Are You Being Ripped Off By Clickbank Merchants?


I see affiliates from two perspectives.

Firstly as an affiliate, I see myself as a business partner to those merchants that I promote. I send them traffic, and if I make sales for them, I expect to be paid for my efforts in the form of a predefined percentage or lump sum.

As a merchant, I see my affiliates as partners and value the traffic they send me. My utmost priority is to make sure that any sales that are made are credited to the affiliate that sends me the traffic. This is essential if my affiliates are going to trust me and put effort into promoting my products. This is essential if I want my business to grow!

Most of my own products are related to internet marketing and webmaster tools. Because of the nature of these products, those visitors are likely to be knowledgeable of affiliate programs and probably Clickbank as well.

Imagine this scenario:

Joe goes to Google and searches for "webmaster tools". Something caught his attention over in the Pay Per Click ads, an affiliate link to a product that promises to make link exchanges easier.

"Hmmm" thought Joe. "That looks like a great tool".

Joe clicks on the PPC link and is redirected to a sales page. Scrolling to the bottom of the page, Joe sees that the product is $97.

"I want this", thought Joe, "but $97 is a bit steep".

Joe searches the webpage for that magic link, and he finds it easily.

"Great" says Joe out loud. "A link to a Clickbank affiliate program, and this program pays 50%".

After a few minutes, Joe has signed up for the affiliate program, created his own affiliate link, typed it into his browser, and revisits the sales page.

Joe's mouse clicks the buy link. He fills in his credit card details and clicks the purchase button. Closing his browser, he checks his e-mail. He watches as two e-mails are downloaded to his machine. The first is the download information for the new software he purchased, the second one is an e-mail with the Subject "Congratulations Joe, you have made a sale".

Joe checks his stats online for this new affiliate program and sure enough, he has made $48.50 commission on this purchase. In other words, he only paid $48.50 for the product.

OK, what is wrong with this scenario?

Is it fair that Joe used his own affiliate link to make a purchase?

What about the affiliate who advertised this affiliate program at Google? That affiliate paid for the click that started the sale process, yet did not get the commission.

What is going through the minds of merchants who place links to their affiliate programs on their sales page?

I would imagine that some merchants think about these points:

* I want to make $48.50 per sale minimum.

* If I offer it for $97 and give 50% commission to affiliates I will make my goal of $48.50 per sale.

* By adding an affiliate sign up link to the sales page, I can encourage people to sign up for my affiliate program, buy through their own link and get the software for the real price of $48.50, but the customer will be happy thinking they saved $48.50.

*Great plan!

I am sure that a lot of merchants don't see things this way - they just don't think hard enough about their affiliates.

A merchant that uses a link to his/her affiliate program on the sales page is using affiliate traffic as free traffic (whether they intend to or not). After all, the merchant does not need to spend time optimising pages or buying traffic - their affiliates will do that and send the traffic to the sales page for free. If an affiliate sends someone who becomes a customer, the merchant will make their money.

The big problem here is that being an affiliate is hard work. You do have to create content, buy and review products, possibly even pay for advertising. If YOU are doing these things as an affiliate, is your merchant doing their bit to protect your you? Unfortunately the majority of Clickbank merchants don't, and affiliates waste their time building pages and buying advertising to promote merchants who don't deserve it.

The bottom line
----------------

If you are promoting products aimed at webmasters, the traffic you send will likely know how to "steal" your commission. In this situation it is vital to only promote merchants without the affiliate sign up link.

If on the other hand you are promoting products to the general public, e.g. weight loss products, dog training eBooks etc, this affiliate sign up link poses less of a problem since most of the traffic you generate wont be affiliates themselves (most wont even know what an affiliate is) and wont have the necessary skills to sign up at Clickbank, create a link and purchase through their link just to get a commission.

What can you do?
----------------

If you find a merchant that you want to promote and they have an affiliate sign up link on the sales page, contact them. Tell them about your concerns and that they should treat you as a partner, not the source of free traffic. Suggest that they remove this affiliate sign up link.

The usual reaction I get
------------------------

Merchant: "I get a lot of affiliate sign ups from this link, there is no way I am removing it!"

Ask the merchant how many of those affiliates ever make a sale or ever send any traffic. This is exactly my point. The merchant is getting a lot of sign ups purely to get a discount. For every person who signs up as an affiliate to get a discount, there is one affiliate somewhere being robbed of his/her rightful commission.

Most of the "affiliates" you get via a sign up link on the sales page are only signing up to get a discount, they are unlikely to ever try to sell that product.

The only affiliates who will promote the product, are those that buy the software, use it and like it. They see the benefits and can sell it well to their visitors. These are the only affiliates worth getting, and you wont get them from an affiliate sign up link on the sales page.

The best way of getting hard working affiliates is to protect your affiliates from this type of link hijacking, gain their trust and do everything you can to help them out. Build a relationship with your affiliates and most of all, make sure they are rewarded for the traffic they send. To this end, remove that affiliate sign up link, and when someone buys your product, send them an e-mail outlining the benefits of your affiliate program. Active affiliates respond well to knowing their merchants are protecting their interests.

A final thought
---------------

If there are two similar products, similar price, similar commission, one sales page with an affiliate sign up link, one without, which would you prefer to promote? If you want to make money online with affiliate programs, take it seriously and start contacting merchants.


More Resources

Make Money Online With Affiliate Programs
If you have wanted to find a way to make money from home without all the hassle of selling products out of your own home yourself, perhaps you should take a look at affiliate programs.Affiliate programs are an excellent way to make money from home.
Affiliate Programs: Why They Work and Why They Don't!
Here it is in Black and White:Don't make the same mistakes many new marketers do. Don't give up!I've heard tons of discouraging stories about affiliate programs.
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing an Affiliate Program
When people decide to join an affiliate program to make extra money, or to have a full time job, they often do so with illusions and no idea of how the affiliate program actually works. Read the following top 5 mistakes people make when it comes to choosing an affiliate program and avoid these mistakes at all costs.
Choosing the Best Affiliate Program - What You Absolutely Must Know
Choosing the best affiliate program means that you are aware of what affiliate programs are and what their ultimate benefits and drawbacks are. To choose the best affiliate program, you will want to decide on one that has the most benefits with the least drawbacks.
How Affiliates Can Have Their Own Radio Show...
Before we start, I want to ask you one simple question. If you knew what you know today about how big blogging would be before it started, would you have started a blog? Well, in that case, you better pay close attention to podcasting!Pretty much everyone and anyone who knows the slightest bit about Podcasting thinks about the Apple I-Pod and how I-Pod users are using Apple's I-Tunes software to download their favorite songs over the internet.
A Beginners Guide to Affiliate Marketing
The dawning of the cyberspace era is at hand. The genesis of artificial intelligence is upon this particular moment in history as everyone in the industrialized world goes about utilizing one of the most sophisticated tools mankind has ever created.
Affiliate Marketing Using Commission Junction
Affiliate Marketing is currently one of the most popular and lucrative business opportunities online. It is an agreement between the merchant, or the one with the product to sell, and the website owner or the affiliate, or the one who allows the use of his site to promote the merchant's product or service.
How to Skyrocket Your Affiliate Marketing Revenue in 30 Days or Less
Starting up your internet business as a member of an affiliate program is an exciting thing due to all of the possibilities and potential this industry has. By becoming an affiliate marketer, you can finally gain complete control of your financial destiny.
Affiliate Marketing Assets - Things You Need In This Business
There are millions of ways to make money, particularly in the internet. But with the new internet marketing technologies developing daily, sometimes the choices may seem confusing.
Affiliate Marketing Pros and Cons
Want an online business with a win-win opportunity for both the merchant and the publisher? Try investing your money, time and effort in affiliate marketing business and be overwhelmed by the profit you'll get out of it. It has been written in almost all articles about affiliate marketing that it is among the greatest ways to earn money online.
Back-End Selling With Affiliate Marketing
More and more people are getting into online businesses for a variety of reasons. First, because the Internet provides a wide market for businessmen and selling through the Net is often synonymous to selling their products to the world.
Webmaster Affiliate Programs - How to Separate the Good from the Bad
More and more people are turning to the Internet and specifically, affiliate programs, to make money online. However, it is not as easy as you might think to determine the good affiliate programs from the bad, especially if you do not know much about affiliate programs to begin with.
How To Choose The Right Niche To Promote
Easy profit, a worldwide market, manageability of business at home level-all these and a variety of other reasons contributed to the popularity of online businesses. In fact, a lot of businessmen who used to peddle their stuffs in a local area are now getting online.
The Prosperous Affiliate Merry-Go-Round
In the affiliate world, just as in the rest of the world,what goes around comes around.Here's where I'm coming from .
Why Building Affiliate Websites Are the Way to Go
It seems that everybody is into making money online these days. By far, the largest market place in the world is right there in front of you within the cyber world of the internet.
Affiliate Marketing
Simply put, Affiliate Marketing is one of the most common forms of making money on the internet.Affiliate marketing was set in place by larger corporations and websites who realize that marketing smarter is better than marketing smarter.
Heres Why Affiliate Marketing Is So Lucrative
There are people who think of the world as a dreary place simply because they do not find their existence charming enough to render them contented. There are those who wish that they have more than what they possess.
Capitalizing On The Autosurfing Craze
You've heard about it in recent months, and its popularity seem to grow in leaps and bounds with each passing day.Paid to surf programs have been on the rise and with the monetary promises that have become the stalwart of their systems, more and more people are joining the bandwagon.
The Many Benefits Of Affiliate Programs
Throughout the coming weeks, I am going to thoroughly cover the intricacies of making money online through affiliate programs. Consider this as an online course that is aimed for your benefit.
Is It Possible To Make A Living Being An Affiliate Marketer?
It may sound cliché but it is worth repeating. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn money online.
Choosing the Right Affiliate Program
Requesting information on an affiliate program is an open invitation to receive never ending submissions to your email account. It can be overwhelming to look at.
Common Mistakes Made by Unsuccessful Affiliates
A vast majority of successful online entrepreneurs are affiliates of successful websites on the net. This is what has continuously attracted many people into joining the ranks of affiliates.
Overachieving Your Way to Super Affiliate Stardom
Internet business is a bit confusing especially if you're not really knowledgeable at it. You will also be left completely blank, asking yourself as to what type of online business is best for you.

More Affiliate Revenue Information:

Related Articles

Backend Profit Secrets and Viral Marketing
Once you truly understand the power of backend profits, you'll explode your marketing results and create an unstoppable viral machine.The techniques I will reveal to you have often been taught in many marketing courses and articles.
Affiliate Program Basics
Affiliate Program is a ground floor opportunity. All you have to do is send visitors to your affiliate web site by placing a textlink or banner on your website and receive a commission on each sale, without the complication and expense of selling anything yourself.
Affiliate Communication
Communication is Key!When building an affiliate network communicating with affiliates is important for merchants to maintain a good relationship. An affiliate's web site targets visitors, who may not necessarily view a merchant's web site, and therefore expands a merchants market.
Why Many Affiliates Fail
The title is ugly, but the statistics don't lie. Only 1% of people that attempt to make worthwhile money from affiliate programs actually succeed.
8 Ways To Promote Your Affiliate Products
Many affiliates fail in affiliate marketing because they limit their marketing strategies to placing referral links in their web sites, distributing links to business sites through multiple emails or posting their links to other web pages. Doing any of these alone would not guarantee sales and thus, your commission.
One Little-Known Secret to Wealth the Gurus Never Told You About!
When I started my internet marketing career, I knew that in order to succeed online I had to duplicate what my mentors were doing.I had read several popular ebooks at that time, written by marketing gurus, and each of them explained how to research niche markets in order to find out what products to create or sell.
Webmaster Affiliate Programs - How to Separate the Good from the Bad
More and more people are turning to the Internet and specifically, affiliate programs, to make money online. However, it is not as easy as you might think to determine the good affiliate programs from the bad, especially if you do not know much about affiliate programs to begin with.
Is Earning Money With Affiliate Marketing A Myth?
Day 1 - What Are Affiliate Programs?Welcome to the wide world of affiliate marketing!Affiliate marketing (sometimes called referral marketing) is based business people.So, what is an affiliate and what does he or she do?The affiliate marketer acts as a "middle man" between merchant and consumer, but without adding anything to the consumer's cost.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing refers to the promotion of products or services through affiliates. Affiliates are usually other webmasters and ezine editors who choose to act as sales people on behalf of their principals for a commission on every sale.
6 Affiliate Mistakes Youre Probably Making...
Everyday I see more and more affiliates making the same mistakes. The worst part is that they're just doing what they're taught by the so-called "experts.
Secrets of Super Affiliate
Most affiliate program owners say 80% of their affiliate sales come from 20% of affiliates. Here is the difference between top 20% affiliates and the rest.
Keeping Your Sub-Affiliates From Quitting
One of the biggest if not the leading problem for internet marketers is keeping your affiliates from quitting. The time and effort that has been put forth to get your affiliates can seem like a waste of time if soon after joining your program they either opt-out or become inactive.
Mining For Gold With The Best Affiliate Programs And Hitting Pay Dirt
Colin McDougall tinkered around with affiliate programs earning a few dollars, nothing much to write home about, even had his own e-commerce site, known as the man's mall. In theory that site was supposed to offer all sorts of gadgets for guys.
How To Super Charge Your Affiliates
In my article "Affiliate Marketing What Is It And Why Use It?", I stated that only 5% of your affiliates will do 95% of the sales. If you don't follow this guide, you might not even get that.
Become An Affiliate Champion: 10 Tips
Affiliates programs are one of the easiest ways to make money in the internet. Small fortunes have been made for smart people who have taken advantage of this powerful marketing technique.
Discover The Affiliate Program thats Right for You
Are you looking for a profitable Affiliate Program?When you start to examine the possibilies for your homebased business, it is easy to be overwhelmed with the sheer number of "opportunities" available. A search for "Affiliate Programs" in Yahoo alone, will yield over nine million matches!As with anything worthwhile in life, starting a homebased business using affiliate programs, should not be done without doing some homework.
Never Get Burnt by a Cycler Program Again!
A cycler or doubler that offers nothing of real value is likely a scam and for the most part is illegal. Check out what you are buying, and look at the cylcling or doubling as a bonus or rebate.
Generate More Sales in ANY Affiliate Program - Part One
It is my opinion that the best AFFILIATE PROGRAM ever?is still the AFFILIATE PROGRAM YOU own.BUT?For those who are content in promoting other peoples programs?I will share with you a few of my strategies for FREE!But before I do that, let's see why most affiliates FAIL in just about any given affiliate program.
Are You Doing Well As An Affliate Marketer?
I have been working on the Internet now since December 2004 and I have done all the things one needs to do to earn an income from the use of my computer at home. There are many resources and so many different programmes and opportunities that it amazes me.
Creating an Income Stream with Affiliate Programs
Affiliate programs (also called Referral Programs or Partnership Programs) are essentially commission-based sales schemes. You recommend a site to your users and pick up a percentage of any sales those users generate.