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Vendors being dishonest about affiliate sales?

by khtm
8 replies
I get the feeling that with some of my promotions the vendors are lying about whether or not any of the traffic I sent to their squeeze pages resulted in a sale.

I'm talking about vendors that monitor their own sales and use Paypal, not a 3rd party company like ClickBank.

I have several cases with over 100 clicks on a link or banner but no sales. And the products are GOOD; they're things I've bought and used myself.

That got me to thinking...it's not like there's some auditing company that makes sure these vendors are honest. Plus it's not like internet marketing is the most ethical industry in the world, right?

I realize it would be like shooting themselves in the foot to not payout their affiliates, but maybe some of them just pay the biggest affiliates and ignore the little guys?

Does anyone have experience with this? Or maybe I'm just being paranoid
#affiliate #dishonest #sales #vendors
  • Profile picture of the author ExRat
    Hi Kane,

    That got me to thinking...it's not like there's some auditing company that makes sure these vendors are honest. Plus it's not like internet marketing is the most ethical industry in the world, right?
    I've experienced both sides of that coin (honest and dishonest vendors). But anyone investing a lot of time and money into affiliate marketing needs to keep your thoughts (above) at the front of their mind and move on quickly if there is any doubt.

    It's worth remembering that IF someone is dishonest, they may spend much of their time working out psychological and surreptitious methods of squeezing the most out of people before they move on - in other words, the fraud becomes their main business. So if in doubt, move on quick.

    Conversely, wherever there is high risk, there is also often the opportunity for high rewards - it's a double-edged sword. Some would say it's better to have it all and then lose it all than live a life of timid mediocrity.
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    • Profile picture of the author chaos69
      In any business, there's going to be fraudsters. IM is no different. IF you happen to stumble on one, you can only really move on as quick as you can.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sean Kelly
      I agree, however as a vendor I would like to be notified if there is a problem with the affiliate tracking system so it can be rectified.

      Sometimes the problem is simply an incorrectly configured script or setting and it would be a shame to lose many sales and affiliate commissions over a mistake that might otherwise be easily rectified.

      Sean
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  • Profile picture of the author khtm
    Thanks for the comments guys - it's nice to know that I'm not completely paranoid.

    @Sean Kelly - I did ask one of the vendors if he could see my clicks and he just gave me a generic response that wasn't very helpful.
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  • Profile picture of the author OmarKhan
    Banned
    I've gotten that feeling time and again. It's was worse when I was using ppc to promote and losing tons of money. Just ridiculous.

    After a while I started only working with vendors who use a trusted third party. As a vendor now, I never do my own tracking, I use e-junkie.
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  • Profile picture of the author darrin_cooper
    Why would you put a smiley face next to this statement.
    It basically justifies the fact that you agree that it IS not an ethical industry.

    The fact IS that it is NOT an ethical industry because some people are screw ups & are fraudsters. It's a fact & we need to get it out in the open.

    The fact of the matter is that you need to communicate before during & after about status of sales, for detailed information.

    On both sides of the fence, the person that is hawking a product should be more open & provide better service. And if you do not get that level of service, let others know, and then never promote that person.

    I say this because it's easy for a vendor to:
    1. Provide Training for their affiliates
    2. Inform affiliates of how things are going.
    3. Pay affiliates on time.

    It's not too much to ask. That's the level of service I would provide. Why? Because hell, an affiliate is essential a independent contractor which can be justified as an employee. If I'm NOT taking care of my employees, than I have no business. That's how I feel about it.



    Originally Posted by khtm View Post


    That got me to thinking...it's not like there's some auditing company that makes sure these vendors are honest. Plus it's not like internet marketing is the most ethical industry in the world, right?
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  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    I have an ad for one particular product on seven of my web sites. Over the last six months this ad has received 2,149 clicks with not a single sale.

    When I contacted the vendor I was simply told that this happens and there is nothing he can do about it. It's a good product and is of real value to my readers so I will continue to advertise it since I don't think the ethics of the vendor taint the product.
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