How do you spot Vendors that Rip Affiliates off?

14 replies
Recently it came to my attention by reading a thread on the Warrior Forum that there are some really sophisticated techniques that some really shady vendors use to scheme and scam on their own affiliates.

Some ways Vendors Rip off Affiliates include:

- They change the order page - for instance, it no longer is a Clickbank page but they end up setting up their own shopping cart. (I just checked one of the products I was promoting and this is exactly what occurred).

-They sneak in an opt in box and encourage buyers to "apply" to the offer.

-Within the sales video they sneak in a BS line, telling the potential buyer to erase his browsing history. ( Ofcourse most people will also follow through and erase their cookies while doing this.)

Anyways, I think it's important to put such information out there so others don't fall prey to this. Specially people that work super hard at making this work, and often do not have a lot of money in the first place.

So my question is...

What other ways do you know that vendors can rip off affiliates?

To me is not about the money. I value my integrity and self respect. You can keep your money.
#affiliates #rip #spot #vendors
  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    A few months ago, one fellow I promoted went in after I started mailing and added a link to the thread that said, "Get the product here in Kindle format for 50% off." I couldn't figure out why my sales conversion went from 24% to nothing overnight, until I looked at the sales page and realized what had been done.

    Also a few months ago, I wrote a review of a product and gave it a lukewarm review. Even though I gave him a less than awesome review, my email was still converting at 12%. The vendor saw my mailing, decided that he didn't like it, then turned off my affiliate link.

    Fairly recently, I told a vendor that I would not promote his product unless the price was set above $7. He set the price to $7.97 and within 10 minutes of my mailing the offer, he changed the price to $3.97. That one is so fresh that I am still pissed about it.
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Chicas
      Man TPW, Those are some pretty shady moves by others. I hope you emailed them and gave them a piece of your mind, lol.

      Here is the one that kills me. At first I was pissed but now I'm just laughing about it because it's so silly. Even though I lost money on a PPC campaign because no sales were recorded.

      This is where the narrator asks the customer to erase his browser history so "girls won't know he is studying seduction material" lol. Let's just say that theoretically, every time I erase my browser history I also automatically erase all cookies (just like most people do). But I"m sure that's not what the Vendor had in mind when he innocently requested having the browsing history erased. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

      And this is from one of the biggest vendors on Clickbank: The Tao of Badass.

      Here is the link to their video. Forward to: 2:45


      And this is just one of quite a few of their sleazy moves. Just pure greed. SMH





      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      A few months ago, one fellow I promoted went in after I started mailing and added a link to the thread that said, "Get the product here in Kindle format for 50% off." I couldn't figure out why my sales conversion went from 24% to nothing overnight, until I looked at the sales page and realized what had been done.

      Also a few months ago, I wrote a review of a product and gave it a lukewarm review. Even though I gave him a less than awesome review, my email was still converting at 12%. The vendor saw my mailing, decided that he didn't like it, then turned off my affiliate link.

      Fairly recently, I told a vendor that I would not promote his product unless the price was set above $7. He set the price to $7.97 and within 10 minutes of my mailing the offer, he changed the price to $3.97. That one is so fresh that I am still pissed about it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
        Originally Posted by Christian C View Post

        Man TPW, Those are some pretty shady moves by others. I hope you emailed them and gave them a piece of your mind, lol.

        Here is the one that kills me. At first I was pissed but now I'm just laughing about it because it's so silly. Even though I lost money on a PPC campaign because no sales were recorded.

        This is where the narrator asks the customer to erase his browser history so "girls won't know he is studying seduction material" lol. Let's just say that theoretically, every time I erase my browser history I also automatically erase all cookies (just like most people do). But I"m sure that's not what the Vendor had in mind when he innocently requested having the browsing history erased. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

        And this is from one of the biggest vendors on Clickbank; The Tao of Badass.
        Here is the link to their video. Forward to: 2:45


        http://www.thetaoofbadass.com/specia...ndexnvid3.html

        Just pure greed. SMH
        WOOOOOOOW. Not a good look for Joshua and Tim at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author zahanega
    This is a really useful post already! Thank you for sharing your stories
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  • Profile picture of the author JonP
    Good grief, what the heck is wrong with people. What a horrible way to run a business, very short-sighted. That will come back to bite them some day. Run your business with integrity and treat others as you want to be treated.

    Thanks for the useful post, sorry you had to fall prey to some of these thieves.

    Jon.
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  • Profile picture of the author Outsourcingnerd
    Sadly, there are many examples on this - I had a similar experience a while back with a very established SEO software.

    The offered a seven day cheap trial (ClickBank), but during that seven-day trial period, they sent out a mail offering a discount - and did not use Clickbank but another payment gateway.

    So as an affiliate it looks like the customer sign up and pays for the trial, but never continue after the trial - and the vendor score 100% of the recurring income ($67 in monthly subscription).

    So a good idea is always to test the sales funnel to see what is actually going on behind the scenes.
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  • Profile picture of the author feederma1
    I buy a lot of products from Warrior vendors, but when I request permission to promote the product I just bought I never get a response. What is the trick to being approved to promote warrior products?
    Help:confused:
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by feederma1 View Post

      I buy a lot of products from Warrior vendors, but when I request permission to promote the product I just bought I never get a response. What is the trick to being approved to promote warrior products?
      Help:confused:

      You need more posts in the forum, and you need a track record that people can see.

      There are a lot of scammers on the affiliate side as well, so vendors are very cautious about approving people who are unknown to them. And in your case, you only have one post in the forum, so you are unknown to everyone.

      Start participating in the forum, and once you have a track record here, you will find more people who will be willing to approve you as an affiliate.

      You should also drop a personal note to the vendor when you apply to be an affiliate, but that only helps if you have a proven track record in the forum.
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      Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
      Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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    • Profile picture of the author writeaway
      Originally Posted by feederma1 View Post

      I buy a lot of products from Warrior vendors, but when I request permission to promote the product I just bought I never get a response. What is the trick to being approved to promote warrior products?
      Help:confused:
      Where do you apply? What software do they use to track sales?
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Chicas
    Thank you Cool Hand Luke, I value your opinion because I know you've been quite successful with this offer.

    Anyways, I was hoping it wasn't just my paranoid mind.

    All the best.
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    • Profile picture of the author writeaway
      Originally Posted by Christian C View Post

      Thank you Cool Hand Luke, I value your opinion because I know you've been quite successful with this offer.

      Anyways, I was hoping it wasn't just my paranoid mind.

      All the best.
      Can CB kick vendors out for such browser shenanigans?
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      • Profile picture of the author tpw
        Originally Posted by writeaway View Post

        Can CB kick vendors out for such browser shenanigans?

        Yes, I believe so. Clickbank has cleaned up their system over the last few years.

        WarriorPlus and JVzoo also do a good job eradicating the bad guys when they are made aware of the shenanigans.

        Did I ever tell you that my favorite word in all of the English language is "shenanigans"?
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        Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
        Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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      • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
        Originally Posted by Christian C View Post

        Thank you Cool Hand Luke, I value your opinion because I know you've been quite successful with this offer.

        Anyways, I was hoping it wasn't just my paranoid mind.

        All the best.
        I was doing great with TOB for a while, but switched over to promoting another similar offer a few months back when my ROI dropped. I still really want to believe that Joshua and Tim wouldn't screw over affiliates, but saying "erase your browser history" in the actual sales video... yikes.

        Originally Posted by writeaway View Post

        Can CB kick vendors out for such browser shenanigans?
        Possibly, but TOB is one of their top 3 products and they make a lot of money from it... so the question to ask is would they...

        Honestly, I think you'd need to present them with some concrete proof that they are deliberately stealing from affiliates rather than just pointing to a section of their sales script that says to erase "browser history".
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