People always wonder how the operators of sites such as ShinyPlastic, Gizmodo, Engadget, coupon sites etc can afford the time and hosting fees to operate the sites.
Most of the time they try to cover the costs via using an affiliate link whenever they recommend or refer to a product. The way this works is that if you click on an affiliate link and buy the product the site owner gets a small percentage of the purchase price.
For example: If I find a great price on 1gb compactflash cards on Amazon... say $100 a card, I post on ShinyPlastic with a link to Amazon, and you click on the link and buy the card: you still pay $100 (it doesn't cost you any more) and I get about 5% or 5 bucks.
What is the point of this post: I am putting together a directory of online stores I like and most of them have affiliate programs, so if you want to support this site without it costing you anything bookmark the shopping directory and anytime you go to buy something online please visit the directory and click on the link to get to the store.
Thanks!
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