mslina2002 - 4:32 am on Jul 24, 2011 (gmt 0)

I rarely work with independent programs because there is no accountability as far as payment is concerned.

I have to agree 100% on that. Though the networks are not perfect, it is a 3rd party involved in the process to deal with chargebacks, fraud, or even non-payment of the merchant themselves. Also with a network there is a history of the merchant visible (EPC, CTR, ROI) and tells you before you join the merchant, how well they are performing. If there has been no sales showing for e.g. 6 months (SAS shows date of last sale) then that immediately gives you a red flag. Typically you have many merchants requesting you to join their programs but usually I watch their stats first for a few months before deciding.