Listing – you can add one core product to its marketplace. However, you can create a Master account and add different products. It’s doable but a little cumbersome.
    clickbank-sell-digital-goods-online Clickbank Analytics Page
  • Delivery – you have to create a web page where the customer goes to buy the product. Some customers don’t understand this and expect an email with the digital goods. Customer support can take time and time is money. Also, some close the download page and don’t receive the product, then request a refund. With E-junkie, they get an email with a link to the product. There is also a limit on the number of times/days they can attempt to download the product.
  • Upsell – Clickbank has a manual system that lets you upsell digital products. I got the PDF with instructions but never actually tried. Too much coding and testing involved. I want something that’s automated.
  • PayPal – integrates with PayPal and 2Checkout.
  • Shopping Cart - built-in shopping cart that helps upsell products and increase sales. You can do this manually on Clickbank (e.g. hardcode HTML pages) but if you change the prices, then you need to go back and manually change the web pages.

Which is best for selling digital goods?

  • While Clickbank is free, the five dollars for EJ shouldn’t stop you. Not if you’re serious about selling goods online.
  • Quality is hard to tell until you buy. Clickbank’s reputation is better than it was and they are trying to give extra support to power users. I have a dedicated Relationship Manager, for example.
  • Clickbank gives you a 60 day guarantee.
  • E-junkie is a little easier for setting up affiliate programs, especially as you can separate out different products. How sure how to do this with Clickbank, tbh.
  • Clickbank lets you add one core product to its Marketplace. You can apply for a Master account and add different products. With E-junkie the process is much simpler.
  • Delivery – Clickbank makes you create a web page for every product, which must be open 24*7. Security issues here. The link can also be passed around. Not ideal! Many customers expect email delivery. After the purchase, some close the browser and don’t receive the product – request refunds. E-junkie sends them an email with a link to the product. Limit on the number of times/days they can attempt to download it. You can update this.
  • E-junkie has a nice tool for creating a shopping cart and upselling.
  • Both integrate with PayPal.
  • E-junkie has a built-in shopping cart that links to PayPal. Great for upselling information products and long-tail products. You have to do this manually on Clickbank and if you change prices etc, then you need to locate, change and ftp the web pages.

Which do I use to sell digital products?

Both. I have so many products that moving them to E-junkie (mostly for the shopping cart feature) takes time. Some friends suggested that I use 1Shopping Cart to sell my digital products instead!

What do you suggest? Looking forward to hearing from you.

About the Author: Ivan Walsh is a recovering technical writer who develops internet business plans for savvy clients .He also shares business tips for smart people at Klariti.

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  • sunny

    tbh I like E-junkie as I using them for years. I tried Clickbank and 1Shopping cart also but they are too complex and E-junkie's customer support is better then other 2. What else you want… i you u are serious about your business then I personally suggest to go for E-junkie and stick with them…

  • Jennifer Baines

    I prefer ejunkie as I can send the goods by email. I don’t want to create a webpage for every information product I sell.

  • Tamara Keries

    1shoppingcart are new to me. Are they trustworthy? I never heard of them and odnt want to get ripped off.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    hey Sunny, ejunkie has impressed me, esp the digital delivery options. I also like that you can set the number of times someone can download the product and/or put a time limit on the sales page.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    1shoppingcart is very trustworthy! I've setup clients with them and never had a problem. But they are expensive, so this may not be the best options if you're starting out. there is a $3 trial you can sign up for it that helps.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    Hi Jennifer, Ejunkie has many time-savers compared to Clickbank. Sending goods via email is ideal for me. One of our clients has over 100 products. To do this by hand with Clickbank would take ages. With ej it’s a snap.

  • http://www.getonic.com Omri

    Hi Everybody,
    This is a very interesting article! On the same note I would like to expose you to a new platform that allows you to sell and distribute your/others digital goods online. GETONIC.com – is a new company with great future. You can
    My name is Omri and I would love to hear your thoughts about our site/platform?
    omri@getonic.com
    Looking forward

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    How does it differ from Clickbank or eJunkie?

  • http://www.getonic.com omri

    Hello Ivan,
    Thanks for showing interest 
    So to your question – In many ways,
    1) Each one can register and create a shop within 3 min
    2) The shop can be distributed via MySpace,Facebook,Twitter, Emails, Links and more in one click the buying process is directly from there and no need to go to a checkout point with paypal details, visa etc.
    3) The buying is by SMS – unified price world wide
    4) Each one can be an affiliate and get 50% of the sell
    5) Each flashy shop can get special preview fie, written description and more
    We are now open in Israel only, week time UK, then US and so on..
    Please register at http://www.getonic.com to check the system.
    Looking forward
    Omri

  • http://www.iomega-external-hard-drive.com/mac-powermac.htm Mac Powermac

    [...] E-junkie v Clickbank – Which is best for selling digital goods? | Internet Business Plan &#821… [...]

  • sunny

    I don't think shifting to someone new in business is a good idea…
    I prefer E-junkie and will stick as it is business and what all matter is money!
    You don't rely on freebies to stay in the business.
    Moreover, no doubt about the customer support E-junkie has provided to me.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    Hi Sunny,
    I wouldn’t be too hard on Omri. If it’s an alternative to ejunkie than let’s check it out.
    Saying that, maybe there are gaps in the market where other companies can look into.
    For example, I lose many sales every week from Africa and South America and most US credit card providers won’t accept them. Very frustrating.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    Hi Omri,
    The site looks more like it’s for ringtones and cell phones than buying/selling digital products. Have I missed something?

  • http://www.getonic.com Omri

    Hi Ivan,
    It looks like it but when you upload a file you can pick and category and upload any file type you wish. We are no operated in Israel, UK next and then US after that more and more countries will be open….

  • http://www.getonic.com omri

    Hello Sunny,
    I am not saying shifting I just want you guys “internet people” to check out platform, once it will be open WW then I am sure some of you can recommend it and even use it  it is really easy to use!
    Omri

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    Israel only for now, right? What currency does it support?

  • http://bigredtomatocompany.co.uk/2010/06/wednesday-wisdom-12/ Big Red Tomato Company » Wednesday Wisdom

    [...] Finally, some of you who have been reading my posts on how to write your ebook will have seen that I talk about E-Junkie as a shopping cart system, which I use to sell my products (as does Darren Rowse at Problogger). Ivan Walsh did a nice comparison between E-Junkie and Clickbank which you can read here. [...]

  • http://startups.com/ lesterpuppo

    Actually, I don't know much about neither one of them but I'd like to try them to see which one is the most useful one for business purposes. There must be one better than the other.

  • http://www.gerbera.org Gerbera.org

    I just want to offer products – as an affiliate – I don't produce any products myself (perhaps some day…). Signed up with CB and their support is just useless – only canned answers, might have to leave them as they don't support Paypal. Then signed up with e-Junkie, but less products and no guarantees. And Commission Junction (absurd support as well – you need to CALL them – anno 2010…) – haven't checked their products yet. My site is a niche (plant & landscaping) – monetizing (other than Google Adsense) so far has been a discouraging/cumbersome experience. Any suggestions/alternatives?

  • Susane

    Click bank is NOT free. they charge hell lot of money from you. They start by charging $49.95 in the very first approval of you product. Not only this they charge $2.50 processing charge for every payment that ClickBank issues to you. Go to this link to know in detail http://alturl.com/x2g4

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    You're right! I thought they'd done away with that.

    “For vendors that want to sell their products through ClickBank, we charge a one-time $49.95 activation charge that must be paid upon approval of your first product. Please note that this amount is only charged once your product is approved, so if ClickBank does not accept it for any reason, you will not pay anything.”

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    I use them both to be honest. EJ is probably fastest to setup a single product whereas with Clickbank you have to create a page for the download etc.
    Saying that shoemoney.com uses Clickbank
    Whereas
    Problogger.net uses EJ
    They’re as big as it gets so….

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    What you could do is read about how Clickbank’s Gravity and Popularity works and then cherry-pick the best products that relate to your area.
    http://www.ivanwalsh.com/clickbank/clickbank-gr

    What kind of problems were you having?

    PS – They do support PayPal.

  • http://andybeard.eu AndyBeard

    You totally missed out on some of the biggest differences

    1. The actual business model… who is making the sale
    2. What effect this might have if there were sudden fluctuations in revenue such as a product launch
    3. Paypal are so wonderful until you have them holding $50,000 for 6 months.. but you still have to pay your affiliates. Has never happened to me but totally destroyed a close friend after a successful product launch with happy customers.
    4. Who handles all the tax paperwork for affiliates?
    5. Who handles relationship with affiliates?
    6. SubID tracking?
    7. Real time API with the ability to push transaction notifications to both product owner and affiliate for bonus delivery?
    8. The number of affiliates and the affiliate tools available
    9. There are products that easy lintegrate with Clickbank for product delivery such as DLGuard
    10. If you want multiple products and to have more interaction with your affiliates, there is EasyClickmate

  • http://andybeard.eu AndyBeard

    You totally missed out on some of the biggest differences

    1. The actual business model… who is making the sale
    2. What effect this might have if there were sudden fluctuations in revenue such as a product launch
    3. Paypal are so wonderful until you have them holding $50,000 for 6 months.. but you still have to pay your affiliates. Has never happened to me but totally destroyed a close friend after a successful product launch with happy customers.
    4. Who handles all the tax paperwork for affiliates?
    5. Who handles relationship with affiliates?
    6. SubID tracking?
    7. Real time API with the ability to push transaction notifications to both product owner and affiliate for bonus delivery?
    8. The number of affiliates and the affiliate tools available
    9. There are products that easy lintegrate with Clickbank for product delivery such as DLGuard
    10. If you want multiple products and to have more interaction with your affiliates, there is EasyClickmate

  • Bryan

    Hey Ivan, I run BitBuffet.com which offers a service similar to Clickbank and e-Junkie (though much more simplified and streamlined IMO). If anyone is interested, I created a quick and dirty coupon good for three months and 50 uses: “ivanstheman!” without quotes. To use it, just sign up, log in and click “Extend Pro!”.

    I'd be very interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on our offering and how it compares to everyone else's, so drop me a line at 888-256-7365 or contact@bitbuffet.com.

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