Opinions Needed: Affiliate Fairness Issue!
 

So, as our affiliate program has become more developed, we've run into issues we didn't originally anticipate.

Example: A guy comes to our site roboticblowjob.com from a link placed by an affiliate on a blog, etc. He looks around and doesn't buy. Two weeks later, he comes again and buys, but he arrived by clicking the affiliate link of another affiliate, on a different blog.

Since we use NATS, we are able to see where both of the visits came from.

What is the fair way to handle this situation? Who gets the credit?

I would think the second guy gets the sale, but seems my programming team thinks its fair that the first guy gets it! So, I thought I'd post here to find out what the industry standard might be, if such a thing exists.

Thanks guys.

The CLOSER gets the sale.

Just my opinion. If it were up to me, cookies wouldnt have been ever used to track sales from day 1 ever. It's just not reliable. If your ad didnt close them, but my ad did, why would you even think you deserve it? just mho.

It's really up to you. Different sites handle it differently. What do you think is fair?

Why does your team think the person who failed to close the sale deserves money?

Seems strange he came from two different links.... I would say the second link gets the sale.

Seems my programmers think this way:

The person wouldn't have known about the site with out the first guy's link. So, maybe, it was only based upon the fact that he found the site in the first place, that he though to search for it again.

I disagree with this though, and think it's more fair that the second person gets the sale, just because its closer in time to the purchase, and therefore more directly related. Neither of them really "closed" the sale, I like to think we did that. :winkwink:

Every body handles it differently actually.

I don't really think I would let my programming team make that decision though. That is a business/sales/affiliate decision. Surely the programmers would not want the affiliate reps making OS decisions.

If you've ever worked retail being paid on commission, you know that the closer gets the sale, hehe. Now, if you feel your tour closes, and that affiliates just represent clicks(?) then I think it's a mistake that will become apparent in good time. Some affiliates will do 1:5000, others 1:200. Just clicks? No way :)
Anywho good luck figuring it out.

I can definitely see both sides here.


I say split it. LOL. That way no one can bitch.

That will work like shit when I surf websites and click thru on a paysite link of an affiliate
then decided to join your pay site as a affiliate and then do a test sign up and don't
get credit for it.

Then I quit your program rightfully because you actually do not give
me credit for everyone that signs up on my link.

But then I get smart and re-join your program with a tube site with stolen content
that get 200k hits per day and I open a chained popup on my site that opens
every single paysite you have so I can steal all the sign ups for myself even though
they all went to other sites to join because they hated all my pop ups. :1orglaugh

Site #1 sends the visitor, visitor waits 2 weeks to come back with cookie still intact = Site #1 gets credit for sale.

Site #2 sends the visitor overwriting Site #1s cookie = Site #2 gets sale because they closed the deal..

Thats the way it works in all fairness.. if someone goes to site #2 and they actually made the surfer want to whip out the plastic they deserve ALL the credit..

coffee is for closers

Fire your programmers. They are employed for programming, not to suggest how your business has to be handled.:2 cents:

lol, nice question for a sponsor to post

This is the way to go! :thumbsup

:thumbsup

:thumbsup :thumbsup

yup, lets make critical business decisions involving tracking of sales without consulting the tech crew first... :error

Tell the programmers to go and program something
Like if you have a housegirl. She's there to cook and suck your cock.
Not insist that you need an STS instead of an SLS.

The second guy gets the money.
As has been mentioned, the second guy did the closing.

Man if that was the case, i'd be a lot richer now than I am... :thumbsup

I don't know if people are serious or not when they say not to listen to my programmers when they have opinions about the business. If you view your employees one dimensionally, you are losing out on a lot!

Without defined roles.. There is no structure.. Without structure, what is your business?

I hate it when programmers give advice about business practices.


Sales goes to the closer.

Order of who gets sale:

1. Immediate sale resulting from direct link with affiliate code encoded.

1.5. Optional idea: set a second cookie for each additional affiliate sending a surfer. The second affiliate only gets credit IF either #1 applies OR the surfer buys within 3 hours. Let the second cookie then expire and keep the first.

2. First cookie set

I do not think cookies should be overwritten as that makes it more vulnerable to cookie stuffing. The idea in 1.5 would basically give the true closer the sale (for 3 hours) and if they don't close in time then the first affiliate keeps the sale if it is later made (such as if they go back through a type in)

:2 cents: The programmers can likely see issues that mere mortals :1orglaugh might not involving cookie stuffing and other "loopholes" and gaming of the system. One should probably at least hear them out and try to understand their reasoning.

Well, this is GFY, right?

And of course you will discuss tracking of sales with programmers. At least as far as programming is concerned.

But would you discuss critical business decisions in public?

If it makes you feel that bad, just credit it to me

There is no right or wrong on this one. Just a matter of opinion.

My opinion is if my site closed the sale, I should get the money.

Lets put it another way...


Guy walks into a Ford dealership and has never ever seen a Ford Edge. He is blown the fuck away by it. Can't stop looking at it and almost buys it but he just cannot deal with the price being more than he wanted to pay.

Then he walks into my dealership. I show him how he will actually get better gas mileage with the new car. His insurance will be the same. So if he ends up trading in his current car he owes money on and I can get him into the car for about $70 more a month and show him gas wise he will save that $70 on his commute to work. And look cool doing it...

Who gets the sale?

Now lets pretend I never showed him shit... He just liked the car and my dealership was closer... Do I forward the money to the other dealer that turned him on to the car? Even when I paid to have it shipped? I paid for it to sit on my lot and I give him the money?

It seems that only online do you find people that prefer the 1st showed, 1st paid model.

Do you want to know why? It is called cookie stuffing. These same people have lots of traffic and are making sure every surfer gets a cookie. That way they get sales for shit they really had nothing to do with...

why should the 1st person get the credit if the second one made the sale?