Tech Under 10 is an Amazon affiliate store that aggregates inexpensive gadgets. The creator posted on Reddit about launching the site and how well it’s done so far. Amusingly, he’s made almost $10 — $9.39 as of three hours ago — but I think he has the potential to make quite a bit more.
Tech Under 10’s primary assets are its memorable name and beautifully no-nonsense implementation:
I found the products very alluring when I was scrolling through the homepage, and I’m a vehemently anti-clutter, anti-buying-useless-stuff person, so that’s pretty impressive. (I just really want a moon light, okay?!)
Each of the product images links to Amazon. I almost wonder if this wouldn’t work better as a Tumblr account (still using the custom domain name, of course). There are Tumblr themes with a similar layout and design, and that version of the site would leverage Tumblr’s distribution network. On the other hand, then you’re dependent on a platform’s whims, which is never comfortable.
At first I was quite critical of the business concept — 10% of $8.50 or whatever is only $0.85, and you need a lot of those small purchases to add up to the endeavor being worth your time. But then someone in the comments reminded me that Amazon Associates cash out whenever a shopper who’s clicked on one of their links buys anything within twenty-four hours. That drives the potential earnings way up.
The creator said in his Reddit post:
“I’m launching reddit, Bing, Facebook and Google ads on June 1st. In addition, I’m creating a weekly newsletter, Instagram, and Facebook page. The delay gives me more time to add a few hundred new products. […] I’m coming up on 4,000 sessions, and 1,000 clicks on my site, with a 1.2% conversion rate. My main demographic is males 18-30 from the US. Reddit’s proven that there is a market for my site, and I’d love the chance to compete with the big niche sites out there.”
1.2% is a pretty decent conversion rate. And I really like the guy’s attitude — he had an idea, he executed a minimum viable product, and now he’s spreading the word in a likable and enthusiastic way. Kudos.