<b>23% of qualified earnings came from items the visitor never clicked</b>

<b>23% of qualified earnings came from items the visitor never clicked</b>

The Associates 24-hour cookie pays you on the entire cart, not just the linked product. Pull your Bounty/Items report and split direct (the linked ASIN) from indirect (everything else bought in-window).

— Direct conversions: linked-item rate, usually 3-8%
— Indirect: random cart additions you get paid on for free
— Sample: n=11,300 orders, 90-day window, indirect = 23% of commission dollars

Niches with high cart-stacking (kitchen, baby, pet consumables) skew indirect higher; single-purchase electronics skew near zero.

<i>So what:</i> If you only optimize the linked product, you're blind to ~1/4 of your revenue. Track indirect share per category before you cut a 'low EPC' niche.