Amazon Associates (oh, we didn’t mean your associates!)
Doh! Well, after hooking up an Amazon Associates account (partially just to try out, but also to wrangle some discounts/referral moolah) I was hopefully awaiting to be paid for some orders placed through my aStore. Alas! Getting my girlfriend to place orders apparently does not qualify for referral payouts. Indeed, Amazon has some kind of proprietary algorithm to determine if your buyers are associated with you some way or another, and disqualifies those orders.
Here’s some of the email response I got after inquiring about the lack of compensation for my orders clearly shown in my report:
We operate a referral program, rather than a discount program. Our goal is to have our members refer new customers to us, and we then pay you for this effort, rather than simply offer discounts for shopping at Amazon.com
Here’s how our Operating Agreement explains it: “You may not purchase products during sessions initiated through the links on your site for your own use, for resale or commercial use of any kind. This includes orders for customers or on behalf of customers or orders for products to be used by you or your friends, relatives, or associates in any manner. Such purchases may result (in our sole discretion) in the withholding of referral fees and/or the termination of this Agreement.”
Given the relatively slim retail margins on our products and our strong discount pricing, the referral fees we offer to our Associates can only be sustained by meeting new customers through our Associates. These customers may return to us in the future for items unrelated to the topics served by the Associate web site, and this future business helps to offset the referral fees we pay. If an Associate orders for their own use, even if they plan to sell the items to customers who cannot order online, it can’t lead to this kind of future business. This is why we can’t afford to offer referral fees on such orders, as we want to keep the program viable for the long term.
Due to the proprietary nature of the process, we will not share with you the criteria by which we detect personal orders placed by an Associate. Please know that we are able to determine when an order has been placed by an Associate via their Associates links.
Ah well, it was worth a shot. Have you found any ways to take advantage of Amazon’s services?
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bryanlanders posted this
