November 25th, 2002, 08:24 PM
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#1 |
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Affiliate Manager
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: Colorado River, Bullhead City AZ
Posts: 1,623
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Well I have figured it out... Ebates is stealing the commissions from every affiliate and your direct linking...
Today there is a post on ABW linkshare/overstock Overstock. It seems that Ebates is back to its old stuff... I have never downloaded it before, so tonight I joined up.... Sure enough, Go to my site and click on a merchant that is listed with them.. It gives the original code to my site, then the screen miraculously changes and all of a sudden, it's got a different pid... also popups saying that don't worry that the frame is not there, we are still getting your sales... Then I wondered if someone just typed in www.backcountrystore. (after deleting all their cookies (ebates), and I showed up your site as normal.. Then all of a sudden, a page refresh, and low and behold, you are paying them a commission even though they typed in your url. This is why over 400 click throughs yesterday and what 1 sale? 2? You know my traffic is targeted. This is really fu&$@d.... I am so pissed... I thought that Paul was quoted as saying "he stopped the redirect". And was only waiting for the software upgrade to the old users. My download was not old.. it was today. I guess when you try sleeping with a pack of thieves, they get up in the middle of the night and keep stealing while your sleeping.... Better get an alarm installed on the door! That way you can hear them sneaking out! Allen Nance [This message was edited by Allen Nance on November 26, 2002 at 11:41 AM.] |
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November 25th, 2002, 09:08 PM
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#2 |
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pph Expert!
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: Edmonton Canada
Posts: 5,813
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And here's me asking if my links work because I have only had one sale from 807 click throughs this month to date, seems like I've got my answer from ABW.
I did ask Bryan a few days ago to check for me but I still have not had a reply. Where do we stand with E-Bates Bryan? Do you agree with them diverting our sales? Are you prepared to do anything to make them stop these tricks? BTW I would still like you to check those links please. Travel safe Gordon YouTrek |
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November 25th, 2002, 09:59 PM
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#3 |
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ABW Ambassador
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: Utah
Posts: 1,144
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Allen Nance:
Then I wondered if someone just typed in http://www.backcountrystore. (after deleting all their cookies (ebates), and I showed up your site as normal.. Then all of a sudden, a page refresh, and low and behold, you are paying them a commission even though they typed in your url.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> This is what makes no sense to me. If merchants want to accept eBates for what they are and let them steal other affiliates' commissions, then that's fine. Although I don't agree with it, it's a business decision. Basically, the merchant is willing to lose other affiliates in order to gain more sales from eBates. But eBates also gets commissions when a buyer types in the merchant's URL. So instead of pocketing 100% of the sale, they (in the case of BackcountryStore) only pocket 91%. What sense does this make? I'm really excited to promote BackcountryStore.com (especially since we're practically neighbors), but I'm a bit hesitant putting time into it if I'm not going to reap the rewards. Michael |
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November 25th, 2002, 10:42 PM
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#4 |
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Affiliate Manager
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: Colorado River, Bullhead City AZ
Posts: 1,623
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by EmDub:
This is what makes no sense to me. If merchants want to accept eBates for what they are and let them steal other affiliates' commissions, then that's fine. Although I don't agree with it, it's a business decision. Basically, the merchant is willing to lose other affiliates in order to gain more sales from eBates. But eBates also gets commissions when a buyer types in the merchant's URL. So instead of pocketing 100% of the sale, they (in the case of BackcountryStore) only pocket 91%. What sense does this make? I'm really excited to promote BackcountryStore.com (especially since we're practically neighbors), but I'm a bit hesitant putting time into it if I'm not going to reap the rewards. Michael<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Michael, I even went to overture and typed in one of their search keywords .. Page went to backcountrystore.com and then!!!! Here comes the page redirect adding in the ebates aff code... Now if the merchant loves paying for search words, why not pay us affiliates the same amount they would bid on a word and pay ebates on everyone of the the sales.. It appears that these merchants have a bigger profit margin than I thought. (If you have seen lots of posts by me tonight, since I found this out, I have had 2 24 oz of Starbuck coffees.. Wired at 22:42 Monday. Allen Nance |
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November 25th, 2002, 11:14 PM
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#5 |
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ABW Ambassador
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 5,129
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I too had the problem of clickthrus and no sales so I took my links to Backcountrystore down. I have other merchants that aren't playing with Ebates that I do quite well for.
I had had my hopes up with Bryan, as he seemed receptive and concerned about the Ebates issue, but was dissappointed to see them still partnering. Connie Berg www.flamingoworld.com |
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November 25th, 2002, 11:44 PM
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#7 |
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Affiliate Manager
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: Colorado River, Bullhead City AZ
Posts: 1,623
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Connie,
It was a pleasure meeting you at CJ. I too thought that Brian from Backcountry and Lisa from Sportsbasement were backing us affiliates. What about all those other merchants you have? This is rampant with every network. Allen Nance |
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November 25th, 2002, 11:49 PM
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#8 |
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Super Sh!t Stirrer
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 10,036
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Uh, oh!
The Wolf Credo: Respect the elders. Teach the young. Cooperate with the pack. Play when you can. Hunt when you must. Rest in between. Share your affections. Voice your feelings. Leave your mark. |
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November 26th, 2002, 12:09 AM
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#9 |
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ABW Ambassador
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 5,129
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From talking to different merchants, their stance seems to be "wait and see". I think many of them are hoping there will be some kind of outcome from the Nov.7th meeting that will take care of the problem for the, so they don't have to deal with it.
I actually did get dropped from a few merchants for speaking up against Ebates. I didn't rant and rave either, I just brought the matter to their attention and asked that they download the MMM and see for themselves what it does. I never asked them to drop Ebates, just to see for themselves and make an informed decision. But instead they decided they didn't want vocal affiliates and dumped me. But that's ok, there are other merchants out there! Their loss! Connie Berg www.flamingoworld.com |
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November 26th, 2002, 12:43 AM
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#10 |
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ABW Ambassador
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 544
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Hi i sent BCS much click every day but zippo sale
NOW ITS CLEAR EBATES HIJACKS OUR COMMISSION I'll reconsider to drop BCS if BCS still partner with ebates |
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November 26th, 2002, 02:07 AM
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#11 |
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ABW Ambassador
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 1,717
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After it was mentioned earlier that Ebates was an issue with BCS I put off updating the site with winter gear. My ROI is too low. I can build sites for parasite free merchants and get higher CR with the same time invested.
- - - - - 42. Yup, the answer to life, the universe, and everything. |
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November 26th, 2002, 02:12 AM
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#12 |
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2005 Linkshare Golden Link Award Winner
 
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: St Clair Shores MI.
Posts: 17,386
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Well I just decided to install the full eBates program with the Moe Money option and give this bugger a test drive. It will be interesting since many of my 380 merchants are eBates supporters. It will take some time to verify the hijacking in my Win98 IE6.0 system. I did notice right off that Zone alarm required me to accept them as sending and receiving info from my hard drive.
WebMaster Mike |
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November 26th, 2002, 07:04 AM
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#13 |
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Geek Entrepreneur
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: At my computer
Posts: 637
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If this is true, I am pulling all my BCS links. This is the second chance I have given BCS and as they say in baseball.
3 strikes and you are out. Bryan, I would like your response to this ASAP!  Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. www.teampb.com |
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November 26th, 2002, 07:07 AM
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#14 |
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ABW Ambassador
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 542
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I downloaded and installed Moe Money Maker today.
It DID redirect and frame backcountrystore.com when I typed in the URL directly. I dont have any links up for backcountrystore (as yet) so I tried it on another merchant that I know partners with ebates. My site was NOT redirected and my Affiliate ID was left intact on clickthrough. So unless it changes the Affiliate ID at the shopping cart, it seems OK to me. Unless anyone else can prove differently? So not but not  or  either
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November 26th, 2002, 07:39 AM
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#15 |
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15 years and counting
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 5,704
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FYI, my november stat with Backcountrystore:
Very, very well targeted clicks for winter sports IMPS-----CLICKS---SALES 39,279---3,211----16 The worst EPC for this category I'm glad I'm not paying for the traffic, I'll go broke. Was wondering what was going on. It's not the big that eat the small... it's the fast that eat the slow. Jennings & Haughton |
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November 26th, 2002, 08:09 AM
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#16 |
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Full Member
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 57
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My stats aren't to bad - Clicks:4,862 Sales:41 EPC:$11.82 ...
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November 26th, 2002, 08:29 AM
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#17 |
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15 years and counting
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 5,704
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maccas, That's a pretty decent EPC:$11.82 compared to mine at $5.86 and Backcountrystore average 3 months and 7 days EPC $5.96 $5.41.
It's not the big that eat the small... it's the fast that eat the slow. Jennings & Haughton |
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November 26th, 2002, 08:59 AM
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#18 |
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Outsourced Program Manager
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: Affiliateville, USA
Posts: 8,077
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Wow, and to think I was just about ready to load a bunch of BCS links.
Thanks for the heads up on this one! Ron - 7 Days A Week Marketing Every day is a chance to learn something new and a opportunity to teach someone else. |
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November 26th, 2002, 09:35 AM
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#19 |
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Merchant
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: TN, USA
Posts: 1,044
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I have BackcountryStore on my site and just clicked thru my affiliate link that takes you to the Men's Clothing page. (I also have a fresh install of MMM as of last night.)
1st try - my affil link to Men's Clothing redirected by eBates and landed on http://www.qksrv.net/click-46157-306722?sid=ebs29399393sbe and gave me a DNS error 2nd try - my affil link to Men's Clothing redirected by eBates and landed on the homepage http://www.backcountrystore.com/store/index.html?CP=CJText&AID=306722&PID=46157&SID=ebs29399738sbe 3rd try - my affil link to Men's Clothing redirected by eBates and landed on the homepage http://www.backcountrystore.com/store/index.html?CP=CJText&AID=306722&PID=46157&SID=ebs29399957sbe 4th try - Clicking on my affiliate to land on the Kid Carriers page - redirected by eBates and landed on the homepage http://www.backcountrystore.com/store/index.html?CP=CJText&AID=306722&PID=46157&sid=ebs29400154sbe |
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November 26th, 2002, 12:07 PM
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#21 |
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Geek Entrepreneur
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: At my computer
Posts: 637
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Talking with Bryan, he is about to post a response.
Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. www.teampb.com |
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November 26th, 2002, 02:18 PM
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#22 |
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ABW Ambassador
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Posts: 2,089
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Nothing from Bryan yet?
Cazzie |
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November 26th, 2002, 06:05 PM
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#23 |
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Outsourced Program Manager
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: Fort Gratiot, MI
Posts: 655
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Please read this entire post before hitting the Reply button. Thanks.
When I first heard of Parasite Affiliates it was back in May with Buyersport. A member of ABW brought the parasite issue to our attention, we investigated and Buyersport was dropped. We let them back in after they agreed to fix the software but when it became evident they hadn’t changed anything they were dropped again. Through that experience I learned what to look for in the CJ reports to help spot Parasites – an unusually high EPC and conversion rates, quickly becoming a top affiliate, and a subsequent drop in sales from all partners. I haven’t seen the signs of parasite activity from Ebates that occurred with Buyersport. During the same time period in which many of you report sales have dropped we’ve changed from summer to winter products and launched a new website. How much do those factors relate to a drop in sales? How many of you have changed every single link and kept up with the change in season? Or made the changes I’ve suggested regarding the best products to have on your site? While some of our affiliates have seen sales drop during the last few months, while Ebates has been part of our program, others have seen a significant increase. Regardless of how your site has done in the past or is doing now, I’m here to work with each of you to ensure your sales are increasing. I’ve worked with every affiliate who has contacted me, down to the point of creating spreadsheets with the exact things that need to be done. Changes don’t happen overnight, and it might take me 24 hours to respond to email, but I will work one on one with you to make your site better. Ebates is a very minor part of our program. I’m not going to go into details, just as I wouldn’t share details of your program with other affiliates but I can tell you this. If all of their sales this month were divided among the affiliates who sent us traffic, you would all have an extra 0.001% of a sale. Their program is such a small part of total sales that I don’t have a problem dropping them. As of today, BackcountryStore.com is not partnering with Ebates. That being said, I have a challenge for you. We’ve ended our relationship with Ebates, now you need to drop your partnerships with REI, Altrec and Global Sports merchants – any competitor of ours who is partnered with any form of ParasiteWare needs to go. Why? Because they are diverting our sales, just like you say Ebates is diverting your sales from us. How can you truly measure how we convert when you might be passing that sale off to a competitor? And besides, how can you possibly justify working with merchants who support parasites? Once you’ve done that, send me an email or pick up the phone and let’s work together to increase your conversion rates without anyone else getting in the way. No competitors, no parasites. After that, if we aren’t converting for you and you aren’t converting for us, we’ll know it’s not a good fit and can walk away knowing we gave it our best shot. We have products to fit any website, and I’m here to help you find what sells for your site. Anyone willing to take this challenge? I hope you will. My email is brhodes@backcountrystore.com. My phone number is 435-657-2468 ex 116. I'm here to work with you, I hope you'll give me the chance. Regards, Bryan Rhodes Bryan Rhodes Affiliate Marketing Manager BackcountryStore.com Phone: (435) 657 2468 ex. 116 |
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November 26th, 2002, 06:26 PM
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#24 |
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Defender of Truth, Justice and the Affiliate Way
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: The Swamp
Posts: 7,185
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> We’ve ended our relationship with Ebates, now you need to drop your partnerships with REI, Altrec and Global Sports merchants – any competitor of ours who is partnered with any form of ParasiteWare needs to go. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Bryan, A very fair request of affiliates when the merchants are asked to and then do end their partnerships with these companies. A very good job indeed. May many packages from BackCountry be under many Christmas trees this year.  Keep Your Hands Off My Cookies |
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November 26th, 2002, 06:29 PM
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#25 |
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Outsourced Program Manager
Join Date: January 18th, 2005
Location: Fort Gratiot, MI
Posts: 655
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by EmDub:
But eBates also gets commissions when a buyer types in the merchant's URL. So instead of pocketing 100% of the sale, they (in the case of BackcountryStore) only pocket 91%. What sense does this make?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> EmDub, Nice to meet a neighbor. Come up to Heber sometime and say hello. Let me explain the Pay per click scenario and the potential value of eBates when typing in URL's. Let's say you are searching for a snowboard from Salomon and happen to be a member of Ebates. You go to Google and do a search. Showing up in the listings are REI, Altrec and BackcountryStore.com. You click on each link and see the reminder at each store except ours. Do you buy that snowboard from BackcountryStore.com? No, not when you get a rebate at the other stores. And if you type in our URL and see the reminder, aren't you more likely to buy from us? I would think so. When we have a sale, there is a huge boost in conversion. Ebates didn't deliver the boost we expected, so it wasn't a huge deal to drop them. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I'm really excited to promote BackcountryStore.com (especially since we're practically neighbors), but I'm a bit hesitant putting time into it if I'm not going to reap the rewards. Michael<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> There is no guarantee that you will "reap the rewards." But I'll help you any way I can. The biggest mistake I see our affiliates make is having out of stock products on their websites. Even with our system set to pull up similar products, it's a very bad user experience. Use the Sniplet Generator to ensure you don't have problems with out of stock products. Do you ski or snowboard? Let's go sometime. Thanks for joining our program, Bryan Bryan Rhodes Affiliate Marketing Manager BackcountryStore.com Phone: (435) 657 2468 ex. 116 |
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