Is this ethical, or is it black hat?

Incentivized promotions of affiliate products is up to the vendor of the product. You need to read and understand the terms of service for each affiliate program you join

al

Read the affiliate agreement. Sometimes it shows what you're dealing with.

Incentivized games don't play along too well with brands.

On the other hand just do it and see what happens.

You can sell them whatever you feel its okay to sell them

Go through the policy of the vendor for whom you are doing the affiliate. If there is nothing against giving incentives to the customer. Then you are good to go.
Here is nothing black or white hat or something like that in this process.

Although not unethical, it is specifically prohibited by Amazon to monetarily incentivize sales. If caught, you could get your account closed without warning, lose all of your commissions, and there is no recourse.

You can promote your affiliate link on Facebook, but it is against Facebook TOS to DM affiliate links. They will also close your account if caught violating their TOS.

Many affiliate programs and social media sites have similar restrictions.

I think it's tricky and it would likely be something you'd have to be very low key about if you tried it. Offering an incentive would certainly give you an advantage, but not if it comes at a great risk. I also have to assume the coupon discount you'd be offering is something that doesn't cost you anything right?

you can sell them with your own risks

I'd say its a grey area yes probably you'll get away with it but I'm 99% sure they would ban you if they found out.

Do things right the first time and you won't have to 2nd guess where you went wrong when things fall apart.

I will suggest to play by their policies and rules...because a little mistake can crush your or your friends life time opportunity if get banned...

convinced promotionals never help you , until you work hard properly

Actually that depends on vendor if he allow such promotions , some do , some dont. so better contact them or read TOS.

Yes, I agree with other users. You should go with the terms and agreement of the vendor. They would have specified what they are accepting or what is violating their norms.

I would advise you to be careful.

Definitely not unethical.

In fact, it can be a good source of revenue doing so with the right affiliate programs.

But, there's a catch:

It depends on the specific affiliate program's terms of service.

You'll need to read through their legal mumbo jumbo. And see what they say about it

If you're specifically talking about Amazon, their terms of service seems to talk about not allowing it (though I'm not sure about right now, as their terms change all the time)...

... but I use various cashback sites to get some money back on my purchases.

And I've gotten cashback on Amazon purchases several times.

How come these guys don't get banned?

When Amazon terms of service seems to say that it shouldn't be done?

Well... there may be a loophole somewhere... where Amazon allows it...

... under certain conditions.

Or maybe you just need to get in good standing with Mr. Bezos.

By treating him to a dinner meal.

But for now, you'll just have to research and see what those sites are doing that allow them to stay in line with Amazon's terms of service...

... while making and breaking money as they please...

Hi boobooch5,
You will not get a penalty because the mentioned strategy does not pull PageRank.
Many people try it every day but no success but it is not a black hat method.
If your purpose is not to rank pulling then, of course, you can use this method but it is against affiliate TOC.

Frankly if they don't but thru your affiliate link, they might be buying from someone else's... so why not that someone be you? It's win win...

Hmmm ... it seems to me as if the OP also asked about how Google would feel about this and nobody addressed that specific question.

Google couldn't care less. They WOULD have a problem if you were soliciting incentives for backlinks but giving people discounts or free stuff for buying something really isn't something Google cares about at all.

True Story: Several years ago, my mother bought a Christmas present through one of my Amazon Affiliate Sites and the next day when I logged in to my Amazon account...you guessed it...my account was banned. Lost several hundred dollars also.

Do NOT try to game the system, it is just not worth it. I learned the hard way...VP

I agree that checking your affiliate agreement is vital. Also, it is true incentivized games are not the best when dealing with brands. But look, what is your objective? To sell more and make more profit. So if you can do it cleverly without stepping on Google's toes, I don't care. What matters is the results you get.

Read through the policy first, especially the fine prints so that you know what you are dealing with.

Yes, a partnership agreement is really important. Do you really need this? You set yourself a goal that you can achieve. Read the contract without fail and the smallest lines as well.

several people on YT give discount codes in their link description