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Thursday, November 16, 2006

Sorry BizyMoms.Com - Affiliate Program Thumbs Down

For a few years, I've been a BizyMoms.com affiliate. They pay a measly $2 per ebook. Although they now have a few products that pay a bit more, it's still mainly much $2 per ebook. I decided to promote them because they had some highly-targeted ebooks for a few articles I had written. At the time, I didn't feel like putting my own ebooks together.

Side Note: For those who don't know, Bizy Moms sells a bunch of work from home idea and some crafty type ebooks.

Interestingly enough, they have a $100 threshold to get paid. That means you have to sell about 50 ebooks to get paid. I'm guessing a lot of affiliates send sales and never get paid because they don't reach $100.

But worse yet, if you do reach $100, you might not get paid either! This wasn't such a problem when Liz Folger owned the site (although I do recall reminding them about payment once), but the website has since changed hands. Over the past few months, I had been receiving numerous sales notifications, so in October, I logged into my account to see where I was at.

I discovered I had been over $100 for a while. I put in a support ticket and the woman who answered assured me that it would be taken care of on the next payment.

It wasn't.

I submitted a support ticket yesterday and the replied to tell me the I needed to send a PayPal request and they would pay me. AND that anytime I get to $100, I needed to do the same. Here's is what they said:

"Hi Alice,

Ok, I spoke with the President and he said for you to send us an invoice through paypal to XXXXXX

In the future, once you get to $100.00 just send us an invoice, this way you will get your commissions promptly.

Be sure to mention that it is for Affiliate commissions, and to mention the last billing date with the billing amount along with the new amount.

Again, I apologize for any delay. In the future- just invoice us and we will make sure your are taken care of promptly :-)

Have a great week!

XXXXX
Career Kit Support Manager
Assistant to the President"

WHAT? They want me to ask for the money they owe me? Last I checked, that's not how affiliate programs work. I did ask for a reasoning for this, but I haven't received reply yet. I'll let you know if I do.

It certainly makes me think they don't pay out a lot of commissions. First, most of their affiliates probably never get to $100. Second, if they do, they aren't paid until they submit a support ticket and then a PayPal request.

To their credit, they paid me within minutes of sending my PayPal request, but that's really not the point.

Their ebooks fit my market well, but I'm no longer going to work for peanuts AND then have to beg to be paid. Sorry BizyMoms.com, you've just turned your affiliate into a competitor. :-(

More on that later...

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gosh, they would probably make so much more money if they'd pay their affiliates more, didn't make you earn $100.00 before payout, and they paid you on their own.

Sounds like they get the "My Affiliate Program Stinks" award.

10:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That just plain sucks. It's certainly not a smart business move. Why don't these people realize that if they treat their affiliates fairly they will benefit from it as well.

I've never heard of having to submit a payment request for promoting a product.

10:48 AM  
Blogger Carrie Huggins said...

Me neither Mila. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

11:11 AM  
Blogger Rob said...

wow...THATS a first.

I agree I have never seen this happen anywhere else either.

Are they in business to grow or shrink?

Rob.

12:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's just nuts. Makes me glad I don't market any of their products.

12:47 PM  
Blogger Mama Arika said...

What? I could see the $100 if their payout was better, but $2 a pop...come on.

AND If you wanted to have to invoice them you would be their VA for cryin' out loud.

Sounds to me like they need an affiliate manager to whip them into shape in many ways!

2:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's absurd! All the more reason to have your own products to sell.

Hopefully someone will smarten them up and make them realize they're missing out big time.

8:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

WTF?!!!EEErrrrgggg!!!
That Sure Does SUCK!!!
Looks like they just don't want to
pay their affiliates at all if they can make it hard enough to get the check. I'll stay away from that one for sure!!!
Thanks for the warning Alice!

1:37 PM  

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