ClickbankAnyone who spends almost any amount of time working in the field of Internet marketing has heard of Clickbank. Along with Commission Junction and Linkshare, they are considered to be one of the top ways for people to earn money online. It also seems that everyone who has a product to sell in the make money online niche has a screen shot of their Clickbank page showing the millions of dollars they’re raking in after just 24 hours of almost no effort. But is it all fake?

Okay, Not Really Millions

Now, to be fair, I exaggerate somewhat – most of these people don’t claim to be raking in millions of dollars in 24 hours. However, I’ve seen more than enough videos from people who claim to be taking in thousands of dollars soon after launching a product that it’s important to debunk these guys. The reality is that while there probably are a handful of Clickbank affiliates who really do make $50,000 and more every single day, the vast, vast majority don’t make that much.

Photoshop

The first thing to keep in mind is that Photoshop is a truly remarkable tool. A skilled Photoshop user can take their $0.00 days on Clickbank and turn them into very convincing looking pages which include lots of eye popping numbers (ever notice how they all seem to claim that you can make an exact amount – like “find out how you can make $42,576.48 in just 21 days”).
Sadly, there are many charlatans in the world of making money online and they are not above lying about what they make in order to make a sale (which will in turn drive sales which really are $50,000 a day).

Cancellations

Another thing which these guys never tell you about is their cancellation rate. Clickbank requires a 60 day cancellation policy for all products they offer for sale. It’s part of the contact when you sign up to sell something on the site.
I myself have seen hundreds of dollars of sales disappear because people made a purchase and then cancelled a few days or weeks later. If it weren’t for those cancellations, my Clickbank page would list over $1,000 in sales. Instead, it’s less than $300 for 3 months of effort, putting links on various websites.
Now to be fair, I don’t earn my living from Clickbank. I earn my living writing content and so I simply include my affiliate link whenever I happen to be reviewing a product for a website I write for (I write for nearly a dozen sites). However, if I’m seeing plenty of cancellations and refunds, you can bet that these people claiming $50,000 days are seeing plenty of cancellations too.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is this: the make money online niche is filled with hype and exuberance. Yes, it really is possible to make millions of dollars online and to become incredibly wealthy. However, you should never just believe someone who says they make $50,000 a day on Clickbank just because they say they do. Instead, simply evaluate the products they offer for sale and decide for yourself if it’s really going to make you money or not.