Forum Moderators: skibum
I already have ad management for all my sites, so I could set up a CPM impressions program, or pay per click, but in this case, I would prefer to make $xx per sale.
Is there efficient affiliate software - or other solution - that can track a product from my site to a sale on his, without spending a ton to facilitate this?
Any input is appreciated.
Thanks
You can use www.mals-e.com to sell the products - you can even take the credit card numbers securely so he can go and type the numbers into his PDQ if he takes plastic and you don't.
Dixon.
I was hoping there was an easier way to avoid a direct sale from my company. hmmmmm... will need to think about this some more.
Anyone got any beans to spill?
I have an arrangement with a vendor where the visitor fills in a brief form on my site that is emailed to the vendor who contacts him directly. I get paid an amount per referral and also an amount per sale the vendor makes. Not quite the same thing, not realtime, but that's the closest I could get.
You first process the sale at your markup through your shopping cart. Once the funds are in your account, you pay the vendor, furnish the shipping info. and they ship. You carry no inventory.
Be sure you have an agreement that the vendor will not dircetly solicit your customers.
Sometimes that's not practical. In our industry prices change on an almost daily basis. Some vendors offer facilities where you can link directly to their database for realtime pricing and stock information. The vendor in this case may not offer such facilities.
I'd still be interested in any good answers to netguy's original question.
I use drop shipping very successfully, and can understand why it might not work well with a supplier who cannot keep up with publishing sensitive price changes in real time in that sort of market environment.
IMO, it works just fine in a relatively stable pricing structure.
Again, that said, I may well be missing a piece of this puzzel.
In cases where there is frequent price fluctuation it won't. But even if there isn't frequent price fluctuation the vendor may not necessarily have a system to notify affiliates of any price changes thus leaving the affiliate with out of date pricing unless the affiliate takes a pro-active approach and checks the vendor's site frequently.
Also, the affiliate won't know of any /special offers/discounts/upsell offers etc.
The other problem is that with low value items it may not be economical to handle the order and then pass it on. If it's a $2.00 item you'd rather your visitors ordered it directly from the vendor. The other matter is technical support, legal issues etc. In the UK the customer has a 7 day cooling off period. If he wants to return the goods they'll come back to you for a refund, not the vendor. Similarly chargebacks. Unnecessary aggro ;-)
Anyone with any suggestions to the original problem?
