Forkbeard |
07-27-2007 01:11 PM |
Forkbeard Recommends: Avoid GordCash
Cliff notes version: Gordcash (super-niche bondage affiliate program) promised rebills for the life of memberships, has apparently now decided to stop paying on all rebills, including rebills on existing memberships.
I'll start by saying I consider affiliate program owners to stand in a fiduciary relationship with respect to the money owed affiliates. Program owners should (and good ones do) display an exaggerated determination to see that affiliates get every penny coming to them. They have too many opportunities to steal, so it's vital that they be seen as scrupulously honest. If I see any hint that a program owner is relaxed about getting affiliates paid, I stop sending traffic ASAP. So, that's where I'm coming from.
Having said that, I'll let the excerpted emails speak for themselves. (Aside: I think the affiliate manager is a basically good guy with boneheaded bosses. I'm not naming him because he seems to be embarrassed to be where he is and (in subsequent emails not quoted) he offered to *personally* compensate me out of his own pocket for the trivial sum his bosses are not paying me -- basically, one rebilling member. I told him thanks but no thanks -- but as far as I'm concerned, he personally is a stand up guy.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by GordCash
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2006
Subject: House Of Gord Affiliate Program
Hi,
My name is [redacted]. I'm the new affiliate manager for the House of Gord.
I'd like to take a moment to invite you to join and earn 50% of all
transcations for the life of the membership.
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Time passes. Minor promotion by me. Long complicated sub-plot about why they never got major promotion from me, now irrelevant. Then yesterday:
Quote:
Originally Posted by GordCash
From: "House of Gord" < [email protected]>
Subject: Affiliate Payment Changes
Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007
To all Affiliates,
We at Beltane Enterprises, Inc. would like to take this moment to inform you that starting August 1st, we will no longer be paying out on affiliate rebilling. We will however pay 60% of all future new members.
This was a hard decision for us to make. We know it will be a disappointment to all of you. We have debated this for the past couple of months. However with the cost of production and other expenses we feel we have no other choice. If we are going to keep the affiliate program alive, then it must
be mutually financially productive.
We hope you all will continue to promote our sites and we would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. If any of you have any questions or just want to rant feel free to contact me at:
[affiliate manager email].
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Forkbeard
Does that mean that existing rebills will be collected by you, but not shared with your affiliates? Because I believe that would violate your contractual obligations.
Or, do you just mean that you will not be sharing rebills from new sales?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GordCash
Good question. I'll have to get that answer from the bosses.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Forkbeard
The rebill issue isn't a big one for me, but I've had one guy rebilling for six months who looks set to continue awhile. And I don't think it would be fair business practice for you guys to just decide to start keeping that revenue.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GordCash
I'm sorry but I think the people at Gord have decided to not pay for old
rebilling. I tried to explain to them that this is a bad idea and that
it creates a bad image for them in the industry but they were resolved
to end the affiliate program altogether and have agreed to leave whats
left because of my wishes.
I agree with you that this is not the best way to do this but I work for
them and have to comply with there wishes.
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So, there you have it, folks. My recommendation to all bondage / fetish webmasters would be to keep far, far away.
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