Diskprices.com makes $5k/month with affiliate marketing
An unstyled, spreadsheet-like site that compares hard drive prices is reportedly earning around $5,000 a month through Amazon affiliate links, prompting debate over what actually drives its success. Commenters largely praise its fast, focused interface and data-heavy filtering as superior to modern e‑commerce UX, while questioning whether SEO expertise, backlinks, and Amazon’s evolving affiliate policies are the real moat. The exchange highlights both the enduring value of simple, utility-first web tools and the nontrivial challenge of attracting traffic and staying compliant in affiliate marketing.
Overall reaction to diskprices.com
- Many commenters like the site’s simplicity: fast, focused, no clutter, no pop‑ups, and stable layout.
- Several see it as “ugly but functional” in a positive sense, comparing it to other utilitarian sites that prioritize data over aesthetics.
- Others argue the design is not just “good enough” but actually has excellent UX for its technical audience: powerful filtering, instant updates, and clear comparisons.
UX vs aesthetics and mobile experience
- Strong pushback against calling the site “disrespectful” to users; many feel the hosting platform of the article itself has worse UX due to paywalls and registration prompts.
- Distinction is repeatedly made between UX and visual polish; commenters insist that speed, clarity, and legibility matter more than modern “pretty” design.
- Some criticize the layout on smaller viewports: table pushed below filters, awkward on phones and tablets, needing landscape mode or zooming.
- Others counter that complex tables are inherently hard on small screens, and that this audience is likely on desktops at work anyway.
Traffic, SEO, and backlinks
- Several point out that the money comes not just from the page itself but from backlinks and search ranking.
- Some speculate that the creator has strong SEO experience or at least benefited from mentions on forums and HN.
- Others emphasize that many links appear “natural” because the site is genuinely useful; they argue great tools attract links organically over time.
- There’s debate between a “it’s all marketing/behind-the-scenes schemes” view and a “good, simple tools win on merit” view.
Affiliate marketing, Amazon policy, and APIs
- Commenters discuss whether the affiliate disclosure fully complies with Amazon and FTC rules; opinions differ.
- Multiple people report Amazon being strict or inconsistent about “thin” affiliate sites, and wonder why this one is allowed or if it’s grandfathered.
- Questions are raised about how the pricing data is obtained (API vs scraping); it’s noted that Amazon often shuts similar projects down, but specifics here are unclear.
Broader lessons and opportunities
- Many see this as a model of “ethical,” value-adding affiliate marketing: aggregation, normalization, and computed metrics like $/TB.
- Commenters suggest analogous opportunities for RAM, monitors, niche products, or other messy product categories where first-party stores have poor filtering.