I just spent my last two working days learning about and deploying both Azon Authority and Prosociate.
I found that it was a lot easier to just install the plugin and figure it out with Azon Authority than watch the hours of training videos. However, I did sit through all of them.
I was really confused. Then I went over and tried out Prosociate which costs less. I figured out how it works from their videos and tried it.
It appears that both pieces of software are VERY similar. There seems to be a common origin somewhere. (Developer maybe? )
I ran into some problems. One was that a product I wanted with a parent / child relationship on Amazon just could not be imported via prosociate. None of the child items could be uploaded with just the child ASINS. I used the parent ASIN and ended up with 1 listing with four variations.
I didn’t have this problem with Azon Authority. I was able to import my child ASINS by themselves. That was cool in comparison.
I settled on a woo commerce theme rather than using Azon’s theme. Azon Authority’s theme looks good, and it looks VERY customizable, but it seems like it takes a lot of work to configure and part of that work will be figuring out HOW to configure it. (Despite the extensive and long videos).
Both Prosociate and Azon Authority Have A Problem
When I clicked through a product and went to Amazon, everything was fine in the Chrome browser. However, when I used Opera I discovered that nothing was added to the cart. In other words, Amazon didn’t receive any ‘cart’ information from either pieces of software when using Opera.
With Chrome there were items in the cart when I clicked through.
So, if you are trying to sell items and someone is using Opera there may be a problem for you. In other words, you may lose out on any commissions. In addition, these were the only two browsers I tested. There may be problems with other browsers as well that I’m completely unaware of. This problem may have something to do with cookies. But, I’m not sure that is the problem.
In addition, if you are the product owner on Amazon and your customers see that page, they may just choose to use Amazon’s search bar and they might find your competitor’s product instead of yours! That would be a “Double Ouch!”.
Azon Authority Upsells
There are a number of upsells that Sean has when you try to buy Azon Authority. I ended up spending about $400 in the end. Was it worth it? I’m not sure. You definitely don’t need them to make the Azon plugin work for you. I don’t think the cloning thing is necessary unless you plan on building a LOT of sites. The only really interesting thing was the pro version of the editor. I’m not even sure I need that. So the extra money in the end, may not have been well spent.
In General
I’ve always had problems with affiliate programs. I have watched some very closely and there is nearly ALWAYS a loss of commissions one way or another. This problem with the Opera browser mentioned above is the latest example. So affiliate marketing is flawed in the first place.
Whether a merchant rips you off on purpose or by accident is another matter. I KNOW both cases occur. Anyway, that is another story. I wanted to give you information on both software items mentioned above.
Will I use them? I have no idea. I have a loose plan but it doesn’t really fit with my overall marketing strategy for my products. I can make it fit. But will it be worth it? I don’t want to redirect people to Amazon only to find there is ‘nothing’ in the cart and they just keep shopping on Amazon. I don’t know what the problem is with opera but it occurred on both pieces of software.
There is also something I consider a little dishonest about the Azon software. In between your site and Amazon there is a message that says ” we are searching for the best price for you”. Then, “We found it on Amazon”. Obviously, there is no other option being considered. I think there is some type of delay when using the API interface with Amazon and Azon Authority fills the gap with this message. I noticed a similar delay on prosociate but without the message.
Feel free to comment below. Basically, these experiments took two days of my time that I kind of wish had gone into something else. If the only productive thing that comes out of it is this blog post, so be it.
-David
PS: I’m not knocking either piece of software. I think they both CAN work for you. One is obviously cheaper. But, the other worked with the child ASINS (which I like better). If either software owner reads this, please don’t be offended. You can reach out to me if you wish to.
UPDATE: Upon further experimentation, I found this problem mentioned with Opera also happened in the Chrome browser – but only one time out of many tries. So, this problem is not isolated to just one browser. If either of the product owners would address this problem in the comments below, it would be very interesting. Please provide proof that you are the product owner though so that people won’t get confused by false information / people.