Starting today, get ready to pay more for products on Flipkart

The logo of country’s largest online marketplace Flipkart is seen on a building in Bengaluru.(Reuters File Photo)

---

Beginning Wednesday, a number of products sold on Flipkart will be 15% to 20% more expensive compared to rivals, including Snapdeal, Amazon and Paytm.

This is because in the second phase of #OnlineDharna (or protest), eSeller Suraksha, a forum for merchants selling on e-commerce websites and apps, has asked its 1,574 members to raise prices of products on India’s largest e-commerce website.

The protest is for Flipkart’s revised fee structure and return charges. The e-tailer recently reduced the period for returns on products (electronics, smartphones and books) from 30 days to 10 days. It also increased the commission it charges from sellers by 10% to 40%, and said sellers will have to pay for shipping costs in case of returns.

In the first phase of the protest, sellers at eSeller Suraksha took out a million stock-keeping-units from Flipkart.

But, the e-commerce major remained unnerved, said Sanjay Thakur, president of eSeller Suraksha. “Flipkart told us that they were running in losses and now looking to establish a profitable business.”

Sellers said the revision will have an adverse impact on their business. “There are only two options — either quit Flipkart and shift to other e-commerce businesses, or increase the prices of products,” said Thakur.

According to eSeller Suraksha’s calculations, there will be also be a 200% to 300% increase in fixed fee (paid for every processed transaction). Returns would cost a seller Rs 108.9-197.45 for a product worth Rs 600 and having a shipping weight of 400 grams.

A Snapdeal spokesperson has said that the online marketplace is not looking to change the fee structure or return policy. (REUTERS File Photo)

Returns itself, sellers said, will squeeze profits out of the business. For example, if a seller has paid a shipping charge of Rs 50, it will have to pay Rs 60 (1.2 times) if a return is placed and another Rs 50 for a reorder — a total of Rs 160, against the earlier Rs 50.

Sellers not associated with forums, too, are unhappy. “Returns in fashion category are high. We won’t make money even with 30% gross margins. The only option is to increase prices of products on Flipkart to sustain,” said a woman seller on Flipkart, based in Gurgaon.

Another seller said he has stopped selling on Flipkart. “They keep changing policies – I can’t run my business like this.”

“The no questions asked return policy was such a big burden, already. The company is pleasing buyers and is penalising sellers for returns even without their fault,” he added.

“We had approached Flipkart in April to discuss pain points of sellers,” All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) told HT in an email reply. “They were not interested, and are not even ready to negotiate with us… Binny Bansal seems to be busier than Jayant Sinha whom we met last week.”

Meanwhile, on June 17, Amazon lowered commissions by 20% to 58% — lowest for electronic devices and highest for movies, allowing sellers to offer products at a lower cost. “The seller forum is thankful to Amazon — a lot of our sellers don’t even want to increase the prices of the goods of Flipkart — they just want to shift their inventory to other platforms,” said Thakur.

Amazon did not respond to HT’s requests for comments.

A Snapdeal spokesperson said it was not looking to change the fee structure or return policy.

20 reliable CPM ad networks

You are probably here because you want to make more from your website. If you analyze the traffic, you will find that most the visitors are coming from search engines and around 10% are from other sources. Organic traffic, i.e. visitors from search engine converts well to cost per click advertising. But what about returning visitors, they are not going to click on your ads again and again. Here comes the role of CPM (Cost per thousand impressions) ad network. You get paid for each ad view whether visitor click on them or not.

Now you might be wondering how much you can earn?
That’s depend on how much traffic you are getting + Location of visitors. You can earn more if you target U.S, Canada, U.K, Australia audience. However, on an average they pay you around $2-3 per thousand impressions. You can add them on leaderboard, footer or at any position where click through rate is too low.
So if you want to increase your revenue choose any one or more from 10 Highest Paying CPM ad Networks:-

10. Adtegrity

Requirement: 500,000 views per month and 50% of traffic should be from U.S
Approval Chances: Low
Minimum Payout: Not specified
Payment Method: Check, Paypal, EFT

Adtegrity is providing customized, responsive advertising solution for agencies, marketers, and brands since 1999. They never accept affiliates, referral, adult and low quality site.
Sign up

9. Epom

Requirement: 500,000 Unique visitors/Month
Approval Chances: Medium
Minimum Payout: $100
Payment Method: Check and PayPal

Epom allows you to display targeted ads on your blog, website, mobile site and app. They usually take 2 days to review your website after submission and currently they are not accepting any adult site.
Sign Up

8. eDomz

Requirement: 5,000 Unique visitors/Month
Approval Chances: Medium
Minimum Payout: $5
Payment Method: PayPal

eDomz has banner, popup and popunder ads from the leading Brands all over the world since 2005. Also, get 20% commission on referring publisher to edomz. Payout duration is 15 days.
Sign up

7. ValueClick Media

Requirement: 3,000 Unique visitors/Month
Approval Chances: High
Minimum Payout: $25
Payment Method: PayPal, Check, EFT

ValueClick Media provides full control over your ads along with quality advertising and publisher support. They are not accepting any free hosted websites.
Sign up

6. CPX Interactive

Requirement: 10,000 Unique visitors/Month
Approval Chances: Medium
Minimum Payout: $100
Payment Method: PayPal, Check, EFT

CPX Interactive is one of the fastest growing U.S advertising companies with over a decade of experience. Their workers are highly qualified and the best thing about them is they provide true scalability and transparency.
Sign up

5. Technorati Media

Requirement: 10,000 Unique visitors/Month
Approval Chances: Medium
Minimum Payout: $50
Payment Method: PayPal, Check

Technorati Media looks at various factors such as visitor behavior, content category, uniqueness of content, social presence and much more before approving your website. They have a tie up with numerous popular companies including Google, Media.net, Tribal Fusion, Washington Post, IGN, CNET etc.
Sign up

4. Casale Media

Requirement: 50,000 Unique visitors/Month
Approval Chances: Medium
Minimum Payout: $50
Payment Method: PayPal, Check

Casale offers high CPM and 70% revenue to publishers. They serve rich media and standard advertisement up to 99.9 percent of fill rate.
Sign up

3. Burst Media

Requirement: 10,000 Unique visitors/Month
Approval Chances: Medium
Minimum Payout: $50
Payment Method: PayPal, Check, EFT

Burst Media gives you full control over advertisement i.e. it is up to you which category ads you want to display on website and which one to exclude. Along with quality your website structure should be good enough to get approved.
Sign up

2. Advertising

Requirement: Site needs a huge traffic base
Approval Chances: Low
Minimum Payout: $25
Payment Method: Check

Advertising is part of AOL which pays high CPM rates. The ads displayed on the page are relevant to the content as well as responsive. The company has a decade of experience in maintaining their services with thousands of customers, so it’s pretty obvious that they can help you to get the most from your website.
Sign up

1. Tribal Fusion

Also read: Highest Paying Google Adsense Alternatives

Requirement: 500,000 Unique visitors/Month
Approval Chances: Low
Minimum Payout: $50
Payment Method: PayPal, Check

Tribal Fusion is most popular CPM ad network who shares 55% of revenue with their publishers. They approve websites with a top level domain URL, fresh contents, professional and attractive design.
Sign up

Few more popular CPM network to try

 11. Bannerconnect

Bannerconnect is an ad trading business since 2004. They didn’t only provide ads but also offers the exact profile you demand on various scales. Their infrastructure uses the most powerful data processing system available in the market and links it to AppNexus in order to provide you valuable information.

12. Axill

Axill is the fastest growing publisher network that provides lucrative offers to publishers who are generating thousands of visitors on a daily basis. It helps publishers to earn more based on the ads displayed. They offer fast payout and you can select branding or performance network while signing up.

13. Clove Network

Clove Network serves the right companion to the right audience at right time. They offer various range of ad formats, flexible payment terms and transparent pricing model. Moreover, they have tier one brand advertisers, so you can expect good CPM and CPC rate.

14. PulsePoint

PulsePoint is growing advertising technology platform that offers service to medium as well as small publishers. There is no minimum traffic requirement, so you can apply the website having less traffic. The minimum payout is $50 which will be transferred to you via PayPal. They also allow you to set your own price of every impression that goes to bid, so that you can earn 100% of all impression sold.

15. Sovrn

Sovrn helps you to convert your readers into money. They review each publisher’s website manually. Still, getting approved is not a very difficult task if you have a website with 30-40 articles. Along with the contextual advertising, they provide analytic tool that will tell you how much time people are spending on your website, where they are clicking, where they came from and much more.

16. Conversant

Conversant Media has invested around a billion dollar to create the first comprehensive personalized marketing platform. They work with more than 5,000 leading brands, so you can expect 100% fill rate and decent CPM rate. The ads provided by them are fully responsive you will get paid for every single view.

17. Adcash

Turn your ad inventory into more revenue with Adcash. Currently they have around 1000 ad campaigns and can target the most relevant to your audience. Adcash provides real time reporting and 30 days threshold payment, via PayPal, Skrill, Webmoney or Bank wire. The minimum payout is 100 Euro.

18. Ads4Game

Ads4Game provides CPC, CPM and in-game ads in various unique formats. It automatically detects the best performing ads and prioritizes them to improve your earnings. They provide real time stats and the minimum payout is $50 transferred through PayPal, EFT or Check. This is the best option if you have website related to the gaming world.

19. PopCash

PopCash provides pop-under ads and the best thing is the ad will be shown only once in a 24 hour time frame. So your readers won’t get disturbed each time they visit. There is no minimum requirement, all websites are accepted and the minimum payout is only $10, transferred via PayPal, Payza or Paxum.

20. Gunggo

Gunggo provides global ad inventory coverage and primarily focused on pop-up ads. They have incorporated with various direct advertisers, Ad exchanges and agencies. It’s worth giving a try if your visitors are comfortable with pop-up ads. The minimum payout is $50, done through PayPal, Check or Wire transfer.

21. Qadabra

Qadabra is best for websites having fewer visitors. There is no minimum traffic requirement and your website will be approved within 4 days. The CPM rate is not high, you can earn around 0.5 to 1 dollar for thousand impressions. The minimum payout is only $1, transferred via PayPal or Payoneer.

Cost-effective production of hydrogen from natural resources

UNIST research team has developed a cost-effective and scalable technique for synthesizing SiNSs, using natural clay and salt. From left are Prof. Jae Sung Lee, Prof. Soojin Park, Doctoral researcher Jaegeon Ryu of UNIST, and Researcher Youn Jeong Jang of POSTECH. Credit: UNIST

Owing to their unbeatable electro-optical properties and compatibility with existing silicon technology, silicon nanosheets (SiNSs) are one of most exciting recent discoveries. They have been the most promising candidate for use in various applications, such as in the process of manufacturing semiconductors and producing hydrogen.

A joint research team, led by Prof. Jae Sung Lee and Prof. Soojin Park of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST, South Korea has developed a cost-effective and scalable technique for synthesizing SiNSs, using natural clay and salt. Through this research, UNIST has taken a major step towards mass production of this ground-breaking material with relatively low cost.

In their study, published in the current edition ofNPG Asia Materials, the research team reported an all-in-one strategy for the synthesis of high-purity SiNSs through the high-temperature molten salt (for example, NaCl)-induced exfoliation and simultaneous chemical reduction of natural clays.

According to the team, these newly synthesized Si nanosheets are key components in the production of ever smaller electronic devices due to their ultrathin (thickness of ~5nm) body. Prof. Park states, "As the electrical and electronic devices are getting smaller and smaller, there is a great demand for manufacturing their individual componants to be nanoscale." He continues, "Our new technique uses inexpensive natural clays and salt for preparing high-quality nanosheets, thereby cutting down production costs greatly."

"Through the simultaneous molten-salt-induced exfoliation and chemical reduction of natural clay, both the salt and clay start to melt at a reaction temperature, ranging from 550°C to 700°C. The molten salt is, then, dissolved in the clay layers and disintegrated into individual nanosheets," said Mr. Jaegeon Ryu, a doctoral researcher in Prof. Soojin Park's lab and the first author of the study. He continues, "Using the metallothermic reduction, metallic oxides inside clays can be exchanged with silicon."

The team reports that these nanosheets have a high surface area and contain mesoporous structures derived from the oxygen vacancies in the clay. They add, "These advantages make the nanosheets a highly suitable photocatalyst with an exceptionally high activity for the generation of hydrogen from a water-methanol mixture."

Provided by: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology