Question for those familiar with CJ

backlinkgurus

backlinkgurus

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Aug 12, 2009
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I received a "pending offer" from one of the advertisers we work with on CJ alerting us that our commission rate was changing from (the advertised) 25% to a measly 5% in the next 7 days. Now, having sent over $1,500 in leads the past 3 days to this advertiser I'm obviously not very happy about this (apparently they weren't expecting their affiliates to send so many leads).

Now what's really got me pissed off is that the advertiser decided to take matters into their own hands (seeing as how commission junction requires them to give a 7 day notice period) and alter ALL sales from the past 3 days to match the 5% in the new notice. Having only received the notice YESTERDAY, the advertiser decided they would even go back to sunday and take commissions back from us on that day as well by altering the sales price of all leads that were sent to them.

Can someone familiar with CJ tell me if this is typical behavior of advertisers on there? Does CJ allow them to get away with altering sales prices to avoid waiting the 7 days necessary for the commission rate to change?
 


All of my dealings on CJ are pretty much "take it or leave it". Especially with a few of the huge advertisers who dominate their industry.

You should try to manually contact them and ask if you can be given an incentive-based program. Be honest with them. $1500 in three days is a lot and they won't want to lose out on that. They should have a tiered program that takes care of power affiliates like you.

But what they did is shady and I think it's time to look elsewhere. They may have violated CJ's terms for sure, so contact CJ too. In the meantime, are there other offers (on any network) you can replace this with?
 
Thanks Berto.

Unfortunately nothing comes close the the 25% rate at this time.

Per the advertisers site this is their "incentive rate":

15% up to $500
17% up to $2000
20% sales over $2000

with 25% being the 6 month "introductory offer".

Obviously there is no mention whatsoever of a 5% rate anywhere on there. Huge slap in the face no doubt. As to why an advertiser would act this way toward a publisher sending that many leads is beyond me.....
 
Ouch.
Have to agree with the take it or leave it for CJ. Have you tried contacting them for more info / to ask about that info you posted? If they're not willing to work with you there's always other advertisers out there who will for that kind of good traffic. Should be interesting to see what they say/ do.
 
CJ is very notorious and will play by the advertiser's books even though advertiser violated the terms. Guess, just talk to the advertiser to bump you on the offer or go straight to them.
 
Thanks for the advice. As of now I've yet to hear back from CJ. We spoke directly with the advertiser and according to them, CJ was actually the one that advised them to alter the sales price of the items to get the commission back...
 
I hate CJ too, worthless network for the most part with lower payouts then you can typically find elsewhere because they always take 30% where other networks will take a smaller cut if you're a power affiliate. If you're a legit affiliate with solid traffic the advertiser should want to work with you directly if they are capable and should be able to pay you what they pay their networks. Control is always nice to have from an advertiser prespective.
 
Out the advertiser. Fucker should be burned at the stake.

Do you have your own rep at CJ? I've had reps for a few years now, and the attention you get is much better. I'd definitely call the advertiser directly if you can find a phone number for their marketing team (person's name might be listed in the program), and you can call CJ as well. Calling CJ may not help, but even before I had a rep, I always called and asked to speak with someone about XXXXX program if I had an issue with the program.

CJ probably is not happy about losing a significant part of their cut over a merchant skirting the rules, either...
 
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