Originally Posted by PBucksJohn

Just the opposite in fact. I've talked to a # of people in this business who have invested $200k-$500k or more in affiliate softare. In the end that affiliate software has the input of ONE company and once the programmers are done it becomes a "patch it as we go" situation.

You can purchase NATS with feedback and features from dozens and doznes of companies & program owners, a solid support staff, and on-going development (staying with the times & trends of the industry) for $12,500. Thats a far cry from the 6 figures many spend on custom solutions.

In the end writting your own will cost more and almost always do less. Are there companies in this industry who have state-of-the-art custom affiliate software? Of course, but they're paying far more than I even quoted in my first paragraph. Plus they have the headaches of managing a team of programmers. There are benefits and drawbacks to doing both. IMO the drawbacks of creating a custom system far outweight the beneifts. We wouldn't be here doing what we're doing if I felt differently.