Is it OK to click on your own affiliate ads to buy something?

Yes, I read the agreement.

[HughMungus]

I just read the whole CJ agreement and don't think I saw it mentioned (or, at least, not clearly) if you may click on your own ad to buy something via an affiliate. Anyone know the standard rule for CJ, Linkshare, etc.?

TIA

[Michael Anthony]

It's not a problem - I do it all the time. REPEATED self-purchasing, from the same IP, is sometimes frowned upon, but this is normally only for pay per lead programs, rarely pay per sale.

I will quite often renew my car insurance or something via an aff link - in my view this is a way to obtain a further discount on a product I was going to buy anyway, the merchant still makes the sale and still makes a profit, so even for the super-ethical this can't be a problem.

It's also amazing how often I've picked up tracking problems as a result of a self purchase, which is why I strongly recommend them for testing a program before spending thousands on PPC.

[HughMungus]

Thanks MA. Has anyone heard of advertisers who actually do specifically bar this?

[sean]

specifically bar this?

In terms of agreements or enforcement? If the former, I think Amazon.com. If the latter, dunno, aside those based on clicks or leads.

[HughMungus]

In terms of agreements or enforcement?

In the agreements. I play by the rules.

[jomaxx]

Yes, some agreements do bar this. You have to read the agreement and/or contact the merchant.

One reason merchants have this policy is to discourage people from signing up as affiliates in order to get a quick 5-10% discount. From that point of view, it helps preserve commissions for the rest of us and is a good thing for affiliate marketing overall.

[GuitarZan]

Hey,

I have a standard rule that I use when doing this. If I find a product myself, or through any other means other than an Affiliate... I will buy it through my link. But if an affiliate tells me about the product, I will purchase through theirs. It's called Honor

C.K.

[mfishy]

<<Has anyone heard of advertisers who actually do specifically bar this?>>

Yeah, but generally they are pretty cool if you shoot them an email. If they say no, they are a realy bad partner anyway...

[TrustNo1]

I always buy through my own links, never had a problem with it. Plus it's good to test out a merchant's tracking every now and then.

[AW_Learner]

I always buy from my own links too. If it is unclear I will email them and ask them if it is o.k. For "one product merchants" sometimes they will just give me the discount upfront by letting me pay less at checkout instead of waiting for the commision return. I view the practice similiar to getting rebates on purchases. The merchant is getting more sales and it promotes more sales that you might not of given them. And they receive just as much profit as with anyone else I refer to them. Plus you usually really did find out about there products by first becoming an affiliate, so you refered yourself. Not to mention it's nice to see what the real quality of there product is and there customer service, shipping and response etc. before recommending them to others. There have been some things I found and asked if I could sign up as an affiliate for and get my own discount and they told me yes as long as I was really going to promote them. I said I had intentions to IF I found that the product was as good as advertised. I don't want to deal with a bunch of returns and chargebacks on overhyped products.

There are a few that will say that they specifically do not pay on your own orders through your link. If that is the case and it is something I want to buy I will just order it using my husbands name and CC. That way I can just say I refered a friend...

[danieljean]

From a merchant perspective, soon to launch an aff program...

If you sign up to get a discount on something, like jomaxx mentionned, I wouldn't be impressed.

If you are promoting my program, I'm happy that you are testing out the tracking system and purchasing something. People that try my product will make better promoters :)

[jomaxx]

Personally I would never sign up with a program simply to buy stuff at a discount. That's just cheapskate behaviour and it most likely turns a profitable sale into a net loss for the merchant.

But if I DO promote them on my site, I usually don't lose sleep about it one way or the other. I have a clear conscience and besides, unless you flush your cookies there's a good chance the merchant will end up paying you a commission anyway.

[Michael Anthony]

"profitable sale into a net loss for the merchant. "?

So if a merchant makes a sale via an affiliate he's making a net loss? - why would anyone do that? Sure, they might be making less profit, but not a loss.

[danieljean]

So if a merchant makes a sale via an affiliate he's making a net loss?

You see, they're trying to make it up on volume ;)

Seriously, I've seen some merchants that will be at a loss on the first few sales, counting on repeat customers. I'd rather have longer term cookies and not have that type of exposure!

[AW_Learner]

There own affiliates sometimes can be some of there best loyal repeat customers. If you like the product and know that you will get a discount on future products as well, why would you buy from anyone else? I don't think you can count on repeat purchases that don't involve any affiliate split. Unless the merchant only pays out on first time customers and not if the customer has bought from them before, even if they just clicked on an affiliate link. But then that would apply to yourself as well and you'd only get paid on your first order with them. Not repeat. Although that's not a good deal for affiliates if they have a lot of them like Amazon and it is likely someone they refer to there product on Amazon has bought from Amazon in the past at some time. So best to make sure each sale generates some ROI even after paying out the cut to affiliates.

[iblaine]

Yes it's ok and virtually undetectable. No network is ever going to have enough free time to police this type of harmless activity.

Now if you do get caught then it's probably because you had too little traffic to start with and you buying through your own links caused a noticeable change in your stats. Or you're spending outrageous sums of money.

[iblaine]

BTW, buying through your own links can trigger fraud alerts.

[jomaxx]

It's true that a lot of merchants don't budget for customers who carefully buy through affiliate links every time; but I was referring to the overhead of adding and maintaining another affiliate in your system. It'll vary depending on the system in place, but at the very least someone will have to take the time to review and approve the new affiliate's site. Poof - there goes the profit from that sale.

I'm not saying it's a huge deal, but my personal belief is that signing up specifically in order to give yourself a discount is mooching.

[AW_Learner]

Not when the merchant outrageously inflates there prices. As in most all of the digital "info" products. They also have about a 90% profit margin. Plus about 50% of merchants do not even manually approve people. They just automatically approve everyone and send auto-reposponders to them. It's all automated.

If I had an affiiate program on my sites and I could get more sales just by giving 20% off I would be estatic. Hell I'd offer the discount to all customers who came to the site. Merchants who don't budget right for there own affiliate programs do not know what the hell they are doing and are not pricing setting right.

There are many merchants who highly encourage the practice. Like AllPosters.

FAQ

"Can I buy products through my own links?

Yes. Feel free to click through your own links to make purchases. You will earn commission on your purchases."