Niche of the Week: Toy Collectible Affiliate Programs

I did a post on toy affiliate programs a few Decembers ago, and this week's niche on toy collectible affiliate programs is an offshoot of that post. The toy post from December 2013 is definitely for the kids. This week's toy post is for the "bigger" kids and kids-at-heart. :)

It's the perfect time too, being the holiday season and all.

You may not be into toy collectibles and action figures, but I encourage you to read through just the same, to find out whether you can make good money from it. And if this Niche of the Week post does not make you want to go into the toy collectible niche; it's fine. At the very least, you'll find a few good websites where you can buy toys and other collectibles for your kids, both big and small.

No Mere Playthings

The toy collectible niche may be mostly miniatures, but the industry is a huge earner.

Action figures and toy collectibles make up a huge part of the toy industry. The Toy Industry Association reports that action figures sales totaled USD$1.44 billion in 2015. This is possibly because toy collectibles — action figures in particular — are popular with the young and not-so-young alike. Adult collectors are capable of paying a lot more than their younger counterparts for premium action figures and toy collectibles, which explains the massive sales to some extent.

Collectors don't just buy from any online store promising them the toy of their dreams. They scour the web for reviews and great deals. This need for information has given rise to toy collectible websites such as Collector's Weekly and AwesomeToyBlog.com. Both are popular sites, but Collector's Weekly has a million visitors a month, the bulk of which come from the United States.

These websites took the time to build a strong following in the toy collectible niche. Any website built for this niche will have to be similar in nature. A squeeze-page only website will not work well, because information is the lifeblood of the business.

"Collect"-ible Keywords

There's a long list of keywords to choose from in the toy collectible niche, but that doesn't make it easy to collect keywords for your list.

The main keywords to target in the toy collectible niche are "toy collectible" and "action figures." "Toy collectible" and all its variations have medium to high competition. Traffic Travis shows that the monthly global figures vary, depending on the specific toy collectible you're interested in.

The search results for the same keyword, "action figures," are the same for AffiloTools. The monthly search figures are lower though, with a higher competition for most variations.

"Action figures" is similar to "toy collectible" in that it has some variations with medium competition, but the more specific you make it ("Iron Man action figure" vs. the more generic "action figure"), the more difficult the competition. Some keyword variations have low monthly searches too, so make sure your keyword list a good balance of specific action figures and buyer intent phrases. Then add some general-information keywords such as "how to take care of your action figures" or "where to shop for toy collectibles."

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AffiloTools shows a similar trend. General-information keywords such as "best toys" have less competition, but the monthly search figures go down too.

UberSuggest is always a good site to hunt for keyword variations. I like to look at the search results because they give me an idea of topics I can write about in my niche.

Toy Collectible Affiliate Programs

These are the best affiliate programs in the toy collectible niche that we could find.

My first stop when searching for affiliate programs in any niche is the ClickBank Marketplace. But there were no toy collectible affiliate programs in there. So, I turned to the vast repository of information that is the internet for affiliate programs in this niche.

These are the best as far as commission, sales pages and websites are concerned. There are plenty more we haven't included that you can check out by doing a Google search. Be sure to look at the sales pages before selecting an affiliate program to promote. If you are not convinced or impressed enough that you want to buy, then your site visitors likely won't be either, when they land on the same sales page.

1. TFAW.com

Things From Another World (TWAW) doesn't just offer toy collectibles. The site has an extensive comic book and graphic novel collection, too.

How much can I make?
Commission is at 14% on both in-stock and pre-order merchandise. TFAW offers cash bonuses if you reach a certain amount of sales in a month, and the site has a 90-day return cookie. This means that you earn a commission for any purchase made by a returning customer who initially purchased through your link.

How do I apply?
For more information, visit the Affiliates page, but you need to be a ShareASale affiliate to promote the program.

2. Entertainment Earth

The tagline "Bring Hollywood Home" is a perfect match for this website, which sells action figures from popular comics, movies and TV series. It also has a wide range of cute collectibles and bobble heads.

How much can I make?
15% for each sale.

How do I apply?
Entertainment Earth manages its own affiliate program so you need to register as an affiliate through the Affiliates page.

3. Sideshow Collectibles

This toy collectible website offers high-quality collectible products. Most, if not all, the collectibles are handcrafted. Take a look at the details on this Kylo Ren toy collectible.

How much can I make?
5% commission on each sale. It doesn’t seem much, but collectibles on this website sell for more than USD $100 each.

How do I apply?
Sideshow Collectibles also manages its own affiliate program so you can register directly through the Affiliates page.

4. ThinkGeek

The tagline "Stuff for Smart Masses" is rightly put. ThinkGeek offers geeky electronics, apparel and home and office items on top of action figures and collectibles.

How much can I make?
9% per sale.

How do I apply?
You need to be a part of the Commission Junction network to join ThinkGeek’s affiliate program. Head on over to the Affiliates page for more information.

5. Cmd Store

Where ThinkGeek is everything "geek," CMDStore is strictly a toy collectible and action figure shop.

How much can I make?
12% commission, or 15% in-store credit for purchases through your affiliate link.

How do I apply?
The site manages its own affiliate program, so send an email or check the Affiliates page for more information.

6. Idcow.com

So far, the toy collectible affiliate programs I’ve featured all sell action figures. Idcow.com sells another kind of toy collectible: die-cast model cars and motorcycles.

The prices are a lot less than action figures, but these products definitely belong in the collectible category, and there's a healthy niche of collectors.

How much can I make?
10% for each sale.

How do I apply?
Idcow.com has an Affiliates page you can go to for more information. The site is a part of the Yahoo Affiliate Network, but you only need to send an email to register.

7. eBay Partner Network

eBay is like Amazon in that you can find practically anything in its marketplace, including toy collectibles. The major difference is that eBay is an auction site more than an online store. That said, you can expect collectors to look for rare items on eBay more than they do on Amazon.

How much can I make?
eBay has certified commissions and a rate card, but I can’t find either on the eBay Partner Network site.

The site has an earnings calculator on the home page, though. It seems you earn a bit of commission for every item sold, so 1 item may not amount to much, but that combined with a few more products can get you a good commission for a single sale, if not a single item.

How do I apply?
Visit the eBay Partner Network to register for the program, and get more information.

8. Amazon

As always, there's Amazon.com if any of the above affiliate programs don't work out for you. The commission isn't as high, but there is always the chance to earn more if the user purchasing through your link also buys other items.

How much can I make?
The commission can go up to 10% depending on the product purchased.

How do I apply?
You can sign up on the Amazon Associates page.

Light Up the Internet Sky With Your Website's Brand

Getting traffic to a website, in any niche, isn't child's play. Be like Batman: Be prepared. And have your own beacon to attract followers.

You might still be in the planning stages for your website, but that's no excuse not to come up with a link-building strategy. This doesn’t have to be written down in stone; an outline or rough draft will do. Having something to refer to when you need to drive traffic to the site helps you save time.

Below are some link-building methods you can try on your toy collectible site:

YouTube Marketing

YouTube is the third-biggest website in the world. It is one of the biggest search engines, too, so it pays to have videos ranking on YouTube.

You can create video reviews of popular action figures, or the latest best-selling graphic novels. Then, on the video description, you can place your affiliate link along with a link to the related page on your site.

You'll find plenty of tutorials to guide you through creating YouTube videos, like this one from Lifewire. If video creation is just not your thing, but you've got ideas, then you can go to Fiverr or Upwork and pay the pros to do it for you.

This shouldn't surprise you, but there are also tutorials on how to get traffic from your YouTube videos if you need even more assistance.

Pinterest

Always look for ways to promote your site through social media. Social media sites such as Pinterest have thousands of members who are constantly sharing information with each other. Take advantage of that by sharing images of your own action figure collection, or create a wishlist of action figures you'd like to collect, then share that on Pinterest.

Kissmetrics has an excellent guide on how you can promote your website on Pinterest.

You can also check out image-sharing sites such as Flickr and Photobucket. They also have their own communities that you can tap into.

Link Indexing

Always make it a point to ensure the search engines index any backlinks you create. There are several ways to do this: RSS, Ping, or Twitter.

Indexing your backlinks will not bring traffic to your website. But it does help draw the search engines to your website. Link indexing helps speed up SEO results by letting search engines know that you have all these backlinks pointing to your site.

Toy Collectible Affiliate Programs: Your Affiliate Marketing Superhero?

The toy collectible niche is a fun niche. But like any other business endeavor, it requires serious commitment and follow through.

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I like this niche. It's fun, it's interesting, and there's a big potential to earn, especially during gift-giving months, or right after a blockbuster movie franchise such as Superman or Star Wars releases a new film. The only downside is the competition. As I found out during keyword research, most keywords you'd target in this niche are high-competition keywords.

You can take the same route as One Per Case, a website that reviews action figures and collectibles (and incidentally, the source of my blog post's image. With permission.). You can also build a website on toys and have a section for toy collectibles. This way you have plenty of affiliate programs to choose from.

Competition is big in the toy collectible niche, so be ready with a link-building strategy to help you get started as soon as you finish your website.

I hope you enjoyed this week's Niche of the Week. Click on any of the share buttons below and share this post. I love hearing from you, so be sure to leave a comment or two!

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