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Should our website start an affiliate program?

by cowsgonemadd3
7 replies
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So I have been thinking an affiliate program might be the next step for the company I work for. We have been in an industry for a few years and would like to grow further. We host with 3dcart and they have the option to offer affiliate links built in. However, I worry about affiliates scamming me somehow.

Is it worth it to use a network? Commission junction is way too costly to simply run a test and see if it is worth it.

I also know that you have to send the affiliates a w9 if they sell a certain amount in a year?

We are an eCommerce website that makes our own products. We would maybe be able to offer 10-15% commission on product sales. Much more than Amazon's 4%.
#affiliate #program #start #website
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    Like practically everything in marketing it's certainly worth a try. You can come up with negative what if scenarios for everything in marketing. What if Google pads the number of clicks by 10%? What if they use robots to automate clicks?

    Believe me, affiliates have just as many what ifs about your company. What if they don't pay me? What if they say I only made three sales but I really had 10? What if they never ship products and people come after me in a lawsuit?

    You can mitigate fraud to a great extent by not paying for over a month and not until a certain commission threshold has been met (i.e. $100). If the return policy on your site is less than the amount of time it takes to issue a commission, your chances of affiliate fraud become significantly lower.

    Give it a shot, see what happens. The potential for positive results is far greater than for negative.
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  • Profile picture of the author cowsgonemadd3
    What kind of fraud do I need to look out for? We are trying to increase sales but this also might work in place of "dealers".
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by cowsgonemadd3 View Post

      What kind of fraud do I need to look out for? We are trying to increase sales but this also might work in place of "dealers".
      There's a pretty good list of the type of affiliate fraud that goes on here - How to Prevent Affiliate Fraud

      For the most part, delaying payments to affiliates will keep you safe from the very low percentage of people out there that pull this crud. There's fraud of one type or another with all eCommerce. It's rare, but it happens. We don't shut down a successful business model because of something that happens rarely, though.
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  • Profile picture of the author tritrain
    But Amazon is trusted and used by most people. People are reluctant to enter their cc info willy nilly.

    Start with Amazon, if you think it's time to monetize.

    Amazon won't defraud you.
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  • Profile picture of the author cowsgonemadd3
    Amazon pays only 4%. Most people will not promote our stuff for a measly 4%.
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    • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
      Originally Posted by cowsgonemadd3 View Post

      Amazon pays only 4%. Most people will not promote our stuff for a measly 4%.
      Affiliates care about how much they actually earn, not a simple percentage commission. What's the conversion rate of traffic that arrives at your site? Is it higher than Amazon's?

      Another option is to find list owners in your market and propose some kind of joint promotion.
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  • Profile picture of the author cowsgonemadd3
    We might convert at 3-5%. A bit above average for eCommerce I read. We are in a rather small market. We think affiliate marketing can still be fruitful but I feel we will need more than 4% to convince people to advertise for us.
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