Comments on: Don’t Be a Clickbank Douchebag

By: Scott Nassans

Scott Nassans — Sat, 29 May 2010 00:43:59 +0000

Come to think of it, I got myself confused. What I was wondering is if we can buy products through our own hoplinks? It's common sense not to abuse other affiliates' hoplinks. I've often heard clickbank affiliates say that it's best to buy the product and test it out before writing articles and that makes sense, however at least when getting started out as a new affiliate with little or no money, it's difficult to go that route. Thanks for this article, David.

By: Scott Nassans

Scott Nassans — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:40:59 +0000

Thanks, David! You answered my question about this very topic. I was just sitting here wondering if it was allowed by Clickbank or if it's even ethical. You made it very clear. I am basically a newbie and just wanting to make sure I'm not doing anything that would make me look bad or take advantage of other internet marketers, etc. I am considering on writing articles about various products from Clickbank, but doing research before I start anything to be sure I am doing everything the right way. All good advice is very much appreciated.

By: TechnoLogic

TechnoLogic — Sat, 22 May 2010 16:36:32 +0000

Heck, this post seems too old but I would still add my two cents here...

I didn't bother to go through all the comments so pardon if already stated.

Clickbank does a good job scraping out these douchebags... An affiliate must have had at least 5 sales with 5 different credit cards and two different payment methods before being able to request a cheque. So the only people left to be able to actually benifit from signing up through own affiliate link would be active clickbank affiliates only.

Unfortunately however, there may be instances that the interested consumer doesn't know about this clickbank policy and signs up anyways just to find that they didin't save anything at all. In this manner, clickbank comes out to be the winner because they don't have to pay anything to the affiliate, they can just keep charging $1 fees for every no-sale-pay-period until the "douchebag's" balance goes zero.

Hope it makes more sense.

Lokesh Sharma
TechnoLogic.in

By: Nonsensical Biz Model

Nonsensical Biz Model — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:36:06 +0000

Actually your point goes to moot. When anything goes online, it becomes 100 times more valuable than its offline equivalent? Come on!

Let's take valuable "information" as an example.

I have this great insider tip of Warren Buffet's trading secrets that I would like to capitalize on. I go to a publisher, got them intrigued, and they publish my book and have it sold at all major bookstores for $23.99. That appears fair enough for most accomplished authors of traditional books all over the world.

BUT, if I convert my Word document into PDF and paddle it as an e-Book, then abracadabra! With the magic "e" attached to my product, it becomes 100 times more valuable than in its printed form. My book, or "course" is now sold online for $69.95!

BUT I want to sell more even though I do not have access to the distributing network offered by traditional publishing houses. So, I hook up with Clickbank to sell my product.

And as Clickbank recommends, I should try to UP my COMMISSION so that more people will be interested in promoting my product. $69.95 suddenly seems not enough! Therefore, I up my asking price to $199.95, and pass on $130 as commission to my affiliates. Now, that is a sure-fire way to sell more courses!

Come to think about it, most online e-products are superbly inflated in value. A book which can be sold at $23.99 gets inflated 3 times for its intangible digital edition? Then to sell more, I further inflate it so that I can offer a hefty commission to my affiliates?

This doesn't sound right. Are we ripping our customers off? As a consumer, I would rather just pay what the author think his products' are worth, rather than pay some extra $130 for a heads up. In the end, the customer is paying an inflated price for the very same product.

This is also the reason why e-books are not taking off as much as anticipated. Only exception is Amazon's Kindle. But that again, is books sold at traditional publishers' rates and not "e-books" which may be many times over the sense of logic.

By: Nonsensical Biz Model

Nonsensical Biz Model — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:36:06 +0000

By: Troy

Troy — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:40:04 +0000

I totally disagree with this David.
I spend my hard earned money on getting a good site built and If I want to review your product then I damn well better get a big discount or a free review copy.
This just makes sense.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:53:37 +0000

I totally disagree with you David. What the heck are you whining about ? Would you like some cheese with that WHINE lol… Come on man that happens all the time and I don't mind if some affiliates did that if they are gonna send 10-20 or more sales to me. That is extra profits that I would not have made if they had not promoted the product. So stop whining dude. Because You agreed to pay 50% commission anyway if the product was sold by an affiliate. So what difference does it make if that affiliate bought using his/her own link ? You still get the 50% so YOU DIDN”T LOSE DUDE. You got paid what you agreed to get paid if it was sold to another person who was not affiliate. You would still have to pay the affiliate the 50% commission if he/she sold it to some one else. Stop being a Whining Douchebag yourself. That is not an attitude of a super affiliate. Sounds like a 16 yrs old crying for getting paid $10 for shoveling the snow( what he agreed to get paid) and not getting the tip which could have been possibly double the amount of what he agreed to get paid. Go act like a super affiliate and stop calling those affiliates “douchebags” who help you make money by selling your product or else it only makes you look like a “Whining Douchebag”.

Yes it is a different thing that if some one is doing just to save money on a product but remember they will not get paid if they sold to atleast 5 different people with 5 different credit cards.

By: DouchebagBuster

DouchebagBuster — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:36:12 +0000

Hey – you're the douchebag – and a dimwit as well.

Your product wouldn't sell at all unless those “douchebags” were getting the 50% off.

If you don't like it – just set the affiliate commission to 20% instead of 50%

what a jerk!

By: theantidouche

theantidouche — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:35:39 +0000

i don't know dude. I mean i do that all the time. And yes of course i say that i referred myself when seeking a referall finders fee. I'm sure your ebook was nothing more than a 5 page pamphlet of nosense that you are way over-charging for… so to me it kind of sounds like you're the douche.

By: Beat Maker

Beat Maker — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:42:22 +0000

I for one can’t agree total on your CBD description. Firstly as stated previously you still get the exact money you asked for the product when selling via clickbank so the effect on you is absolutely zero. I myself do buy products via clickbank with my own id but only if I intend to promote them as an affiliate. That way you, if I buy yours, you will be getting additional sales from me and my efforts. I know that many vendors say that after you have sold one or more of their items they will give you a copy free anyway. The clickbank system is set up so that you can’t just buy cheap items for yourself but once you have proved yourself as an affiliate with a reasonable number of sales I think it’s entirely reasonable to do this as long as you do it in the spirit of promoting the item and supporting the vendor.