Forum

[paulie69]

Can anyone please tell me if it's ethically okay to buy a product (e.g Clickbank) - strictly for review purposes - using your own affiliate link? Is it acceptable practice to do this? Obviously this would mean a hefty discount by way of getting some money back from Clickbank for the transaction but I'm wondering if this is an okay thing to do(?)

Thanks and best wishes :)
Paul.

 

[marshallg]

Absolutely, you're going to hopefully be making the merchant money from it as well. And either way.. they're still making money from that sale, even if it is for yourself.

Can always ask the merchant for a review copy, i've done this for products that sell for $100+ and got free copies for review as well :)

 

[paulie69]

Hey marshallg,

Wow! That was quick!! I'm impressed! :) Thanks for your answer I really appreciate it!... That's great news. :)

 

[marshallg]

Not a problem, glad to have helped! :)

 

[jpastorizo]

Paulie,

Just to add. If you're clickbank account is new, please take note that you will not be able to receive that money until you get I think at least 5 different payments if I remember it correctly. This is one of CB's TOS to prevent people from signing up just to get a discount on a product they want to buy.

Marshallg is totally right. You can always ask a merchant for a copy and tell them you want to review their product cause you are considering promoting it.



Regards,
Renato

 

[paulie69]

Thanks Renato,

That makes sense, having to wait, I see the reason why - just as long as CB don't think I'm trying to do anything bad, that's the important thing. Thanks as usual for your reply! :)

 

[jpastorizo]

No problem brother. That is the usual problem that newbies encounter. They did not read the TOS and they bought the product through their link thinking they will get a discount because the commission is theirs. They will later find out that they cannot get their check until they get 4 more buyers! So essentially they did not get a discount until they receive their commission. LOL


Regards,
Renato

 

[dahlgrenINC]

Is it 5 buyers on one product or 5 buyers total?

 

[jpastorizo]

I think that is 5 buyers total not 5 sales. I think clickbank is looking at 5 separate purchases made by 5 different customers.


Regards,
Renato

 

[diyacorp]

a question related to the topic - I asked earth4energy to give me a review copy and they never reverted back to me. :-) How do I convince them that I badly need a copy ? :-)

 

[JJPerkins]

Hi Diyacorp,
don't know about that niche, but we've set up 5 niches now, and found big variations in how many product owners respond about a review copy.
Where they don't do review copies there's often a lot of resources in their affiate area, have you tried there for a review to rewrite?
Alternatively some have replied that when the website is running, then they will approve a copy, so maybe try again later?

On the number of purchases, it's actually 5 separate credit card transactions, Paypal ones don't count so it might be 10-12 before you get a cheque :-(

Regards, J & J

 

[jpastorizo]

diyacorp,

Did you tell them that you are building a website and will inlcude their product there cause you will be promoting it? Send them the URLof your site so they can check how serious you are in promoting their product. If you just tell them you want to review their product and not even send them a link for them to check it out then they probably wont get back to you thinking you just want to get a copy of their product for free.

If you have done that and still they have not replied to you then it is your choice if you will buy their product through your link and review it OR don't promote the product altogether because if the merchant does not reply to its affiliate who by the way will be the one to spend advertising money to promote their product and make them money, then you probably should not even work with that merchant in the first place! Just my 2 cents.



Regards,
Renato

 

[wollowra]

Yep, good point Renato...
Always make sure you have a site up before asking for a review copy, I think that's fair as well.

also...
clickbanks policy page is here.. new guys should read this thoroughly...
https://www.clickbank.com/accounting.html#A6

ClickBank will withhold payment of any account balance until the following criteria is met:

* Sales made with 5 or more different credit card numbers; and,
* Sales made with two different payment methods (either Visa, MasterCard, or PayPal). Note: PayPal purchases do not count toward the minimum 5 different credit card numbers.

Regards
Troy

 

[paulie69]

Hi Diyacorp,

Same here :( I spent time writing a well structured letter to E4E explaining my background, where I'm from, my plans, my intention for SEO strategy etc. I haven't heard back - well, not yet anyway.

I'm guessing most of the applications they get for review products would be a few badly worded lines from people purporting to be affiliates just trying to get the product for free. Fair enough in those cases, that's for sure.

But when we are trying to make a genuine effort though I think a reply (at least) would be nice - even some kind of automated reply. Unfortunately, it's just another obstacle facing us new affiliates I guess and yes, it is disheartening. But we must keep trying and moving forwards, don't give up!

 

[jpastorizo]

Guys,

We can ask Mark a list of his products and we can promote those!
I believe in one of the recent videos Mark mentioned he acquired a product on solar energy and he is improving it now.

Mark, your thoughts?



Regards,
Renato

 

[sean06]

E4E probably have a ton of affiliates wasting their time everyday so they're probably a bit sick of it. I don't have products that have the gravity they do and I still get affiliates asking for stuff all the time. And 99% of the time I never hear back from them again.

Sean

 

[diyacorp]

Sorry guys,
I got a bit of busy and could not reply to the questions.

Yes, my website is up and is doing reasonably okay.
I guess my request for a review copy might have got lost in thousands of requests they get.
Anyway, I think I don't need that anyway since I got a lot of stuff from several affiliate areas.

Renato,
I agree with your request :) Probably Mark should provide us a list of his products and we can promote the ones we are comfortable with.

 

[paulie69]

Hey diyacorp, Renato and Sean,

Yeah, I guess I can certainly understand about the volumes of (mostly dodgy) inquiries that publishers must get. I think if we stay positive then things will always work out for us, even if it takes a while. Diya, you know, I always find it really uplifting to hear positive comments - I'm so glad things are working out for you, good on you!

All the best guys... because you deserve it :)
Paul

 

[robynm]

Hi Guys
I have also asked Earth4Energy and had no reply, however I have sold that product. it was dissapointing. I researched info on the product though as many sources as possible, I found youtube helpful.

I am also wanting to add Marks energy product and looking for it now : ).

 

[paulie69]

Hi robynm,

Thanks very much for your input, I know that disappointing feeling too. Any luck locating Mark's energy product? I wouldn't know where to start looking for his product in particular, I was thinking of emailing Affilorama support and asking.

 

[wollowra]

Email support they can tell you.
Regards
Troy

 

[paulie69]

Thanks Troy, much appreciated :)