If You Switched To NATS: Questions

Congratulations! You've made my list! Also, congratulations on not having a clue.

Also, fuck you.

We'll talk soon. Douche canoe.

LOL OK.....:D

I have been with CCBill for years now, building my little paysite empire so I am looking for some opinions from those who have transitioned in this way. I can see how this would annoy you.

NATS 4.1 | Wouj Webmaster Site

Hit up Wayne from puffycash for a chat about that one. Super nice guy and have made the same switch. Still does the payment through ccbill

Well nats is not a merchant or payment gateway so you would still need ccbill or merchant accounts etc.

Now , the affiliate and tracking etc are top knotch , and I don't think anything even comes close .

Yes I know a merch account/gateway is needed but just wondering from the transition side of things. Also if Programs are seeing sales improve after making the switch in terms of more affiliate sales.

I guess I am asking how big a hassle it is and if Programs find it worthwhile to switch.

The thing I liked about nats, is people know when they sign up as an affilaite with NATS that they are getting true tracking etc.. NATS has made if very difficult for people to skim your traffic etc.
(not saying that it could be done, but it takes a shit load more work then others in order to try to do it)

The learning curve for NATS is probably the biggest thing, but once you understand it, then its pretty easy going.

Also the support from TMM is amazing!!!

I created a pretty complex integration and they have been amazing on support with issues and billers as well.

NATS is 'just' aff tracking, and going on your past posts how pretty much all your traffic is via tubes/type-ins, you're way better off sorting out MIDs than worrying about nats.

Though also, NATS is very sweet, and if you have a lot of affs, or are starting a program with a view to getting affs other than tubes, is the way to go. Webmasters stuck in 2005 say "I'll only use ccbill" etc, whales will look at ccbill and mark it as a con rather than a pro (though don't *generally* send to revshare anyway, so I'm not saying a switch to NATS will see all the big hitters flock to your program). It pisses all over eg ccbill though, like a rolls royce pisses all over a skoda.

I believe the migration should be smooth, especially if you migrate your CCBill affiliates to credit old links.

As an affiliate, I don't sign up for new NATS programs. Among other things, I've seen too many programs migrate and then close or slow pay.

It only makes sense if you have decent sales volume.

Its a bunch of extra work and $.

The migration will not be smooth. Especially if you are switching billers at the same time. There are a lot of moving parts in the equation and getting them all working together will cause a lot of headaches and frustration, especially for someone that's never done it before. I've done 5, each and every one has posed its own issues.

In Mr Nerd's case, not only will he be learning a completely new system, but he will also be playing middleman between: TMM, hosting company, gateway, CCBill, bank, customer support company, password security scripts company, CMS company, so on and so forth. The transition is going to be a task that requires a lot of attention for quite some time, especially for someone who has never done it before.

Each one that I've done has resulted in more sales. So yes, I believe it's worth doing, 100%. Just be prepared for a roller coaster and know that you are not the first or the last to experience the hell that you are about to go through.

My advice: if you are already busy running your company, hire someone that's done it before to do it for you. They will save you months of time and prevent a lot of mistakes from happening.

when you start a new program and network of sites just use nats from the beginning. get used to it, see if you like it, has any worth for you first.

This. This. This. This.

Can be done. Lots have done it. Just do not underestimate what it will take to get it done. NATS can be complex to someone who has only run a CCBill program, but that is because of all the features it offers. I know of too many people who have setup NATS and then do very little with it. If you're going to invest in migrating to NATS, be sure to take advantage of all that NATS has to offer and learn its features inside and out.

I've always viewed the transition from biller affiliate management to in-house as a natural path for a growing company.

The MIDs are in place so therefore I must move forward. I don't know of any other way to track affiliates with my own merch accounts. I'm open to ideas, as always.

THIS I the #1 reason I have delayed the process for over 3 years. I am WELL aware of my limitations and am a very realistic person so was not even going to attempt this until I was ready to deal with mass frustration. But now I am because I find it difficult to grow my business with 3rd party processers.

I would, of course, hire you to assist in the transition Sly but I doubt I can afford you. Could I pay with GFY t-shirts? :D


The troubling prospect is if after going through all this headache it's possible I will not see a significant jump in earnings. If I didn't have to worry about bouncing affiliates around from one system to another I wouldn't care so much. I can payout my partners myself.

I am also hoping that because I intend to have CCBill continue to payout to CCBill affs the transition won't be as painful. LOL But while there is a lot to learn many companies have done this so I know it's possible. Let's see if it's worth it tho.