You might have seen Benable online and thought, “Cool, I can make money by just recommending stuff I like.” That’s what it claims to offer, and yes, on paper it sounds appealing.
But as with many “make-money-online” platforms, the reality is more complicated. So, I decided to take a closer look and test what it offers. In this Benable review, I will break down what it offers and how it works.
That way, you’ll know exactly what to expect from it before you even join. Then, you can find out if it’s really worth your time and effort or not. So, let’s get started.
What is Benable, and what does it offer?
Benable is a recommendation-sharing platform where you can create lists of things you genuinely like and share them with others. What it offers is a simple way for anyone to share recommendations online and potentially earn money without a technical setup.
And yes, it is indeed legit, because you can really potentially earn from your recommendations. However, that fact doesn’t automatically mean it is a good fit for you. To find out if Benable is for you, you must first understand how it works.
The only way to do so is to examine the earning opportunities it offers, so you will know how to potentially earn from it and gauge how good it really is. I have made a video where I give you an inside look and explain exactly how Benable works. You can also read the full details below the video.
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Option 1 – Recommendation Lists
First, let me just make it clear that this opportunity is not a guaranteed way to earn. Technically speaking, you will be doing affiliate marketing when creating lists.
Now, if you are not familiar with affiliate marketing, let me explain what it is. Affiliate marketing is, in theory, a simple way to earn money by promoting products or services online.
I have years of experience with affiliate marketing, and it is actually how I make a living online. So, I know it can work, BUT I also know that it takes time and effort to build something sustainable that can replace a full-time income.
Therefore, I am also always skeptical when a method makes it look like it is very easy to earn with affiliate marketing.
So how does it work in Banable’s case?
Well, when you are creating recommendation lists, what you are actually doing is generating affiliate links for things that you recommend.
So, in a way, it makes it easier for you to earn from affiliate marketing as you do not need any technical skills to do it, and it can be done very fast. And what’s great about what Benable offers is that you’re not limited to retail items. You can recommend restaurants, travel destinations, services, books, experiences, and more. In short, you can recommend anything you like.
Of course, to earn from your lists, the items you recommend must come from Benable’s partner stores. To start the process, you must create a list.
When creating a list, I recommend checking out Benable’s brand partners, so you will have an idea of what type of list you want to make. This is important because you must ensure Benable can generate affiliate links from the list you will be making, and the only way it can do that is to recommend products from its brand partners.
In essence, what you will be doing when creating lists is that you are gaining access to various affiliate programs that Benable has partnered with. That’s what you are really doing. The great thing about this is that you are instantly approved for the different affiliate programs, which can sometimes be hard to get access to otherwise, if you are a complete beginner. BUT it also has its downside, which we will go over more later.
Now, once you’ve completed your list, it will show up on Benable’s feed. One thing you need to know is that you must make sure that you make your list as detailed as possible, so that the site can optimize it. Getting your list optimized increases its chances of getting seen by other members of Benable because it will be displayed in the trending section.
And with affiliate marketing, visibility is very important because it will increase your chances of actually earning from the affiliate links being shown on the list.
The site also recommends you share your lists outside the Benable platform. So, you can share it on your social media pages to further increase your chances of earning.
As for how you will earn, if someone clicks the link in your list and buys the item, you get a commission. According to Benable, they don’t take a cut from your commission, so you will receive the full amount of the commission, but I’m a bit of a skeptic when it comes to this claim (more on this later).
Your earnings will be credited to your Benable account balance, and you can check how much you’ve earned by going to the dashboard section of your profile. It’s a fun way to potentially earn passively, but it takes a bit of creativity to market your lists, which is not surprising, since that’s what is usually required when dealing with affiliate marketing, in my experience.
One important thing I noticed when I was exploring the site was that the exact details of the affiliate programs found in Benable are not displayed. So, you don’t know exactly how big the commissions you get from the affiliate links shown in your lists are. And you do not know important things like cookie time, and more.
This is one thing I didn’t like because if you are actually serious about doing affiliate marketing, you need to have all the necessary information to promote the affiliate links properly. Aside from that, it says that you get to keep 100% of the commission you will earn, which, as mentioned earlier, I found a bit unbelievable.
That’s because it is highly unlikely that you will receive the full commission from the affiliate program of its brand partners. The way I see it, Benable has negotiated a deal with its brand partners already, where they will earn a certain amount for every sale. After all, they are also running a business, and not a charity.
So, the amount you will earn from the affiliate commission is likely not the full amount that the brand partner paid to Benable. That being said, this is understandable because the site does have to earn money to keep operating.
I just don’t like it that they make it appear that you get the full amount of the affiliate commission. And I have seen many of the same affiliate programs on other networks I am a member of, where you get higher commissions because I am a direct partner and do not have a third party like Benable in between. So, this is something to consider.
Option 2 – Referral Program
Benable also has a referral program you can earn from. However, it’s not quite clear how their referral program works.
As you can see in the photo above, all the site says is that you will get a bonus when your referrals get a commission. They don’t exactly say how much you will receive and what the conditions are. All I could find out was that you will get two months of commission bonuses when your referrals add their first recommendation.
The way I understand it is that you will only receive a commission bonus for the first two months after your referral adds their first recommendation. It’s not a very profitable endeavor, in my opinion, because, as explained earlier, what Benable offers is not a guaranteed way to earn.
So, if your referral doesn’t earn anything within those two months, you also won’t earn anything. This is why it is not a very good opportunity, in my opinion.
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How do you get paid?
As explained earlier, the commissions you will earn from your lists will be credited to your Benable account balance. Now, what the website doesn’t tell you immediately is that you’ll need to earn at least $80 before you can withdraw your earnings.
That’s quite a high threshold, in my opinion. Aside from that, they also don’t tell you immediately how you can withdraw your earnings. You’ll only find out once you reach the threshold to withdraw your earnings.
Now, apparently, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal or Payoneer, which are both convenient options, in my opinion. Overall, I would say its payout system is relatively simple and convenient. However, the payout threshold is very high, so it will take a long time before you can take out your earnings.
If you prefer websites with a low payout threshold, I suggest you check out the fastest paying sites instead.
How much money can you make?
The amount you can earn from Benable will depend on how many people click your link and buy the items recommended. So, it’s quite hard to indicate an exact amount, in my opinion.
The one thing that has been stuck in my mind while testing the site is that I don’t really see why people would use Benable. In my experience with affiliate marketing, you need to be where people want to be to find something useful.
And the way I see it, the only people using Benable are people who are trying to promote products/items. This means the people who can immediately see what you are promoting are people who are not interested in buying anything. Mainly, they will be there to promote their own lists.
Yes, the site encourages you to promote your lists outside the platform. But if you are going to do that anyway, what do you need Benable for? You can create your own website to host your affiliate links and promote it on your social media platforms.
That way, you actually get to keep all of the profit. You can make the argument that Benable eliminates the work needed to create your own platform, so there will be less work. But to succeed with affiliate marketing, you actually have to put in the time and effort to build your audience, so you can market your affiliate links properly.
In the end, you still have to spend a lot of time establishing your audience. Benable, in my opinion, just doesn’t provide a good enough reason for you to use it. This is why I would consider its earning potential to be quite low compared to the full potential affiliate marketing has.
You are better off setting up your own website or, for example, a YouTube channel and sharing your affiliate links there. You will still have to do the same amount of work to get real traffic, based on my experience, so you might as well do it on your own.
That way, you don’t have to share the earnings. And, in my experience, it can be a great way to build a sustainable source of extra income (I know I did).
Can you use it on mobile?
Benable has a mobile app you can download, so you can create lists even when you are not in front of the computer. The app can be used by both Android and iOS users, so compatibility won’t be a problem.
The app is easy to use, and it also has all the features of the web-based platform, so you don’t actually have to sit in front of a computer to potentially earn. This, in my opinion, is the best thing about Benable.
Who can join Benable?
Benable is available globally, so you can sign up as a member regardless of where you live. The sign-up process is quite straightforward. You can use your email address or Google account to sign up.
After signing up, you’ll be asked to create your profile and your first recommendation. Simply follow the steps provided. Once you are done with this step, you can log in and start creating lists.
Can you get support?
You can check out the FAQ section of the website if you have questions about the platform. It discusses some of the basic topics you need to know about Benable.
If you can’t find the answers you need, you can contact its support team via email instead. You can send your inquiries to support@benable.com. You can also click the message icon inside the dashboard to open the contact form.
Overall, I would say the site does provide the minimum required support to its members since it offers a couple of convenient ways for you to ask for help. However, I do wish they would be more transparent with some of their features to minimize the instances of having to contact support.
Final Verdict
Benable is a platform that offers a potential way to earn by recommending things. It has some decent features, but it also has some clear drawbacks you need to be aware of.
To finish this review, I have summarized its pros and cons, so you can clearly see an overview of what it offers. Then, you can decide if it is worth it or not.
Pros:
- Offers an opportunity to earn semi-passively
- Available globally
- Offers payment via PayPal
Cons:
- Doesn’t offer a guaranteed way to earn
- Very high payout threshold
- Not transparent with all the features
In theory, Benable is not a bad platform. However, in reality, it doesn’t provide a good enough reason for you to use it, in my opinion. It doesn’t offer a guaranteed way to earn, and the payout threshold is very high. Plus, it is not very transparent with all its features.
And if you want to earn from affiliate marketing, there are better ways to do so. You can, instead, build your own website or social media channel where you can share your affiliate links. That way, you won’t have to share your profits with anyone.
If you want to learn how to do it, you can check out this guide on how to build your own online business. It will show you my top recommended way to learn how to build your online business from the ground up, so you don’t have to rely on 3rd party platforms to earn passively.
If you have any comments, questions, or experience with Benable, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.