I got a reduced hydro-explorer rocket kit from maplin today and decided to google it to see if I could find out a bit about it. This led to me finding out that Maplin has started offering ’affiliate’ online stores to website owners. I have found them on radioandtelly.co.uk, eleinmec.com, activedeal.co.uk, krs-electronics.co.uk, electronics2you.co.uk, rmcybernetics.com.
 These sites look very amateur, I wonder if they are getting a cut of Maplin’s sales that are routed through them? Are Maplin doing this to increase their web sales / hit rate, if so, it stinks.. Maybe I’ll get one, a nice little earner. UPDATE – yes, maplin do have an affiliate programme: http://www.webgains.com/signup.html?programid=214
 Back to the rocket, it is quite an interesting design, made from as many mass produced parts as possible – hosepipe connectors, a bit of bike handlebar, a bike brake lever and brake cable. We had a go with the rocket with three launches in the local park, the results we pretty unspectacular, with a strong hook and a strong slice. We think performance was bad because we didn’t put enough water in and the launchpad was a bit unstable. I was pumping the rocket up to 80psi, so I think air pressure was satisfactory.
From what I remember, my old Rokit bottle rocket kit performed much better, except its launch was unpredictable, although that did add to the fun!
I also noticed that Maplin have something called an ecatalogue from a link tucked in the corner of their website. It uses something called Activepoint Promotion ebook which works like a paper catalogue but online. I’m not convinced. It might be a cost effective way of putting a printed catalogue online with all its printing and formatting, but you can’t read the catalogue text in the normal view so I think it’s pretty pointless. When you hove over an item, it brings up a description in larger text, but the description isn’t as comprehensive as that in the catalogue itself, and, to me, it defeats the point of being able to see a whole page of products at once. It’s like needing a magnifying glass to read a catalogue, which, one day I may need, but until then I’ll avoid it.
Hi,
Yup Maplin do offer Affilliate schemes. The problem is that the options for utilising their massive catalog are quite limited. They provide a “web Builder” program that simply generates lots of pages for your site and includes your logo and a bit of text. This is what produces the very amateur look you see on krs-electronics.co.uk and electronics2you.co.uk. They are just trying the lazy mans way to make some money. I doubt it works too well.
The other option provided by Maplin is to use RSS feeds so that you can build a shop that will always be up to date and can be customised to look a bit nicer. The problem is that they don’t seem to use a standard RSS format so most feed readers and scripts will fail to work. eleinmec.com seems to have overcome this problem quite well.
For now I have chosen to just build custom HTML pages so that I can make categorys for the products that do not exist at Maplin. For example; I created a High Voltage page containing some of the products sold by Maplin that can be used to make High Voltage PSU’s or in HV experiments. I chose to do this because many of the projects in my “DIY Devices” section use such Maplin products. So I kinda hoped if people are gonna buy this stuff because they have seen it on my site, then why not make it easy to find and make a small comission in the process. It would be silly of me to generate sales for maplin and not ask them for money.
I agree that some of these site are pretty stinky. It just seems quite pointless to simply make a clone of the Maplin site and stick your logo on the top. There are a few like my site and eleinmec.com that use the affiliate scheme as an extra rather than the basis for an entire site.
Gotta agree on the Maplin ecatalogue too. Reall, what is the point in that?!
Check out the link below for something funy on the Maplin Site;
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=47399&criteria=High%20Power%20LEDS
In the High power LEDs section the FAQ is so stupid I can’t believe they put it on the web!
”
Q) What”s pin out please? – owen
A) positive leg to positive – negative leg to negative
”
How on earth does that help? lol. Ok the round one is marked but the T0220 style one is totaly un marked. I sent them a message asking if it were a joke, but they have not replied.
Regards,
Richard Morrow
http://www.rmcybernetics.com
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the comment, your site is very interesting.
Are you running it as a full time business with all the services you offer, and out of interest, what kind of revenue are you generating from maplin sales?
I hear you’re interested in HV, I used to work for a company that manufactured MV and HV test equipment, and did quite a bit of work in substations in London, which are fascinating places in their own right.
I also noticed you sell SEO services. I’m quite interested in SEO, but don’t claim to have anything but a basic understanding.
might drop in on your forums for a chat
Yes I am running a full time business, but I’ve only just started. I’ve been doing it in my spare time for a while, but people are liking the websites I’ve made for them so it seems as if i’m becoming a web designer. The Maplin affiliate scheme makes a minimal impact on my companys income, but I may as well get paid commission as I would be linking to them anyway. I’ve actually just updated it because lots of the prices changed and they dicontinued a few items. Thats the problem of not using the RSS feeds.
My official training is in Cybernetics (hence the domain name), which involves data, information, communication and control systems ranging from the internet to robots, and to some extent, physics & pschology.
I have been experimenting with a variety of high voltage devices recently. Its facinating to play with the streamers of a Tesla Coil. Small ones anyway
Big ones are loud and scary! HV DC is also interesting but mega dangerous, so I usually stick to low currents. Check the link below for some nice hi-res pics of HV experiments.
http://www.rmcybernetics.com/research/resonance/plasma.htm
SEO comes in many shapes and forms. Realy its something you can only learn from experience and careful monitoring of web site statistics and current technology. The web is a very dynamic environment so its very much about experimenting and constant learning and trying to predict trends. Its well worth getting into though if you have the time.
Regards,
Richard Morrow
http://www.rmcybernetics.com