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Have A Coke And Pay A Commission!

by rob21
23 replies
If you walk into a bar and order a coke, the bartender or bar owner doesn't come rushing to the balcony warning you that he will receive a commission or profit if you buy that bottle of coke through him.
In my opinion that would be just plain stupid because we as customers know that the bar exists to serve it's customers but also to make a profit... that's business, right?

So why do we as online marketers in the internet marketing space, have to make disclaimers and "warn" people that if they choose to buy whatever we are promoting, we will receive some sort of compensation? Just like any other business we are in the online business to serve but to also make a profit, right?

I haven't heard or read much about this issue in the internet marketing niche, so just decided to put my thoughts out there.

Let me know what you think about this "commission disclaimer" topic.
#coke #commission #pay
  • Profile picture of the author aizaku
    Good question

    because in our world, the bartender/blogger is consistently talking to you and telling you how great coke is..

    If you're reading a post or watching a video then you are being spoken to or in other words, a designed message is being delivered to you...

    That's why, I believe..

    Have a cold one,
    Ike Paz
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    • Profile picture of the author rob21
      Originally Posted by aizaku View Post

      Good question

      because in our world, the bartender/blogger is consistently talking to you and telling you how great coke is..

      If you're reading a post or watching a video then you are being spoken to or in other words, a designed message is being delivered to you...

      That's why, I believe..

      Have a cold one,
      Ike Paz
      ...yeah the prospect is being spoken... people are constantly being sold on and pitched almost in every sense day after day. When you go to a shopping mall, a store, a coffee shop, a movie theater, on the beach, read a magazine,etc. ...and you won't always see disclosures all over the place. Get my point?
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  • Profile picture of the author Regional Warrior
    Bartender is getting paid to work not talk about a product / MMO have to by law by the FTC have the disclaimer so when the buyer reads why and buys we get paid

    Jason
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  • Profile picture of the author Zachary S
    Lol now I'm having a Coke..you sold me on that one..
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    • Profile picture of the author rob21
      Originally Posted by Zachary S View Post

      Lol now I'm having a Coke..you sold me on that one..
      LOL...did the person who sold you the coke, tell you that is would make a profit of your purchase!! lol...
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by rob21 View Post

    If you walk into a bar and order a coke, the bartender or bar owner doesn't come rushing to the balcony warning you that he will receive a commission or profit if you buy that bottle of coke through him.
    In my opinion that would be just plain stupid because we as customers know that the bar exists to serve it's customers but also to make a profit... that's business, right?

    So why do we as online marketers in the internet marketing space, have to make disclaimers and "warn" people that if they choose to buy whatever we are promoting, we will receive some sort of compensation? Just like any other business we are in the online business to serve but to also make a profit, right?

    I haven't heard or read much about this issue in the internet marketing niche, so just decided to put my thoughts out there.

    Let me know what you think about this "commission disclaimer" topic.




    Maybe because the bartender doesn't write mile long sales pages claiming his bottle of Coke cures cancer. I bet the profit margin on a Coke is nothing compared to whisky.
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    • Profile picture of the author rob21
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      Maybe because the bartender doesn't write mile long sales pages claiming his bottle of Coke cures cancer. I bet the profit margin on a Coke is nothing compared to whisky.

      LOL... but not all sales letters promise to cure cancer, but they still need to disclose. yeah...whisky should be the OTO upsell for coke buyers.
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  • Profile picture of the author kilgore
    For many of us, it's the law.

    There's a difference between someone selling a Coke at a bar or a book online and someone who gets compensated for endorsing that Coke or gets an affiliate commission when a visitor buys a book that was reviewed on their website.

    To simplify, the relevant difference mostly comes down to when as a business owner you are being paid by the seller of a product and not by the buyer of a product. In that case, your motivation for writing about or otherwise promoting a product must be disclosed, both for legal and ethical reasons. Your customers deserve to know that you have a financial incentive for your activities.

    That said, if you're creating an e-commerce site selling Coke or books or widgets, as you say, the financial incentive is apparent so there is no need for additional disclosure.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Originally Posted by kilgore View Post

      . . . as a business owner you are being paid by the seller of a product and not by the buyer of a product.

      Wow . . . I've been wrong all these years. I thought the buyers of my products were paying me.

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author rob21
        Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

        Wow . . . I've been wrong all these years. I thought the buyers of my products were paying me.

        Steve
        ..yeah. Me too! ...but I'm sure that the people paying me are the buyers, not the sellers.
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    • Profile picture of the author rob21
      Originally Posted by kilgore View Post

      For many of us, it's the law.

      There's a difference between someone selling a Coke at a bar or a book online and someone who gets compensated for endorsing that Coke or gets an affiliate commission when a visitor buys a book that was reviewed on their website.

      To simplify, the relevant difference mostly comes down to when as a business owner you are being paid by the seller of a product and not by the buyer of a product. In that case, your motivation for writing about or otherwise promoting a product must be disclosed, both for legal and ethical reasons. Your customers deserve to know that you have a financial incentive for your activities.

      That said, if you're creating an e-commerce site selling Coke or books or widgets, as you say, the financial incentive is apparent so there is no need for additional disclosure.

      Ok I get the your point of view, however everyone in business has in the core a "financial incentive", otherwise they wouldn't be in business.
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      • Profile picture of the author kilgore
        Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

        Wow . . . I've been wrong all these years. I thought the buyers of my products were paying me.
        Not if you're an affiliate marketer. For instance, when one of my customers buys something, they click on my affiliate link, go to the seller's site (e.g., Amazon.com) where they complete their transaction. Two months later or so, I get a deposit in my bank account -- from the seller. I never, ever get a dime from the buyer. This is why Amazon and many other affiliate programs refer to the commission I earn as "advertising fees" (see for instance https://affiliate-program.amazon.com...dvertisingfees). As I mentioned above, the same also holds true for others such as bloggers running sponsored posts.

        Originally Posted by rob21 View Post

        Ok I get the your point of view, however everyone in business has in the core a "financial incentive", otherwise they wouldn't be in business.
        True, but there are different types of financial incentives and different sources of financial incentives. For instance, if you review a product on a blog, it's possible that you:
        1. Got paid a fee for posting the review in the first place.
        2. Get a commission on the sales of the products you're reviewing.
        3. Get a free review copy of the item in exchange for the review.
        4. Get advertising from a fourth-party that is not in any way related to the product you're selling (perhaps you have Google Ads or something similar on your site)
        5. Don't get any finanicial compensation at all -- maybe you wrote the review simply because you really love/hate the product or to build up reputation with your audience

        This is hardly an exhaustive list of incentives for posting a review - and of course the same sort of list could be made for other types of product-related content besides a product review too. The point is that from a consumer's perspective it's not always clear which of the above incentives applies. If (1), (2), or (3) the fact that the reviewer is being compensated by the product seller poses a potential conflict of interest as the reviewer may feel some obligation or pressure to post a positive review. On the other hand if only (4) or (5) applies, there's no reason for the reviewer to post anything but the most honest review. Without reasonable disclosure, the consumer may have no way to figure out a reviewer's motivations.

        Again, to be clear this doesn't apply if you're the actual product seller. For instance, if you're an Amazon affiliate then you need to disclose if you're being compensated by Amazon. On the other hand, if you're Amazon itself, you don't need that sort of disclosure. Though of course, there are other rules you'll need to be aware of and follow even then.
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Bartenders getting Commission off each drink sale ?? That's news to me.
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    • Profile picture of the author rob21
      Originally Posted by discrat View Post

      Bartenders getting Commission off each drink sale ?? That's news to me.
      LOL... that is not what we're talking about. However you may a point there...
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    • Profile picture of the author Regional Warrior
      Originally Posted by discrat View Post

      Bartenders getting Commission off each drink sale ?? That's news to me.
      Don't the Shot girls get a % of whats sold at a alcohol promotion? therefore they should have a sign around there necks telling the punters this

      Jason
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    In a sense there is a point. If I buy some PLR and start to sell it I do not need to disclose that I am making a profit. But the affiliate promoting for me has to, even though they are using the same marketing techniques and material that I am.

    Have a coke and a smile

    al
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    • Profile picture of the author rob21
      Originally Posted by agmccall View Post

      In a sense there is a point. If I buy some PLR and start to sell it I do not need to disclose that I am making a profit. But the affiliate promoting for me has to, even though they are using the same marketing techniques and material that I am.

      Have a coke and a smile

      al

      Exactly! ...doesn't make much sense... even looking at it from the consumers rights point of view.
      Appreciate your comment.
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  • Profile picture of the author CASHsystems
    In many countries, it is required to make disclosures by law. I know here in the US, you must disclose.
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    • Profile picture of the author rob21
      Originally Posted by CASHsystems View Post

      In many countries, it is required to make disclosures by law. I know here in the US, you must disclose.
      Yes in most countries it's required, but the point is why should affiliates have to make such disclosures. It's pretty obvious that if someone is working to get sales, he's doing it for some sort of compensation...pretty obvious in my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    but the point is why should affiliates have to make such disclosures.
    Because too many people were writing "reviews" as if they were an objective commentator, when in fact, they had a financial interest.

    Now people have to state upfront that they have a financial interest.

    It's commonly know as "transparency."
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    EIGHT posts in a row to "make your point"???? You can make one post with multiple quotes - and one "lol" is usually sufficient.

    I've been wrong all these years. I thought the buyers of my products were paying me.
    You are wrong if you are talking about affiliate products - which is what the OP has mentioned. A buyer pays the same whether from an affiliate or the product creator....it's the SELLER who pays commission.

    The OP doesn't seem to know the difference between affiliate commission and product markups in a retail environment.

    If a bartender serves a coke - it's part of his job as an employee.

    But more than that - the owner of that business buys the cokes wholesale - just like the rest of his inventory is purchased from middleman supply companies. Thus, he owns that product when he sells it to you (at a markup) so there are no disclaimers to make.

    doesn't make much sense..
    It does make perfectly good sense. An affiliate marketer is selling a product without the need to buy and stock it before selling it.

    The person selling your "coke" has to buy that product and physically have it in inventory before it can be sold.

    That's pretty basic business info, wouldn't you think???
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by rob21 View Post

    Yes in most countries it's required, but the point is why should affiliates have to make such disclosures. It's pretty obvious that if someone is working to get sales, he's doing it for some sort of compensation...pretty obvious in my opinion.
    As Brent said, the disclosure is required because too many affiliates learned to use what one former member here called "little fictions", totally made up stories about how Product X did wonderful things for him (or whoever he was pretending to be).

    .info domains were nearly ruined by spammers using the cheap domains to promote fake news pages, localized by the reader's IP, touting some medical miracle product.

    Since said affiliates have no shame, regulators had to provide an artificial substitute. Better a disclaimer than a trip to the poorhouse after a fine, or even a trip to the graybar hotel...
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  • Profile picture of the author AronParker
    Good point!, it's just because of the increasing number of online "Gurus" promote fraudulent products I guess with big promises and hype.
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