Refund Frustration

I am disgusted with the recent make money products at Clickbank. I made a rule for myself to own every product I promote so I know what I am promoting. From that point on I have only promoted top quality stuff.

When I got my first refund, it was like a punch in the gut. I soon realized that refunds are a part of this business. It happens even when you are promoting quality products. There are some people who will get a refund just because they can and try to get something for free. Generally speaking, though, most people won't get a refund on a quality product that they know will work for them.

With that said, I also don't personally promote a lot of products on Clickbank. Most of my money comes from independent affiliate networks where I get paid via Paypal. My refund rates for stuff that's not on Clickbank is a lot lower and in some cases, non-existent. Anyway, you just have to keep working and pushing forward.

Good luck,
Joey

Refund rates are insanely high on ClickBank offers in the make money and internet marketing niche. I suggest trying to promote some offers on something like jvzoo.com where refund rates are respectable.

*Disagrees, the products I have been promoting have an extremely low refund rate 2-4%, and I am not joking.

Why go for all the hyped-up products anyway to sell? The products I sell have very well written pages, some with both video and content; some with just content; and therein are tips on the page itself that help people before they even buy.

Furthermore, do none of you even check out the product you are promoting before you even buy it?

Complaining that the product is crap, and about refunds just sounds so silly, especially when you had the chance yourself to PREVENT a backlash of refunds by checking into it before you even dove right in expecting people to applaud the product.

Am I the only one who thinks this is silly?

To the OP, you said you needed to re-evaluate your promotional process; perhaps yes? Maybe don't go for the flashiest, prettiest looking darn-tootin' product pitch your pretty little eyes ever did lay sight upon?

Also, other people frequently talk about Clickbank on here, and some of them literally sit down and explain a bunch of different aspects to issues people encounter therein; and those are valid explanations and breakdowns.

Thus I am wondering if you really just dove right in, and promoted; without even considering anything about the functionality of Clickbank and what would make your sales funnel successful to begin with?

?? And people suggesting that you create your own product, that way you can control the product better... UHM... hello?

You have to be able to SELL something first, and not only SELL it, but consistently sell it, with a low refund rate. There is no guarantee that one's own product would do any better, if the sales funnel is weak, and leaking all over.

You judge the product to be crap because of the refund rate?

I'm not so sure about that assessment at all. And if you didn't
know about the product you were promoting and end up promoting
crap then you are to blame, don't you think?

I know you are frustrated but don't jump to conclusions so fast.

For my SAME PRODUCT refund rates on ClickBank was 1000X
that on Paypal. So when I used Paypal as the payment
processor the refund rate was waaaaay less.

Welcome to ClickBank.

-Ray Edwards

Money to pay your bills...? What about money to increase your business and diversify so refunds from one product like this won't kill you.

Since this one is a huge seller but the product is not so good why not create your own product to compete directly with Coffee Shop Millionaire and produce better content where it's lacking?

That would be my first thought, especially if I knew there was an audience responding to the promises of that particualr pitch.

Well, you seem to be doing good, just change your products. That's the only problem. How about making your own? Have you ever thought about that? You then know what you are selling insideout.

Clickbank products have a massive serial refund problem, especially in the IM space.

Everyone who knows what Clickbank is and what their policies are understands that you can buy any product you like from Clickbank, then refund it within sixty days. No fuss, no muss, no questions asked.

To the average selfish and dishonest jerk (read: customer) this means "hey, free product, LOL."

If you want to promote Clickbank products, don't do it in any niche where your customers are likely to know what Clickbank is. People promoting outside of the niches other Clickbank users frequent don't have serial refund problems.

Please excuse my asking, but you didn't think to check this before you started promoting it, and allowed your own reputation as a marketer to be associated with it?

It's true that "MMO", "IM" and "Forex" products on ClickBank do, collectively, have higher-than-average refund rates. But fortunately there are also about 397 other niches represented there, that don't.

But let's not forget, too, that the refund rates for many products vary greatly between different affiliates, because so much depends on how the product's pre-sold by the affiliate.

And let's not forget that products that have a high refund-rate across all their affiliates equally or nearly equally are removed from the Marketplace by ClickBank pretty quickly, because their 7.5% margin on the unrefunded ones doesn't cover their administrative and processing costs on all the refunds, and believe it or not they don't like losing money.

And while we're about it, let's also remember that it's the ever-honored, no-questions-asked, 60-day money-back guarantee that makes the products there so easy to sell in the first place. Like many here, I certainly wouldn't be selling several hundred every month without that (and no, I'm hardly getting refunds at all, because I select products carefully, vet them thoroughly and pre-sell them only to highly targeted traffic).

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5210243

I ran a bizop for more than 12 months. 20% to 30% refunds. Bizop is a very high refund business.

Tbh, it's not that the product is crap, it is the way the bizops are sold.

People's expectations are very high when they purchase the bizop (it is sold in a way where it makes it seem VERY EASY to make money online and that it will happen overnight)

Personally, if I were to promote someone else's bizop or offer for that matter, I'd go through a network that doesn't "refund" me. Than there is no bad surprises and if instead this particular network or advertiser is scrubbing me instead to make up for refunds, at least the scrub is set at the very beginning and I am not "surprised" down the line with a bunch of refunds popping in.

1. Use PPC to drive traffic to YOUR Squeeze Page which gives away a great "FREE Product"

2. 10-12 email auto-responder series follow-up to your FREE download on the Squeeze Page (every 2 or 3 emails soft pitch your product - hard pitch 2-3 times during the auto-responder series)

3. Build a relationship with LIST - This will do WONDERS for your business

4. Create Your OWN products for a back-end product (You KNOW the quality then, PLUS you make 100% on the product sales)

5. Wash, Rinse, and Repeat....

~AzSno...

You could always promote real products.

I just ran a report for a physical product I have promoted since 2008:

14,896 sales. 0 refunds.

.

Alot of my refunds come from Clickbank as opposed to the product on my own site. But i guess it's just the nature of the beast. I'm in the IM market, so i supposed it's fitting. But the people who don't refund pay, stay, and refer. People who refund are still in my backend email marketing funnel, and haven't unsubscribed yet.

There is your problem. Promote crap products and you will get crap results.

You should at least look over any product you are going to promote BEFORE you even think about promoting it to others.

Show people the same courtesy you would expect.

Indeed, the refunds can be a killer. Because of this, I would usually promote only the things I have used and have seen results. That way, I won't look like a fake and everything I say about it comes from experience. Although, it may be expensive at the start because you have to try it first instead of basing your review on someone else's review.

I highly suggest not to use clickbank. I once sold a product as affiliate and got around 50% refund request even when the product had high gravity. weird isn't it?

Clickbanks are known to be infested with people who are "refund-crazy". They simply want to see your product then go out the door.

Way back when I was focused just on Clickbank (which seems like a lifetime ago ), I found consistently the best sellers with low refund rates were the health/fitness products and the car auction products. The low product prices and good commission percentages made for a great combination in the bottom line!

Try to think about it differently - if it weren't for the 'relaxed' refund policy you would never have made the sale in the first place. These people bought with the intention of getting a product for free. You facilitated the transaction but it didn't cost you anything. so you haven't really lost anything. (I know, it's a stretch )

Now were you the product owner and you shipped a physical product to some sleeze who did a charge-back, well you'd have real grounds for complaint.

You just need to pitch to people differently, and/or pitch to different people.

Sure - Refunds are just part of the Game and there's no getting away from it. You just need to accept it and then you won't get too bummed each time you lose a commission.

It used to drive me crazy before but now I don't count any cash until after the guarantee period is over. With Digital products you are always going to have people who get the product and always come back for the refund, it's just what they do...

yup, the worst thing about Clickbank (in exception of some really great products) is the refund rate! Choosing products of high value, and the price not very huge are the ways to minimize refund rates. Physical goods promotion is far better as far as refunds are considered, but again the commissions are comparatively low.

I've been hit by this recently too so I understand how gutting it can be.

But what I've learnt promoting products on clickbank is that people are seriously taking advantage of their refund policy because it's so easy to do.

I'm guessing that the reason was to protect consumers from buying over hyped products that don't do what they claim but serial re-funders have used this to their advantage.

I've had products refunded in a stupidly short period of time after being purchased, not even enough time to even wait for a response from the vendors support.

it's not good because it hits us right in the gut, but don't assume that the product you're promoting might be junk because it may just be the serial re-funders.

However, it's usually better to promote products that you've used for yourself or possibly purchased or even got hold of a review copy .. that way you know you're not promoting complete tripe and that the only refund risk will be from these serial re-funders

somestuff on clickbank still says facebook has 400 million members....that is how outdated info is.....again, buy it and be happy with it befor eyou sell it. do not be foole by todays date on top of offer.

Refund rates are very high on CB. I suggest joining a affiliate program which has instant paypal payouts and less refunds such as Warrior Pro or JVZoo.
Also try creating a product of your own and getting affiliates to promote it for you. That is the fastest way of making cash online and you have ultimate control on how good the product is. Sell a good product and you will have far less refunds

I used to be a big Clickbank advocate. Now I'm looking to completely divorce myself from them and never look back. I have a lot more success promoting CPA offers nowadays, and I've never had to worry about refunds/chargebacks.

If you ever look at the contact process for Clickbank customers, they basically point the customer in the direction of the refund. Right on the support ticket form, even if they just ask for technical support, a "Get a refund" link still appears regardless.

It doesn't really matter the quality of the product nowadays. In the past, the threshold for a vaild CB product was a 10% refund rate. Anything over that, and you were in danger of being pulled. Now? A CB Development Rep revealed to me that the threshold has been moved to 30%! Now instead of being pulled, CB just tags on some extra fees and makes more money off you. Lol

We should talk dude. Im going in this direction too. Higher perceived value, higher pricing points, less BS with serial refunders. My next product will be a 3 ring binder, 200+ pages with CD. Im going to use a local printer to begin with, then shift to disk.com for printing and order fulfillment. I wont be using Clickbank. Screw that.

As for the OP.

1. Always review products before you begin promoting them.
2. Get away from Clickbank.
3. If its selling, then develop your own product. But make sure it doesnt suck.

Caliban, hit me up on PM sometime dude

Nevermind...things were just buggy a little earlier...

Can anyone tell me how to get my refund? The only thing I can find is "submit a ticket".
Where do I submit the ticket? Anyone?

I think it's always a good idea to try the product if you can or deal with authors who are consistent with putting out good products. For some reason clickbank I've been staying away from clickbank so far. I'm going to stick mostly with those who pay instantly.

Just count this as a learning experience as there are some here who have been here for years and haven't sold anything yet. What normally happens when people do refunds is the Copy is written to draw people in and the product doesn't live up to the expectations that are set. Try to steer clear of products like that in the future and you will be ok.

Yeah. Tried the whole Clickbank way to make money but anybody that is paying top dollar for info is trying to "get rich quick". I would find a quality product that people can actually benefit from & will tell others to try out.