researching affilaite management software

no url drops please ;)

[zipzip]

'k, so im looking into affiliate management software. site search only throws up a couple of relevant threads, and the reveiw sites out there all seem to be selling the products they review (?id=givememoney). obviously, doh!

so, what features and issues should i actually be looking for? please dont just drop urls (although personal recommendations would be welcomed privately), lets estbalish a feature list for an "ideal" system.

my current list ;

- open code, so changes can be made. no system is perfect when you buy it

- choice of success payments ie pay per sale, payper lead, pay per uv etyc

- good reporting for affiliates, 24/7 real time if possible

- good reporting for merchants, 24/7 real time aggian if possible

- integratoin with payment systems

- support for multitier affiliates

- other nice extras, like mail manager to contatc your affiliates with new offers etc,

so ,what do i really need?

[jeremy goodrich]

Sounds like a pretty good list. As far as my experience goes, it seems that any package out there will still require some level of customization, if it is free or costs money.

So the open code idea to me, is the most important of the above. That way, if the other options are NOT there, you can still get the package -> and 'season to taste' so to speak. ;)