My post in this thread isn't personal... not directed at the program in question or any of the people posting in this thread.
It never hurts to state the obvious: just because someone is doing something, doesn't mean that it is:
1) Legal - to the letter of the law. Think to yourself, how would the Federal Trade Commission view the consumer experience?
2) Moral - does the business practice meet your personal standards, would you feel comfortable as the consumer and similarly would you feel comfortable with, say, a mom or dad as a customer of theirs? You are a wiser consumer than most.
3) Viable - let's assume it works very well today... but what is the longevity of the business model?
Think about each of those and decide where you stand. I am certain that the crowd here would be evenly divided for and against promoting a something that functions in the manner which was described earlier in the thread.
For the most part, affiliates whose business models are built on PPS need not concern themselves with the long term viability of any one merchant. If they're slick, they use SSI and could change out links quickly... however, I don't know that the ramifications are as small for those who are "gallery dependant". Eventually, if a merchant goes out of business it stands to reason that the affiliate takes only a small loss because he has been paid already for most sales that have been made. In short? If you patronize a program that doesn't appear to have long term viability then appreciate your payouts as "getting it while the gettin' is good".
Aggressive affiliate and consumer sales tactics increase risk dramatically. A high PPS is an aggressive sales tactic, same with over-rides on top of that, etc. Pre-checked cross sells with short cancellation windows is obviously aggressive consumer marketing. Longevity wise, these are both tough on the merchant for a few reasons:
1) High PPS payouts attract organized crime in the form of affiliate fraud. It doesn't matter if you know how to steal consumer information, there are groups out there doing it and programs that are attractive because of fast and big payouts attract them like bees to honey. I'm not saying it's impossible to surmount the fraud attempts, simply that it IS difficult and ultimately very costly financially and to one's chargeback ratios. Every big program fights affiliate fraud, perhaps in even greater numbers than consumer fraud... the bastards that simply don't want to pay and chargeback.
2) Beyond fraud concerns merchants have graduated to the notion of not wanting traffic from everybody. When you're dealing in large numbers, you find that conversions, refunds, recurring billing and cancellations can and do vary from one affiliate to the next. This does mean the way the numbers fall means that many large merchants are cancelling small, unproductive or potentially risky affiliates. Essentially, all traffic is not created equal.
3) The lifeblood of every merchant is their ability to accept credit cards online. These rules are finite. It's all about the chargeback and refunds ratio... the more you push the envelope with the consumer, the more you flirt with the limits of what is acceptable.
Finally.. where do I stand, what do I think.. I'm quite sure nobody cares, but this subject interests me so I am happy to share my opinion.
I do not know the reasoning for the "must cancel 24 hours before" condition that was spoke of. The first thing that comes to my mind is that is in the terms and conditions to limit liability in case of technical malfunction. I believe the MOST important thing in this scenario is that if a consumer cancels within hours of the recur time and date that the rebill doesn't happen. I don't believe that just because it stipulates the cancellation needs to be 24 hours in advance that this is what actually needs to happen. Perhaps someone with real knowledge of the process can teach us all about it.
On a more personal level, there are two questions I asked myself:
1) As an affiliate, would I promote it. The sites are beautiful and from what I hear the content is good, two vitally important factors in my book. The sticking point for me on promotion for me might be the pre-checked cross-sell, perhaps because it is a 1 day trial which seems a bit rushed. I don't believe there is anything technically wrong with the process, options and pricing. For me, the true test is do I think if my dad signed up for it would he end up confused and rebilling on that cross sell and I think the answer is yes. I prefer the recurring business model, personally, so when I look for what to promote I look for sites with sticky content where the retention has the best potential. My experience to date is that retention on 'flavor of the month' reality sites isn't necessarily that great. The bonus, these days, is that everyone is throwing as much content as possible at the consumers inside their members area.
2) As a processor, which I am now with 123Bill, would I bill for it. Absolutely! Presuming that the members areas content is strong and matches those tours, I'd be happy to be one of their billing alternatives. The content is legal, plentiful and it's obvious that the marketing tools and tours are excellent - exactly the kind of clients I look for. We don't allow for cross sells so as a stand-alone, recurring membership it would be a site we'd be proud to do transactions for. For them to be viable on our financial model, they would need a differential payout for our alternative because it would be financially difficult to give $35 PPS with our fee structure. $15 or $20, sure, but to pay affiliates more than that one would be risky if retention wasn't excellent.
...that's it! Just wanted to jump in and give my
I think the program site and pay sites all look teriffic. I can only imagine that the galleries, etc as just as nice. If you're into PPS and don't have any other objections then I can only guess this type of program is right up your alley. Good luck everyone!
Cheers,
Brad