Affiliates who have coupon sites - Remove them as affiliates or not?

[Maximus1000]

So I have a affiliate program through shareasale. Today I had a customer who had already purchased from me in the past (found my site on one of my PPC ads) make a purchase. I then found out that a affiliate got a commission on this, and they are a coupon site. They actually come in the 2-3rd position when you type my sites name and "coupon". I thought the whole point of a affiliate system was to get new customers, not have existing customers go look for coupons (which I didnt have anyways), and then the affiliates who just make coupon sites get a cut. So should I remove all coupon sites from my affiliate list? Anyone else have a similar experience? It seems like all the affiliates who signed up are just coupon sites which is disappointing, I probably have to market my program better.

[onepointone]

It can be tricky dealing with coupon sites.
I am an affiliate, and I run a coupon site, but if I were a merchant...this is what I would do:

I would rename the 'coupon code' box to 'redemption #', 'processing instructions' or something similar.
[this cuts down on shopping cart "defections" in search of a coupon.]

I would only offer 'new customer' coupons. Codes that work on new customers orders only. [This gives discounts only to the people you want to attract as customers. It also gives the coupon sites something real to offer from your company. ]

Plenty of websites already offer these. Of course your shopping cart programming would need to support it.

[buckworks]

shopping cart "defections" in search of a coupon

One important aspect to think about is how that situation plays out when one of your other affiliates was the REAL referring source.

Will the original referring affiliate lose their commission when a shopper that they sent you goes hunting for a coupon code and returns to the site via the coupon site's link?

If yes, what do you think that will do to their motivation to promote you?

[Maximus1000]

that is definately true. I am leaning towards removing all the coupon site affiliates from my list. I really want high quality affiliates who are going to promote their site and in turn send new customers my way. The main question from my original post is that do coupon sites really drive quality traffic or do they mostly just refer people who already have seen my site and are hunting for coupons...

[topr8]

Ok, my perspective is as a customer (i don't have an affiliate program or use coupons as a merchant)

if i go to a checkout and see a coupon box, i will search online for a coupon, not only that if i don't find one i'll then quite possibly shop elsewhere (unless the product is virtually unique)
i've never searched for a coupon before looking for a product!