Quote:
Originally Posted by borked
How can a premade affiliate software package cost up to $10,000 less per month?
I like NATS a lot but I don't think it's worth the $20k purchase price (I know, monthly leasing is less, which is affordable for small operations). A custom built solution if well made would cost a lot less to make and contain exactly, and only the features you need. I don't think processors modify their APIs that often to say upkeep of a custom built solution is costly and a pain - a processor is but a module plugin to a well-built system, and would contain what, 50-100 lines of code. Hardly a pain to modify.
I wonder if you've ever dealt with a well-built web app, built on a MVC-style framework? Because I can tell you, upkeep is not a hassle at all and adding new modules is so simple that working with such a framework is indeed a pleasure.
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+9001
I agree that NATS is an excellent choice for a program launcher... I completely understand the cost savings up front (if doing a lease) and not having to staff a developer or two up front is definitely a huge savings...
However, I'm talking about taking it to the next level. If you truly want to excel passed your competition you can't do that by offering the same tools to your affiliates... it would be like offering non unique content... Sure you can make good money off of non exclusive content and do pretty well but if you really want to set yourself apart, you're going to need to start shooting some custom stuff. Same thing goes with affiliate tools and the front end of your site... Obviously there are the basics everyone needs to support (and most of the 3rd party solutions cover close to or all of them) but there is a world of opportunity out there for those who provide more than the basics...
There's a big keyword out there in the development crowd and that's "RESTful API". Enabling authorized affiliates or even users access to public information that can be manipulated by developers to fit whatever model they'd like is where it's at. The reason being; you can make custom tools all fucking day long but you are limited to what your company can produce. If you open up the raw data you have an entire world looking to develop new ways to display and use your data to promote you. You are no longer limited to what you can produce...
Like borked stated; IF your custom solution is architect'ed and implemented correctly it's easy to maintain; especially if it's OO, follows the MVC design pattern, and generally follows best practices. Third party billing libs do NOT update often and even when they do they inevitably leave legacy versions still working.