How do you know which affiliate programs you can trust?

[JustaWizard]

I'm in a position to promote affiliate programs in a couple of specific niche markets I "have the ear of" - and I know there's tons of affiliate programs out there, but who can you trust, how do you know they'll honor their part of the deal and not just take sales and not pay out?

Your help and advice is greatly appreciated.

David Portney

[cashcrater]

i would agree with the person above. look if they have paypal

[Earl Smith]

Yes pay pal account is the best way to know if your affiliate means business.
I wouldn't say paypal has strict guidelines but there's only so much bad business you could do on there before you account is shut down. So a sense of responsibility is there along with assurance of knowing affiliate is some what established.

[Jared Alberghini]

Just because someone accepts paypal, how does that make them a trustworthy affiliate company???

They could accept gold bouillon for that matter and still be scammers.

David, just do your own research on the affiliate companies you want to join. Become a member at thier forums, talk to other affiliates, check out their operations for yourself. Determine the validity of the company for yourself.

Call them, talk to them in person... if you can't get through to anyone, well that should put up a red flag. If others are claiming 'scam' well, that's another red flag for you. Do some searching on Google... if you see a bunch of sites/forum posts having trouble with the company, well, that's yet another red flag.

With a tiny bit of research, you can certainly determine if an affiliate company is trustworthy or not.

Jared

[Chris Kent]

I agree with Jared - so they use Paypal - big deal! How do you know that once they have taken Paypal money from the client that they will pay you in a timely fashion?

This is one reason why people use networks like Clickbank. Because Clickbank handle all the payments.

[jms.mrtn]

I would go through clickbank personally

[Marhelper]

For all the problems associated with clickbank, at least you know you are going to get paid. Commission Junction is another good one.

[Jason Moffatt]

Be very, very, very, very, very careful who you do business with.

There's some pretty well known guru's that I've gotten the shaft from myself.

It's this reason why so many people recommend Clickbank, because you actually get paid. Imagine that!

I pretty much know the people I can trust to pay me, but heck, I'm in a lucky position. I feel bad for some of the lesser known affiliates because the truth is, not everyone pays up. Sad but true.

[jms.mrtn]

Originally Posted by Jason Moffatt

Be very, very, very, very, very careful who you do business with.

There's some pretty well known guru's that I've gotten the shaft from myself.

It's this reason why so many people recommend Clickbank, because you actually get paid. Imagine that!

I pretty much know the people I can trust to pay me, but heck, I'm in a lucky position. I feel bad for some of the lesser known affiliates because the truth is, not everyone pays up. Sad but true.

Very true, be very cautious very!

[JustaWizard]

Yeah, I didn't quite understand the PayPal answer either - unless I'm missing something about that answer, it seems to me that just because they accept PayPal that that doesn't really seem to be a way to know if someone is actually going to pay out on affiliate sales.

I've looked around at ClickBank and heard about CommissionJunction - if an affiliate program is offered via, for example, ClickBank, is that "foolproof" that you'll get your commission?--also, what are the problems / hassles that going thru ClickBank presents?

Thanks!
David Portney

[kb24]

do all the reasearch that you can... see what other people have to say on your affiliate program of interest..

[Vanquish]

Does anyone know if Paydotcom is legit?

[richhamilton]

There's more to it than "Will they pay?"

I test potential affiliate offers... if they have an opt in I opt in and watch to see what they send out.

One I found on Clickbank with a pretty decent commission has an opt in page, and the emails he sends out have links to buy through his shopping cart, cutting out Clickbank and my cookie if people buy later rather than instantly.

I'm sure he thinks he's pretty clever but I don't promote his program.

[ChrisLang]

I like 2Checkout.com myself and have started using them for one of my sites.

Why? Because they take the money, then pass it back to you thru their accounting. The links do not depend on cookies and use hard coded links that go to the payment screen.

The draw back is that you need to create your own marketing since it is your link and it goes directly to the payment screen.

I custom coded an affiliate page that creates the payment links dynamically and it works real well. Since my leads need to go thru the autoresponder series before they see the salesletter it also works like this...

First the affiliate drives traffic to my squeeze page. That page creates a payment link I write to AWeber. When the autoresponder series is over then the payment link is added from the AWeber field creating the 2Checkout link. Bulletproof. No cookies required.

Old technology but my affiliates get paid and they love it.

Give it a try if you have basic PHP skills this is easy.

[ChrisLang]

I like 2Checkout.com myself and have started using them for one of my sites.

Why? Because they take the money, then pass it back to you thru their accounting. The links do not depend on cookies and use hard coded links that go to the payment screen.

The draw back is that you need to create your own marketing since it is your link and it goes directly to the payment screen.

I custom coded an affiliate page that creates the payment links dynamically and it works real well. Since my leads need to go thru the autoresponder series before they see the salesletter it also works like this...

First the affiliate drives traffic to my squeeze page. That page creates a payment link I write to AWeber. When the autoresponder series is over then the payment link is added from the AWeber field creating the 2Checkout link. Bulletproof. No cookies required.

Old technology but my affiliates get paid and they love it.

Give it a try if you have basic PHP skills this is easy.

[jace]

I would agree with starting with click bank. I would be careful venturing outside of click bank to start. Ounce you get more know how you'll make better decisions about who to work with, Even then it's no sure deal. The first sale I ever made was with a different site. I never got paid for that sale That was not cool! I was so exited to make that sale, to not get paid sucked.

[Samuel Lee]

Agree with Jason definitely! Do a bit of homework before investing in an Affiliate program. Even if they do have the Paypal link in their page, that doesn't make them seem more trustworthy than other affiliate programs.
Clickbank is awesome and always pays on time, because Clickbank handle all the payments. Commission Junction is tops as well, very reliable!

[mikeb209]

Just Google it. See what other people are saying about it and you'll be alright.

[multimastery]

Yeah you definitely have to know who you're dealing with. One thing is that it's good to check contact information. I'd look for ones with more than one way to contact them in case you have issues and need to talk. Also you can check Better Business Reports, and ask questions in forums just as you are doing now. Nothing is 100% guarantee but at least suggestions provided within this thread will help to lower your risk. Here are some other tips from me as well - Learn To Protect Yourself Against Home Business Scams and Internet Scams

[jaijav29]

Originally Posted by 1tigerlivejob

I personally look to see if they accept pay pal as there payment provider.

Xoom.com is okay. I also see to it that I don't give any account number or some personal details about myself. Just the name and address and later if you trust that person then you can give him/her any info he/she wants from you.

[rafaelapolinario]

Commission Junction and Clickbank is one of the two affiliate programs that has a good reputation. I advise you to try do business with these two. At least they already have a good history of paying what is due to you.