Weird Stats

RedMustang · #1 December 13th, 2008, 03:00 AM

Hi all,

I made a little site a few months ago to push Overstock products. The project's been on the back-burner. But, it gets a little traffic and averages a sale about every 2 months. My last payment from LinkShare was in September.

Anyway, I log on to LinkShare tonight and check out the "Since last payment" quick stat. It shows 12 orders for over $17,000 total, $1,850 commission! I was jumping for joy. I thought my site somehow finally took off or, at the least, had a lucky streak.

Naturally, I started looking through stats to try to find when and what was selling. Apparently, these are mystery sales. They do not show up in any other stat, quick stats or advanced reports. All I see is 4 orders for the entire year, $38 commission total, with only 1 being after my last payment.

I know LinkShare stats are quirky, but has anyone experienced something quite like this? Of course, what I really want to know is if these sales are legit and maybe just too new to be in all reports (wishfull thinking?).

Thanks for reading!

Zeus · #2 December 13th, 2008, 03:43 AM

You don't give us enough information to give you an answer.
What reporting system are you using? New or Old (Traditional Login)
And what reports are you using?
I've seen ghost sales before, usually it's sales reported by a merchant then cancelled later on. Sometimes, these sales will appear in the "Non-Commissionable Report", not always. Sometimes, they will stick with a negative value but sometimes they just dissapear from the reports.
LinkShare reporting system is broken. My quick Stats report with the new login shows:
Impressions
0.00 Clicks
0.00% Orders/Click
0.00 EPC
0.00 Orders
$0.00 Sales
$0.00 Commissions
It was working two months ago. Last month it worked a few days. I've thousand of sales in the Individual Reports but they are not reported in their "Quick Stats".
Last Month, My Top Advertisers (This Month - United States) were sorted, this month they are not, Two months ago, the Last Payment was completely erratic. It seems it's working this month. My trend graph works from time to time.
The only thing you can trust is the check or direct deposit they send you twice a month.
It has been going on for years. We were expecting a better leadership with a Japanese management but it's worse than before. What else can we expect from thieves?

RedMustang · #3 December 13th, 2008, 10:50 AM

The place I see the sales is on the new system - since last payment quick stat. I have checked every report type on both the new and old system, including non-commissionable sales. These big sales are nowhere else to be found. I checked Google Analyitics... no large increase in traffic to my site. So for now, I will assume the stat is bogus.

I see why everyone is so frustrated with LinkShare. It's like I thought I had won the lottery, but then realized my ticket was actually for the previous week's drawing. Oh well, life goes on.

affninja · #4 December 13th, 2008, 01:46 PM

Hey I used to drive a red mustang!

I would check out the product success report in the old interface if you haven't already. I've found that to be the most helpful in finding out what actually sold.

CathyM · #5 December 13th, 2008, 02:06 PM

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I think it's a bug. I rarely use the new interface but did try it just now. I couldn't find the Since Last Payment in Quick Stats until I discovered it in the Edit dropdown. After selecting it, it shows me with over $500,000 in commissions. Last payment date shows as 4-12-2008. The sales show as over 9 million.

Wish it were true but I am certain that it is not.

There is some big bug in the Quick Stats Since Last Payment view.

CathyM · #6 December 13th, 2008, 02:18 PM

I tihought the last payment date looked incorrect but it is apparently in European format and is correct at Dec 4, 2008.

No explanation for the large sales and commissions numbers but they could be the total sales and commissions driven to my merchants by all of their affiliates since Dec 4. Pure speculation.

Zeus · #7 December 13th, 2008, 02:41 PM

I didn't try that option up to now.
I can't wait to get my check. Last one was one week ago, so I did just fine in one week: I'm getting Commission: $0,00 for last month
Quick Stats (Since Last Payment - United States)
Commissions: Removed "Dont know what the amount is exactly"
LinkShare is not so bad, after all,
So now, where do I see what I sold last week?

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#1 December 13th, 2008, 03:00 AM
RedMustang Newbie Join Date: December 13th, 2008 Posts: 2	Weird Stats Hi all, I made a little site a few months ago to push Overstock products. The project's been on the back-burner. But, it gets a little traffic and averages a sale about every 2 months. My last payment from LinkShare was in September. Anyway, I log on to LinkShare tonight and check out the "Since last payment" quick stat. It shows 12 orders for over $17,000 total, $1,850 commission! I was jumping for joy. I thought my site somehow finally took off or, at the least, had a lucky streak. Naturally, I started looking through stats to try to find when and what was selling. Apparently, these are mystery sales. They do not show up in any other stat, quick stats or advanced reports. All I see is 4 orders for the entire year, $38 commission total, with only 1 being after my last payment. I know LinkShare stats are quirky, but has anyone experienced something quite like this? Of course, what I really want to know is if these sales are legit and maybe just too new to be in all reports (wishfull thinking?). Thanks for reading!

#2 December 13th, 2008, 03:43 AM
Zeus 15 years and counting Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 6,192	You don't give us enough information to give you an answer. What reporting system are you using? New or Old (Traditional Login) And what reports are you using? I've seen ghost sales before, usually it's sales reported by a merchant then cancelled later on. Sometimes, these sales will appear in the "Non-Commissionable Report", not always. Sometimes, they will stick with a negative value but sometimes they just dissapear from the reports. LinkShare reporting system is broken. My quick Stats report with the new login shows: Impressions 0.00 Clicks 0.00% Orders/Click 0.00 EPC 0.00 Orders $0.00 Sales $0.00 Commissions It was working two months ago. Last month it worked a few days. I've thousand of sales in the Individual Reports but they are not reported in their "Quick Stats". Last Month, My Top Advertisers (This Month - United States) were sorted, this month they are not, Two months ago, the Last Payment was completely erratic. It seems it's working this month. My trend graph works from time to time. The only thing you can trust is the check or direct deposit they send you twice a month. It has been going on for years. We were expecting a better leadership with a Japanese management but it's worse than before. What else can we expect from thieves?

#3 December 13th, 2008, 10:50 AM
RedMustang Newbie Join Date: December 13th, 2008 Posts: 2	The place I see the sales is on the new system - since last payment quick stat. I have checked every report type on both the new and old system, including non-commissionable sales. These big sales are nowhere else to be found. I checked Google Analyitics... no large increase in traffic to my site. So for now, I will assume the stat is bogus. I see why everyone is so frustrated with LinkShare. It's like I thought I had won the lottery, but then realized my ticket was actually for the previous week's drawing. Oh well, life goes on.

#4 December 13th, 2008, 01:46 PM
affninja ABW Ambassador Join Date: December 11th, 2005 Location: Nor-Cal Posts: 641	Hey I used to drive a red mustang! I would check out the product success report in the old interface if you haven't already. I've found that to be the most helpful in finding out what actually sold.

#5 December 13th, 2008, 02:06 PM
CathyM ABW Ambassador Join Date: May 30th, 2006 Location: Torrance, CA Posts: 879	I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I think it's a bug. I rarely use the new interface but did try it just now. I couldn't find the Since Last Payment in Quick Stats until I discovered it in the Edit dropdown. After selecting it, it shows me with over $500,000 in commissions. Last payment date shows as 4-12-2008. The sales show as over 9 million. Wish it were true but I am certain that it is not. There is some big bug in the Quick Stats Since Last Payment view. Last edited by CathyM; December 13th, 2008 at 02:26 PM.

#6 December 13th, 2008, 02:18 PM
CathyM ABW Ambassador Join Date: May 30th, 2006 Location: Torrance, CA Posts: 879	I tihought the last payment date looked incorrect but it is apparently in European format and is correct at Dec 4, 2008. No explanation for the large sales and commissions numbers but they could be the total sales and commissions driven to my merchants by all of their affiliates since Dec 4. Pure speculation.

#7 December 13th, 2008, 02:41 PM
Zeus 15 years and counting Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 6,192	I didn't try that option up to now. I can't wait to get my check. Last one was one week ago, so I did just fine in one week: I'm getting Commission: $0,00 for last month Quick Stats (Since Last Payment - United States) Commissions: Removed "Dont know what the amount is exactly" LinkShare is not so bad, after all, So now, where do I see what I sold last week? Last edited by Zeus; December 13th, 2008 at 02:53 PM.