CJ Commission rates?

What are advertisers paying?

[biking4jesus]

I am in the process of signing up with CJ. I am already on Shareasale and like it, but I need access to more publishers.

What did everyone here pay when they signed up for CJ Access?
Standard pricing seems to be 30% commission, $3k setup, and $3k to fund the account. Has anyone been successful at lowering or changing these terms?

[skibum]

That's pretty standard. I think the one time fee used to be $2250.

[markwelch]

I've heard $2,500 instead of $3,000, in the past, but it's certainly the right ballpark for what folks are paying CJ. Nobody's ever told me that they've negotiated different terms at CJ than were first demanded, but of course the contract prohibits such disclosure (so does LinkShare's, but in the past I've been told of about amazing discounts offered by LinkShare sales staff when they need to meet quotas at the end of a month or quarter).

You didn't mention what the "monthly minimum fee" would be, nor anything about the contract term (can you withdraw at any time?).

I think you're making a mistake; I don't think you'll get new business that justifies those costs. And by joining CJ, you will be attracting parasites and other unethical "affiliates" who aren't allowed at ShareASale.

(I despise CJ and LS, for reasons I've explained many times on another online discussion forum frequented by affiliates and merchants.)

[jcoronella]

I would bet my login that ebay has. ;)

>> I despise CJ and LS

Trust me, that comes through cristal clear. ;)

CJ is probably the first/only place I'd consider launcing my aff program, outside of direct deals with the people I know in the industry. You are going to get the most exposure there. AFAIK they don't have an 'exclusivity' clause like Linkshare does, though.

Anything that involves a salesperson on the phone is negotiable.

[skibum]

I too think if you're going to launch an affiliate program, CJ provides the best bang for the buck. I do a lot through them as an affiliate (so I'm a little biased there) but that's because they have the best IMHO, merchants, interface, payouts and timely payouts all in one place. Working directly with in-house programs does tend to be more profitable but you have to be able to trust that they will actually pay you.

They aren't going to be the best for every site in every industry or every affiliate but when you mix in the exposure you'll get there compared to lots of other places - if you're going to be in a network, CJ would be my pick. The minimum $$$ commitment for a merchant through CJ is probably about $8,250 - $2250 setup and then $500/month for 12 months that is CJs take (~30%) of what you pay affiliates. It may be a lot more, may be (but probably isn't) a lot less but I believe that is a decent ballpark estimate. You need to factor in the $$$ that goes to affiliates and more than $500/month for CJ if you sell a lot of stuff.

If you can recruit affiliates and get exposure and get top affiliates to trust that they will get paid, then probably any network will do and an in-house program would facilitate better payouts but be more work handling tracking, all the tax forms, etc...

From an affiliate POV, the general LinkShare interface hasn't been updated in years which is a big drawback when affiliates want to be able to pull what they need quickly. I have no idea what they charge but I suspect CJ probably costs less at least to get started. LinkShare has lots of long-standing big merchant accounts so they must do well too.

LinkConnector is another one I've used and they always pay on time. No idea what they charge merchants.

SAS is very popular among some merchants and affiliates as well.