Stumbling blocks for new AMs

[emp]

Right now, the old simian just thought he would point out two of the stumbling blocks new Affiliate Marketers often do not know about.
These, young grasshopper, are 2 things:

1. The time it takes to get paid
2. Fees of all kind

Net n - the time until the money hits your wallet
“Net n” Where n can be almost any number - is a common industry term for the time in between the transactions and the time the money gets send out to you.
And I am not even kidding, n can be any number - we can observe net 30 (very common), net 15 and many others in the wild. There are also bizarre constructs, like amazon.de’s net 30, but 90 days later payment.
Now, on to the stumbling blocks.

You have to reach the limit first, bub!
Net n normally only comes into account AFTER you have hit the magical limit of the advertising company. Be that 10$, 50$ or 100$, you have to reach that limit first before the clock starts ticking.

.. and then you have to reach the end of the month
Normally, if you hit the limit, the net n period does not begin ticking until after the end of the month.
With net 30 that could mean: You reach the limit on the 15th of July, the transactions are processed on the 30th of july, but the money does not leave the company until the 30th of August.

..and then it takes some time
Then you add processing and transfer time (checque or wire) which can add up if you are an international affiliate not sitting in the US of A.

What to do, what to know
Get informed. Know what your network means when it says “net n”. Get to know the limit, ask for rule of thumb times and figures as they apply to your payments.

Fees
Hey, anyone knows how to avoid fees, right?
Well, maybe not anyone.
Case in point - the credit/debit card for AMs
The blind ape was just recently offered a debit card as a means to get faster payments.
You register for the card, you get it and then your future payment arrive in a snap.
Only a thorough examination of the terms and conditions (spread over several files on two different servers) revealed this card to rob you blind with transaction fees and more.
AM beware.

What to do, what to know.
Again - get informed. Talk to your AM contact about fees, wire payments, transaction costs, etc..

Remember, if you want to start out on your own, it pays to be informed.

::emp::

 

[HarveyJ]

Any card in particular, emp?

One of our affiliates mentioned this to us as a payment method. I went to have a look at the RevUpCard...
$49 a year, and $2 per ATM withdrawal. Not too steep for a non-bank card, but not great either.

 

[abhorrent]

CJ is even worse as far as the amount of time goes.
Commissions lock (supposedly) on the 10th of the month The following month if the commission was earned after that.

So for example, You earn a commission on Oct 11th, It doesn't lock until Sept, 10th.
And that's only if the merchant/advertiser doesn't extend the locking period. They're allowed to extend transactions until the next locking period to give them time to "Analize" the commissions.

I've got $200 in commissions that have been sitting in "extended" status since early september. If I don't see them lock in November I'm gonna send them a nast email and drop those fucking advertisers.

 

[emp]

I had been looking at the Payoneer card.

For outside US, it starts with a 19.99US$ activation.
After that, 3% to put money on the card and 0-3% per transaction.
Weirdly, it is 0-3% depending on the type of purchase, and I was unable to pin down what kinds of purchase cost me which amount.

So assuming I activate the card, load the card with 1000US$ and then make 3 $100 purchases:

Activation $19.99
Transfer $30
Purchase 1 @ 2% $2
Purchase 2 @ 3% $3
Purchase 3 @ 0% $0

I have fees of $54.99

Thanks, but no thanks.

::emp::