Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Don’t Be a Clickbank Douchebag

View Comments | Posted In Opinion by David

When you put a product out on Clickbank for sale, it is done usually for ease as well as for access to the affiliate network. You don’t expect people to take advantage of you.3DayMoney.com is my first product sold via Clickbank. So far, I’ve been happy with the experience. You have to jump through some hoops and pay them $49 for the setup fee, but they take care of order processing, affiliate payments, even refunds. Nice and easy.

Unfortunately as I am finding, it also opens you up to Clickbank douchebags. What makes them a douchebag?

They sign up as a Clickbank affiliate and then BUY a product as their own referral, thereby making the commission back. So, in essence, they’ve found and are using a sneaky back door to get a product at essentially half price (since most products offer 50% or more commission).

These people are douchebags. Sure, I still make some money and it is money I wouldn’t have made beforehand, but I look at it as cheating a product creator.

When you walk into a car dealership, do you turn yourself into a salesman so you can save money? For businesses that offer finder’s fees for referrals, do you walk in there and have the balls to say you referred yourself and demand the fee? I mean, come on!

There are people out there working hard to create products. Many of these info products are cheap as they are. I mean, while I was in San Diego, 3DayMoney could have been had for $47. I highly doubt anybody is going to suffer financial ruin over $47. And I spent quite a bit of time assembling that course. When a douche buys it, I end up making only about $21 on the sale.

The most ironic part is that these people are buying my course in order to learn how to make money on the Internet, and in the process they cheat to get the material. I know full well they would not be thrilled if the same happened once they got their own product out there.

I’m not sure how often it happens. It has happened several times to me.

So, look people. Don’t be a douche. If you’re not willing to pay the price for a product offer, then don’t buy it. But, don’t pull shady crap. You get back what you give. If you’re going to seek out how to make money online by cheating others out of their fee, you are only destined for failure anyway. You don’t find online success by stomping on the efforts of others.

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  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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!
  • theantidouche
    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.
  • 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.
  • David, a few years ago I would have definitely agreed with you. But there's a slightly different way of looking at things that serves me well, and prevents the thoughts of "loss".

    I would view my "sales price" as the amount left after paying clickbank commission.
    Therefore, if something sold at the full price I would regard it as a "bonus".

    So, regardless of the reason, I'll be happy for the sale to take place at the "after commission" price.

    Cheers, Eric G.
  • Not only have I suffered from the same situation but I have also given out products to affiliates to use as bonuses for promoting a new launch.... Only to find them being sold without any payment to me at all?

    #hit happens, sometimes good, sometimes not so good.
  • Your agree is to not set up an account for the primary purpose of supplying your own needs. If someone sets up a Risley "affiliate" for the purpose of selling one book to themself, they are abusing the system. Maybe affiliate systems should not pay until you have sold more than one of a product? Obviously, this would be an additional barrier to those starting out, something clickbank doesn't want to do, for obvious reasons. Clickbank wants to be the simple, entry level solution.
  • Matt
    I'd just like to say, I agree with you it's a bit shady if someone signs up to clickbank just to get half off.. But really, if they want to go to that extra trouble to save 10-20 dollars, I say more power to them..

    On the other hand, I would fully expect affiliates of clickbank to get a discount rate. Free demo's are a norm in the sales industry... You think Gizmodo pays for all those gizmo's they blog about?

    My feeling is a salesman would have to be pretty shady to sell something he had no experience with. I would fully expect to give my salesmen (affiliates) a discount price if not a free demo.
  • I too have been frustrated with this phenomenon. I have chalked it up to human nature.

    I will say that it was refreshing and almost cathartic to read David's post and all the accompanying comments. Somehow I'm not as pissed about it as I was before.

    I guess David can add another adjective to describe this excellent blog...perhaps "theraputic"?
  • My personal opinion is that people will do whatever it takes to make a sale because we have all become so greedy it doesn't matter what people have to do to get it, even if that means cheating or not.

    Sounds like the clickbank aff. would be something I wouldn't want to get involved with. They are always spamming my inbox with link after link.
  • John
    "How is this cheating when you got exactly what you wanted as a result of the sale? You lost NOTHING. You offered your product up for sale and agreed to pay a commission when someone sold it. Regardless of the details of the transaction, you got exactly what you wanted. And what if that douchebag goes on to become your greatest performing affiliate? Still pissed that they got a deal on their tryout?"

    I agree with Chris! A sale is a sale, what are you moaning about. I'm happy for people to do this to me!
  • Old jungle saying: "Never complain, never explain!" I think you may be on a hiding to nothing, my friend.

    The targets of your complaint probably did not even read your post. And among those who did, how many sent you back their illegitimate commission with an apology?

    On the other hand, you may have just planted an unhelpful seed in the minds of those who are mostly honest because they lack the imagination to think of such a dastardly deed for themselves.

    What you could do is offer your affiliates the discount if they will post a review on their website. Sometimes the advertising can be worth more to you than the price of the package. That is how viral marketing works is it not?
  • Patrenia
    Hey Chris, don't let it get to you. In EVERY walk of life, no matter the product or opportunity someone ALWAYS finds a way to beat the system. It's the nature of the beast. Find the positive in this. Bless those that found the "opportunity" and hope the best for them. I'm sure you know that animosity only keeps you from your further reward.
  • The title of this post is awesome. It's so much better than all this "How to do this..."" "How to get that..." BS I see 50 times a day.

    Thanks for the good title David.
  • Look, it violates most affiliate policies including (technically) Clickbanks.

    David is right that it is a crappy tactic. But I guess it is the risk you take. Just like digital products, ebooks etc. They can be torrented and sent all over for free.

    Chris is right that the person would have to have sold several other items first, not only is there a requirement on the sales with 5 different credit cards but they must also reach a minimum amount as well. But, chances are that if they know how to do this they are probably selling other things as well anyway and will most likely get the discount. This does not mean that David should not be able to vent about it. It is still technically a violation of Clickbanks rules.


    From Clickbank"

    "Can I purchase products through my own HopLink?

    The short answer is yes, but ClickBank does not condone affiliates using their accounts for this sole purpose. As stated in our Accounting Policy, "ClickBank accounts cannot be used for the sole purpose of collecting rebates or otherwise extending credit to yourself or others." That is, affiliates should not be using their own HopLinks to purchase products for themselves and then collect a "rebate" check from ClickBank."

    It is not technically a violation unless you are using clickbank for that sole purpose which is what David was complaining about.
  • Just to be clear--I'm not saying your program teaches some kind of system gaming methods. I haven't used your course.

    I'm just saying some of the others that you can buy via ClickBank have that type of angle.
  • Considering most of these systems consist of some kind of "gaming the system" aspect (pretend to be an expert, link cloaking/masking, PPC games, etc), I don't think you can be surprised this happens. Seems like the cost of doing business with an affiliate network.

    Maybe it's time to just sell your products directly if it really bugs you.
  • Andrew, yes it is a cost of doing business. I'm not worried about losing money or anything. Perhaps I'm just naive, but I was a bit surprised to see it happen as much as it does.

    I sell all my other stuff directly. This the first time I decided to use Clickbank.
  • Seriously. It's the ol' prisoner and warden game, everywhere, all the time. Everyone's just completely brainwashed into thinking the key to life is getting over, at any cost. It would be so nice to think that if you put your effort into creating something, that others would respect that and honor what you'd made. It's not all about getting the most for the least, people.
  • Robert, I can certainly appreciate your perspective on this (I've been subscribed to your RSS feed for a couple of months, so I'm somewhat familiar with your stuff). Let me ask you this: You've got a person who buys enough digital product that they're willing to go to those lengths to buy more at a discount... to me that's an awful lot of effort to save a few bucks... Given that the vast majority of the general public have never bought a digital product (less when taking music out of the equation) wouldn't this repeat buyer of digital products be an ideal customer who you would love to have on your mailing list for your next big launch?
  • Chris,

    The average American owns 4 credit cards, and 1 in 7 Americans own 10 or more, so paying for 5 different products with 5 cards is easy, especially if you have a friend, wife, neighbor...
  • Chris
    from the Clickbank terms of service:

    "Unless an account contains sales from made with 5 or more different credit card numbers, including at least one Visa card, and one MasterCard, our system will not generate a check for that account (even if the balance has met or exceeded the payment preference)"

    So essentially, you're not getting any discount unless you've got some other sales going as well... or you've bought a lot of products and been careful to use five different cards to pay for them... unlikely, or at least rare.
  • Hey Dave, I have been dealing with this for years (I call them Clickbank Weenies) and it is annoying. When you have an internet marketing product on Clickbank, lots of people are going to know how to do it. All you can do is sell more copies and down the road raise your prices to make up for it ;-)

    It's not ok to do, and it's a fast way to burn bridges with the product vendor. Any way to justify it makes you sound cheap, just look at Chris's comment above.

    When I sell a product for $100, it's $100. If I wanted people to buy it for $50 I would have priced it at $50. You can't get a job at a furniture store just to buy one couch and give yourself the commission on the sale, then quit.

    Bottom line David it's going to happen.
  • Chris, I don't believe that's true and if I'm wrong please enlighten me. Anybody can sign up as a Clickbank affiliate. You don't have to have sold something to come in and buy as your own referral.

    Besides, I know that most people who do this aren't buying to evaluate it for a sale. I've been around the block, man. I know people do this just to save $$.
  • Chris
    How is this cheating when you got exactly what you wanted as a result of the sale? You lost NOTHING. You offered your product up for sale and agreed to pay a commission when someone sold it. Regardless of the details of the transaction, you got exactly what you wanted. And what if that douchebag goes on to become your greatest performing affiliate? Still pissed that they got a deal on their tryout?

    I couldn't disagree with you more on this. One of the worst parts of affiliate marketing is that there are a lot of people out there who are pedalling products that they've never used. I have no problem whatsoever with someone buying at a discount in this way, especially if their intention is to find good things to sell. Besides, knowing the rules of Clickbank, these people are not getting a discount unless they've SOLD something on Clickbank as well. These are exactly the people who you want trying your product because they just might try selling it on your behalf if it isn't garbage.
  • You're right, that kinda sucks...but I guess it's a price you have to pay if you want to have affiliates doing the work for you. I wouldn't mind an affiliate getting the product cheaper if he also referred 20 other people to buy it. And it would be fun to enter a shop and say "I referred myself" :-)
  • I saw your Tweet about it the other day, and guessed what had happened. That is low! Presumably though they're violating the clickbank TOS. Surely there's something in there to stop people doing this?
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