Affiliate Vendors

[Emma Geraln]

A friend of mine has started issuing affiliate vendors. Her vendor supplier has offered a service by which sales revenue would go to a proxy AV account owned by the vendor manufacturer rather than to the affiliate with the funds then being sent back.

The suggestion is under some circumstances the funds would not be sent back to the creator, negative account balance or some kind of scamming script to empty the account.

my question is, does this happen often, how would you rate the risks? Any help would be appreciated :)

[Smoovious Laxness]

I would never use that kind of affiliate vendor.

 

Use one where the payment goes to the affiliate owner, who then sends the creator his/her cut, and the affiliate operator his/her cut, and the creator sends the product when the creator recieves his/her cut.

 

Just been burned too many times...

 

-- Smoov

 

[Sassy Romano]

One word... APEZ

Anyway, sounds like the vendors you're describing are CasperVend.  What you describe is a new feature and is optional for the merchant to use that method.

Your friend has two choices, refuse the vendors or ask the merchant to use the other method.

[Sin Toshi]

The risk is real. The scriptng language does not provide a way to confirm money has been paid. It only asks for the money and assume it was paid. So affiliate vendors have this "loop hole". But the risk is only of someone getting a product and the creator not getting paid. So if you make items that sell for low or moderate amounts, it may not be the grave a risk. You can probably spot the fraudulent activity after the fact and take action (disable/ban/AR). But if you sell big ticket items or have large number of affiliates and/or affiliate sales, then you may want to consider having an additional safeguard.

You can also avoid this kind of problem by screening your affiliates. That's why some people charge a fee to affiliates to join their program. It helps minimize the scammers who are looking for easy pickings.

[Ziggy21 Slade]

The problem is that its possible to exploit an Affiliate vendor and get free stuff, Casper is offering an option to users that ensures this can't happen.

Reports are that this is happening more and more, so it seems like word is getting around.

I have not opted to use this service yet, but I have a big product release soon, and I think I will do then.