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| US Navy 080716-1786N-N-016 Rear Adm. Raymond Berube, commander, Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers, speaks to Sailors (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Well, you have left that awful job and now are working for
yourself. You have jumped on board your new venture which is affiliate
marketing. You’re incredibly excited and are working all the hours God sends to
make this venture a success. You checking up and monitoring your site and you
see that sales are going quite well. Many of the strategies and things that you
put in place have helped your affiliate company sell quite a bit. The end of the
month finally arrives and you’re waiting for that first large payment. When you
check your account you are slightly disappointed. You did make some money but
according to your calculations you should have had more. You check your sales
figures again and decide to contact the company. They inform you that some of
the items sold were returned so those had to be deducted from your commission.
This is disappointing but it does happen. Companies do not
pay out commission on returned goods. You need to be aware of this to avoid
fall into further pitfalls. No one would expect to be paid a commission on a
returned item however; some less than honest affiliate marketing companies can
use this to scam some of your profits. You need to make sure you understand their
return policy and how it will affect the amount that you are paid.
A return occurs of course when a customer brings an item
back. Charge backs can also happen when they dispute an amount on a credit
card. Be sure you keep a close watch on which items are being chargeback or
returned. See if there are any patterns that are obvious. If you notice that
the orders that are charged back are always very high ticket orders then they
could be giving you false information. They are doing this to keep you commission
down and keep some for themselves. Keep a close eye on returns especially if
you think it is happening a little too often.
Charge backs are also indicative of another more serious
problem. If you notice that many of these charge backs are happening during an
initial trial period, or the money back
guarantee time, then there could be further problems. This is a sign that the
product or service that you are promoting isn’t up to customer satisfaction. It
could be misleading or just poor quality. However, it will effect your
commission and your future as an affiliate marketer. If this seems like it is
happening a little too often then again, there are problems somewhere in the
company. Look to get out and make alternative arrangements.
You also need to be aware of which items are actually
commissionable. Make sure you understand which products you will be earning
money from to avoid disappointment later. Sometimes the company will offer a
selection of products to put on your site, however only certain items may be
commissionable. Before agreeing to anything like this checks your terms and
conditions carefully.
Finally, you also need to make sure that items that are sold
don’t have any other conditions attached. Some will only pay a commission if
the customer fills in the payment details immediately. If they select an item
and continue to shop, you may not receive any commission on that item. You can
also loose commission if the customer clicks on any other links before
completing the order. If they order 30 of an item you promoting but click on
something else then you have lost out on quite a large amount of commission.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money. However,
before jumping in head first you need to read your terms and conditions carefully.
It may be worth having an attorney look them over for you. You need to be aware
of the many pitfall people fall into when they go into affiliate marketing.
Read and understand your terms to avoid disappointment later.
