Gothweb,
Thanks for starting (and continuing) this thread. I've been getting ready to revamp our own affilliate program site and all of this advice is great.
We have quite a few affiliates and the ones that send decent traffic do great on sales, but I'm fully aware that our web site for the program is pretty lame at this point. We offer 40% as a main and go up from there for the people really pushing our stuff. Plus we have a 5% webmaster referral in place.
What I've been thinking of doing lately is tightening up the reigns a bit and not just letting anyone into the program. In order to join there would have to be a certain level of traffic supplied, and in return we'd set up those who get in with nice percentages reflecting the effort they're putting in. That would also cut down on the number of people promoting the site, so it doesn't get so watered down after a while to mean horrible ratios. We wouldn't have as many people spreading the word, but those that would be would reap the benefits.
Anyway, sorry to ramble on, but I'm enjoying this thread and I wish you the best of luck with your program. Hell I signed up for it a while ago but haven't yet found the right place to promote (we only have a few sites), but I do really like your stuff.
Jak