I'm Just Sharing

While I sit here fighting my urge to go to the store and buy a package of Double Stuff Mint Oreos, I thought I’d talk about one of my latest issues with an affiliate.

It’s bad enough that I had another affiliate drop me this month because I live in New York. I belonged to Newegg only three weeks before they decided that I didn’t qualify for them anymore; oh well, as least they didn’t string me along for months, even though they did send me something saying that I had agreed to some contract in 2008, then, when I wrote them to inquire about it, they acknowledged they were wrong. Maybe it was proving them wrong that got me bounced; oh well,…

In this case, though, it’s about money, and legitimate sales. The affiliate is part of Commission Junction, and they’re called Football Fanatics; yeah, I’m naming names. They’re a company that has all kinds of products with both professional and college football teams logos and colors, and, as America is in love with football, I thought that would make a great addition to my listings.

Then I got lucky, and had someone ask me if I knew where they could purchase some football related items. She told me what she wanted, and I sent her the specific links to each of the products. These weren’t cheap things either; I knew that, if she bought, I was going to make a nice little chunk of change, and it would have made for my best month ever with CJ.

Well, I didn’t get credit for any of these three sales, and that’s just not right. I waited a week just to make sure, but saw nothing. I first wrote CJ, who said I should write the company. I then wrote the company, giving all the information that I knew they needed, because CJ told me what they’d need. After a week of not hearing anything, I wrote CJ again to mention that I hadn’t heard anything from the company. They wrote me back saying they’d contact the company, but reminded me that all payments have to come from the company themselves, and that CJ is basically a go-between. The actual response was:

Please be aware that is it there (sic) responsibility to maintain their affiliate program. If they are neglecting it, you may wish to promote a different advertiser.

And there you go. Of course I knew that part, but a big part of my thinking is that one doesn’t get to totally abrogate responsibility from someone they represent just because that someone isn’t acting properly. In my mind, I may not ever get my money, but CJ should seriously look at these people and decide whether they wish to sanction them being a part of the CJ “family”, if you will.

Of course, a big part of me is hoping that I get my payment, but I will be looking for another football items related affiliate, though it looks like I’m going to have to find out outside of the CJ family. Too bad, since they offer the ability to post products also, but hey, I’m not doing this just to promote a business that’s not going to follow through on their fiduciary responsibilities. Yeah, I know, big words; so sue me.

Overall, I know that CJ is a reputable company, and I’m not leaving them any time soon. But I guess this does point out that companies like CJ and Clickbank, who I’ve also talked about before when I was warning people to verify product links, are really just conduits to the ultimate prize, which are the advertisers whose programs and products we hope to market and make a little bit of scratch from. Affiliate marketing can be tough enough as it is. Be ever vigilant; it’s your money, after all.

Update I ended up voicing my displeasure on another blog, and was contacted by the affiliate manager for Football Fanatics, who promptly looked into my situation, and I ended up getting credit for my sales; yay!