How about an example? (Have you noticed how much I like examples?)
In my static affiliate campaign I can afford to bid about $.40-.50 cents per click. My average CPC is usually about $.38 but my max bid is a little above 50 cents. With this campaign I make decent money but have a hard time finding a lot of clicks. This campaign is always steady making about the same amount each month.
I have another affiliate who is always changing their payouts from 2%-5% depending on season and volume of inventory. I don't know that for a fact, but I can assume that when they have a lot of inventory in the warehouse they raise the profit percentage. When they are running low, they drop it down. Then during the Christmas season (busy time) they offer a slightly higher payout (probably because they have anticipated the rush and bought more product).
With this campaign I pay about $.08 per click during the 2% times and about $.20-.35 cents per click during the high seasons. But get this, my commission is almost always the same. Know why? Everyone else raises their bids when the commission payout goes up as well!
So it takes more work with the changing commissions, but if I want to make any money with this affiliate I constantly (monthly) adjust bid prices.
It takes some work, but that is the name of the game!
