I was wondering how many are participating in affiliate programs that pay lifetime commissions. It definitely makes sense to focus on affiliate relationships that basically pay you forever in exchange for giving them a customer. Unless it's a company like Amazon that is likely to eventually get that customer through other marketing means, don't you think lifetime commissions should be standard in affiliate marketing?
Lifetime Commissions
- Thread starter learn2b
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I agree with Jake. If I were a company doing commissions I'd rather pay the person who keeps bringing in people to buy stuff than one person who brought in a couple of people a long time ago.
From my experience it's really rare to find a company that pays out lifetime commissions. Most good companies won't have to offer that kind of an incentive. Think about it, a really good company/product provider will give you banners, email ad ideas, graphics, & have good converting sales copy, etc that they've tested - saving you a bunch of time. It's not just the commissions that make a company worth working with.
I'd rather see them offer good support & help close the sell & I'd rather they reward the more active current affiliates that are getting them sales anyway.
I'd rather see them offer good support & help close the sell & I'd rather they reward the more active current affiliates that are getting them sales anyway.
Of course, if a customer visits a merchant through a subsequent affiliate link, they should get the credit. And you could be that subsequent affiliate. My point was not about one affiliate versus another. I'm talking about merchants gaining a lifetime customer from the efforts of an affiliate and only paying the affiliate for a single sale.
Web hosting is an example. An affiliate refers a customer who pays for the first month of hosting. The affiliate earns a commission for that one transaction, a month's worth of web hosting, but the customer remains with the web host for years. In my opinion, this is not an equitable arrangement.
Web hosting is an example. An affiliate refers a customer who pays for the first month of hosting. The affiliate earns a commission for that one transaction, a month's worth of web hosting, but the customer remains with the web host for years. In my opinion, this is not an equitable arrangement.
Most of online pharmacies which have an aff program do life time commission , but I think they do that as it's a competitive market and has a heavy $$$ .
I think that the average affiliate would prefer to get paid now, rather than later.
If you gave the affiliate 2 options;
1) $50 paid a time of sale
2) $1 per month for up to 75 months as long as the customer pays his monthly bill.
Most affiliates would take the hot $50 right now. You don't know how long the customer is going to stay with the hosting company, or if the hosting company might go out of business, or merge, or a competing company offers free hosting, or whatever...
If you gave the affiliate 2 options;
1) $50 paid a time of sale
2) $1 per month for up to 75 months as long as the customer pays his monthly bill.
Most affiliates would take the hot $50 right now. You don't know how long the customer is going to stay with the hosting company, or if the hosting company might go out of business, or merge, or a competing company offers free hosting, or whatever...
I agree with this. A one-time commission of $50 would probably balance out in the end. You might even come out better if, as you say, the customer leaves, the company goes under, or they drop the affiliate program. To me, a $50 commission would be worth the time invested and compensates the affiliate beyond the customer's initial purchase. If it was a $10 commission, I'd look elsewhere.
These are some good points. I have been interested in finding more 'lifetime commission' type vendors but after reading this thread, I can see what you guys are saying. If, let's say, a membership site says that you will get 'x percent' every month on a customer you bring them, it may not really be to your advantage to choose that company over the one that will pay you a one time amount (if the amount is reasonable). I guess it all boils down to crunching the numbers and, everything else being equal, seeing who's offering the better deal.