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Anyone use shareasale affiliate program as a merchant? Work well?

by kencalhn
13 replies
Hi -

As a merchant looking for affiliates, I'm considering trying out shareasale.com -- does anyone have any feedback about them? (from either an affiliates' standpoint or, preferably from those of you who are merchants who have used it for at least a year or more)...

I'm an 'army of one' with 12-18 hour workdays and need something for affiliate management that is minimal-maintenance, so outsourcing to them seems like an idea. I know cj is likely good too, but I want to test on a lower-setup cost affiliate management platform first.


thanks,

ken
#affiliate #merchant #program #shareasale #work
  • Profile picture of the author RutledgeGroup
    I was on a webinar the other day and someone was recommending Shareasale. I haven't personally used it yet though.
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  • Profile picture of the author thekaver
    i have heard a few people talk about it and saying the like it
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  • Profile picture of the author kokopelli
    I've been a shareasale.com affiliate for many years - IMHO they do not convert very well in general. Not sure I trust them, either.
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    • Profile picture of the author KirkMcD
      Originally Posted by kokopelli View Post

      I've been a shareasale.com affiliate for many years - IMHO they do not convert very well in general. Not sure I trust them, either.
      Well that would be the fault of the product you are promoting not SAS's fault.
      I do very well with some of their merchants.

      And on the Merchant's side of things. They are fine. You will still need to promote your affiliate program though, so that publishers know that exists.
      You can't just put it up anywhere and hope that they find you.

      Also, CJ is very expensive to start with. They have a lot of upfront costs and high minimum monthly expenses.
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      • Profile picture of the author kencalhn
        thanks for the comments; so far it looks mostly positive; good to know it... anyone else?

        I've tried running my own internal affiliate programs; challenge is workload regarding to what's automated vs manually managed... any other merchants' or affiliate feedback re shareasale? thanks all - and happy holidays
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    I've used Share-a-sale for years. It's interesting though......... The company who I am promoting through them is an extremely tight niche so the vendor actually contacted me to talk about their business and ask if I would be interested in promoting it. Their products were perfect for my members and viewers, so, of course, I said "sure".

    One day I got a message from the business owner saying "thanks for doing so well for him". I went to my account to find no sales reported whatsoever, so I wrote back to him and asked what he was talking about, I showed no sales. He wrote back with my statistics, and I got ahold of share-a-sale immediately. 48 hours all my sales reports were online and accounted for. I've not promoted any other products through them because of that incident, but I have kept the vendor I have since I know that I can count on keeping things honest there.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
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  • Profile picture of the author kokopelli
    Originally Posted by HeySal

    One day I got a message from the business owner saying "thanks for doing so well for him". I went to my account to find no sales reported whatsoever, so I wrote back to him and asked what he was talking about, I showed no sales. He wrote back with my statistics, and I got ahold of share-a-sale immediately. 48 hours all my sales reports were online and accounted for. I've not promoted any other products through them because of that incident
    Yep, just like I said:
    IMHO they do not convert very well in general. Not sure I trust them, either.
    Of course, my experience with them has been as affiliate, never as a merchant. Your experience may differ ...
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    • Profile picture of the author kencalhn
      One thing I like to implement as a double-check, almost good as a fail-safe, is for All affiliate promos, is what the gurus' affiliates do during big launches, is promise a downloadable digital bonus that customers get once they a) order through your link and b) forward the email with confirmation to you.

      That way, you get contacted with orders from your link, maybe check/verify with merchant first to make sure you're getting credit, on a per order basis, before sending the link (say that in the promo, eg "order from my link and get my 60-minute downloadable video on (subject), Free - just forward your order email to me once you've placed your order and allow 48-72 hours"... or something similar.

      One REALLY SNEAKY thing I'm seeing in the trading industry, is "guys with big lists" and their affiliate managers use "First Cookie" affiliate crediting, which I hate, because then whomever that lead was "tattoed" to, years ago, gets credit for the sale, even if it was Your email that caused the purchase.

      Shareasale, like amazon, uses last-cookie, according to their sales manager, which I much prefer. Otherwise commission shrinkage/loss due to "that competitor with 300,000 email leads, gets credited". That's a key question to ask before promoting, is "do you use first- cookie or last-cookie" approach? And confirm it.

      That's why I like the "order from my link for a unique bonus" that only you can offer, that you developed, for sales coming through your link, and coordinate with the merchant, to get agreement; that's what I do, before promoting, to help ensure I get credited when promoting for others. Anyone who uses first-cookie only I don't promote for, because otherwise someone else gets credit for my sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author craiglamey
    I have been with Shareasale for many years. Out of 1700 affiliates signed up there are no more then 10-20 active at any given time, and of these we get about 10-30 clicks a day total. Conversions with a 45 day cooking are practically non-existent. Of the few rare sales we get it it almost always a coupon site (meaning someone searched after knowing about us for a coupon code), or a fraud order.

    Many sketchy international fly by night sites and those who will bid on company name only (even these don't convert).

    Tried newsletters, product feeds, higher commission, longer conversion window. Nothing worked. We have an expensive high end product well worth promoting. We even allowed Adwords bidding on keywords, which is where most of our sales come from.

    I have pretty much given up on using affiliates and have closed it down as of the end of the year. Just not worth the effort. I suspect the same is true of the other programs, at least for our product. People simply will not do the work of promotion. The old saying is correct.
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  • Profile picture of the author super
    What are set up costs?
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    • Profile picture of the author Graham Maddison
      Originally Posted by super View Post

      What are set up costs?
      ONE-TIME FEES TO GET STARTED
      ShareASale has a simple up-front pricing structure. There is a one-time Network Access Fee that occurs only after all the setup steps have been completed, and prior to activation on the network. Additionally, we require a $100 minimum deposit. This amount is used to pay the Affiliates and ShareASale for sales and other qualified leads that you define. Any amount left in your account that is not used to pay for sales, leads or fees to ShareASale can be refunded to you at any time that you wish to close your account.

      $550.00 one time access fee + $100 deposit = Total to get started $650

      taken from their merchant sign up page
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  • Profile picture of the author vishwa
    I am with shareasale with more than one year and I must say that it is best compare to cj. They paid on time without any delays. Customer support is also excellent. The most important thing is you can earn more with shareasale compare to cj. Last year I had earned $2500 while in cj I had only $350.
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