Affiliate Ponzi Schemes Kill Affiliate Programs
A notice crossed my desk[top] today about a merchant, Boca Java (bocajava.com) which has teamed up with TrialPay (trialpay.com) to offer a discount if the shopper attempts to exit their site without completing a purchase. A popup is utilized that the shopper must either click to leave, or proceed to learn more about a $15 Boca Java gift certificate that is offered if they proceed to TrialPay and purchase a brand name product from one of their high converting affiliated merchants.
Let’s recap…
A. A Boca Java affiliate spends the time and money to advertise Boca Java products. A shopper finds the affiliate site through a search and clicks a link in SERPs or a PPC link which lands the shopper on the affiliate’s website. The shopper likes what he sees and clicks an affiliate link, taking him to the merchant’s website. An affiliate cookie resulted that will ensure the affiliate a commission if the shopper buys.
B. If the shopper decides not to purchase (at this time), he tries to exit but is roped into reading the TrialPay special offer and takes the bait, clicking on a TrialPay affiliate link.
C. TrialPay makes a commission on a selected brand name product purchased by the shopper.
D. TrialPay pays for the $15 gift certificate when the shopper visits Boca Java to make their original purchase.
E. TrialPay receives a commission for the Boca Java sale through their own affiliate link.
Excerpt from the TrialPay website…
How does TrialPay work?
If you aren’t willing to pay for a merchant’s product directly, the merchant would rather have you transact with another brand rather than abandon your purchase entirely.
TrialPay connects shoppers with ideal offers and pays the merchant out of advertising revenue. Everyone benefits from this arrangement. Merchants make sales from lost or unlikely customers, advertisers acquire new customers and shoppers get a free product. So while this offer sounds too good to be true, it’s actually in everyone’s best interest…and just as good as it sounds. TrialPay makes it happen.
Ah well, everyone benefits. Can’t get much better than that… Oh wait, what about that original affiliate who delivered the shopper without whom none of this would have taken place. Is she sitting looking at her website being so proud of her work that losing the commission is immaterial?
So TrialPay is not only blatantly using the original affiliate to deliver the buyer, they are also preying on small niche merchants such as Boca Java to simply hand them over. The merchant is led to believe that they are benefiting from this arrangement, when in reality TrialPay is literally killing their affiliate program by alienating their only source of traffic. Do you think those affiliates will hang around while Boca Java and TrialPay steal their commissions? When the honest affiliates are gone and all Boca Java has left are ponzi affiliates, and zero traffic, I doubt that TrialPay will hang around either.
Here’s the bottom line. With tough economic times, merchants, charity organizations, and affiliates are scrambling to make a buck wherever and however they can. Those lured by these ponzi schemes are ignorant of the consequences. As these become prolific and honest affiliates become aware, there will be an exodus to honest programs. The good news is that the parasites will die. The bad news? So will a lot of merchants that were just trying to sell the stuff.
Boca Java epitaph - Here Lies Boca Java, death by ponzi
Join Affiliate Trust today and help us get the word out…
AT.AffiliateTrust.org
January 9th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Put more concisely, you don’t like TrialPay because you fear you will not be paid on “return days” for the 3.5% of transactions where TrialPay can pursuade the consumer not to abandon the transaction.
Stupid.
January 10th, 2009 at 1:45 am
If you’d like to show your face John, your comment might be considered as having some validity…
January 19th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
[...] of parasitism in affiliate marketing (I refer to such unethical operations as OneCause, We-Care, TrialPay, SaveNDonate, ShopForYourCause, to name but a few), and lack of both affiliate and merchant [...]
January 19th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
It’s disappointing that you label us as a “parasite.” This is completely inaccurate and in the case of Boca Java, we never get a commission from them.
With Boca Java, we deliver a user — who would NOT originally pay for Boca Java under any circumstances — with an offer to get a discount off their Boca Java order if they transact with a third party. Maybe you’re not willing to shop at Boca Java at full price, but you are willing to shop at FTD.
The original Boca Java affiliate will get the full commission, though, because we give the user a Boca Java gift card that he/she uses to complete the original purchase. The original affiliate gets the credit.
We absolutely do not steal commissions. We work with thousands of merchants to help them convert customers who normally would not purchase, and we have thousands of success stories — affiliates included — who have benefited from what we do. We also have had very positive write-ups in The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Internet Retailer, and more.
Thanks,
Alex Rampell
CEO
TrialPay, Inc.
January 19th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Obviously Alex Rampel doesn’t understand how affiliate marketing works… No he is the CEO, he can’t be that dumb. So is it possible that he is lying.
[quote]The original Boca Java affiliate will get the full commission, though, because we give the user a Boca Java gift card that he/she uses to complete the original purchase. The original affiliate gets the credit.[/quote]
How on earth does the affiliate get the commission when you give the user a Boca Java gift card. Do you buy the gift card with the original affiliates cookie. How can you do that since the cookie is on the user’s computer, not yours.
January 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
“With Boca Java, we deliver a user — who would NOT originally pay for Boca Java under any circumstances”
How can you claim this? Just because the user is trying to exit at that time without purchasing doesn’t mean they won’t return and purchase (within the lifetime of the originating affiliate’s cookie).
On the contrary, many customers may be alienated by the exit popup and never return to Boca Java again for that reason.
“The original Boca Java affiliate will get the full commission, though, because we give the user a Boca Java gift card that he/she uses to complete the original purchase.”
You expect us to believe that your Boca Java gift card doesn’t set TrialPay’s Boca Java affiliate cookie, which will get credit for the purchase as last set cookie?
January 20th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Sam/VampireSkunk,
Here’s how it works:
1. Consumer won’t pay at BocaJava.
2. We give user BocaJava gift card (think: coupon) by signing up for Netflix.
3. Consumer returns to BocaJava, *uses* gift card/coupon.
4. Original affiliate gets the credit for the transaction.
Let’s all calm down for a little bit here and save the insults before understanding how everything works. We do NOT set our cookie. We run an ethical operation and such behavior would be very short-sighted with no benefit whatsoever; we pay the merchant (Boca Java), not the other way around. They do not pay us a dime for this placement. If you don’t believe me, try the whole process.
We are a tool to help merchants increase their conversions — people who aren’t willing to buy X might be willing to buy flowers at FTD to get a discount off X. Merchants use us in many different ways, shopping cart abandonment being one of them, but it’s up to them. As long as the merchant has a concept of return days, the affiliate *always gets credit* assuming the user comes back to make a purchase, which they almost always do.
Feel free to write me personally (alex AT trialpay DOT com); we really are good for affiliate marketing as we are both an affiliate and a tool to help increase conversions. We work with a lot of affiliates, and a lot of merchants.
Thanks,
Alex
February 17th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
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April 15th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
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