Straight College Men cheating affiliates?

I've advertised SCM for quite some time... I had an opportunity to meet the site owner/operator last January at InterNext... I recently came across something that I found disturbing, and I've NEVER seen before anywhere else... When visitors are sent to the website via my affiliate link (or anyone else's) they receive higher pricing at this page:
http://www.straightcollegemen.com/joinscm.html
($10 higher recurring for one and $12 higher for the other recurring)
Then at this URL that you get if you goto the site directly:
http://www.straightcollegemen.com/joinnow.html

So, the big question, is this ethical to undercut your affiliates? I just recently started checking things out and noticed this change as my conversions aren't what they once were... Doesn't this encourage visitors to goto the site directly instead of via our affiliate links?

I guess on a side note, when I had asked for a trial membership to offer a review to my visitors I was told to "signup under my own affiliate account and then it won't cost as much". Seems very unprofessional...

Open to comments/suggestions...

Greetings:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freegaypix

when I had asked for a trial membership to offer a review to my visitors I was told to "signup under my own affiliate account and then it won't cost as much". Seems very unprofessional...

Open to comments/suggestions...

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I have a suggestion: Get yourself a new sponsor that won't treat you like a sack of horse shit.

Why affiliates put up with being treated the way that they are by some of these programs is above and beyond me....

I think many affiliates that haven't been involved with the paysite side of the biz would be suprised at just how much some programs spend to get affiliates on board. And I can tell you, when you spend that much to get them onboard, you better damn well believe you're going to treat them like kings to KEEP them on board. :king:

:thumbsup:

Speaking as a sponsor, I can't imagine doing anything like that. It seems very shortsighted to piss off your affiliates, particularly when there are so many programs to choose from.

We've occasionally experimented with different pricing schemes, but they've always been attached to specific promotions with separate tours and join links that can't be accessed from any of our regular join pages or tours. In most cases, they've either been short-lived specials or experiments to see how pricing variances affect conversions.

Perhaps you should email Matt directly and see what he says. If you get a response, be sure and post it here.

Using different prices on root tours has been going on for many years and personally, i think its a good thing.

How else is a program going to know what price point works best for affiliates without testing it on their own internal traffic first?

Im sorry but, if someone types in domain.com to their browser, the affiliate program in my eyes, can have whatever price point they want on that specific join page.

Its no different to sponsors such as Pride Bucks (not to single them out) having 2 or 3 options on the affiliates join page.

Regards,

Lee

i don't have a problem with it, myself, and i don't think it's cheating - but that's only my opinion. lots of sites i promote have multiple price options (like nextdoorcash.com).

I have just emailed Matt, I will definately let you know what he says (if anything)...

Lee, I think you may have misunderstood what I was saying... He doesn't offer multiple pricing points for affiliates, only one for his direct traffic and one for affililates.

but how will surfers know there's a second price? very VERY few would bother to check...

I really don’t see a problem with using different price points. Like Lee pointed out, it is his traffic that he’s generating however he chooses.

I would be a little upset if I found that he was giving the price break to some affiliates, while others where stuck with the one price point.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freegaypix

Lee, I think you may have misunderstood what I was saying... He doesn't offer multiple pricing points for affiliates, only one for his direct traffic and one for affililates.

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Exactly, its HIS traffic, he can do whatever he wants with it.

As long as you are making sales by what YOUR surfer sees, what does it matter if he chooses to offer his own surfers a different price point?

Im surprised he hasnt put aggressive consoles on the root tour also, affiliates hate them on the links they send traffic to but, i know i personally love all the extra $$$ root domain traffic brings in from consoles.

Regards,

Lee

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Originally Posted by basschick

but how will surfers know there's a second price? very VERY few would bother to check...

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I can somewhat see that, but considering the other quote I mentioned it starts to give me even more pause about the program/site as a whole... It makes me worry if they are even honest enough to pay me for returning traffic, and they use the old "we pay 55%" which turns out to be 47.85%... I don't know about anyone else, but every other program I have in CCbill is 50% or 60%. But, that's splitting hairs, since I chose to signup knowning this...

I just can't get past the point that my visitors are getting "dinged" for just being referred via my site... I value them and they help me earn a living...

be very careful handeling matt! ( ****** yeah i know his real name! ) , he's not as forgiving as i am!

sincerely ~ ..."don't bite the hand that feeds you!"...

What do you mean, Jim?

Greetings:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freegaypix

What do you mean, Jim?

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I tried to figure out what Jim was saying once, and ended up hurting myself. Don't attempt it, it's not safe.....

i wouldn't start the email off with ..."you cheated me!" , he has very little patience with his affiliates as he almost has with his "disgruntled" subscribers insisting that he is not using real straight guys!
in defense of "matt" i can personally vouch he is using real straight-guys! , as for his "programs!" he has quite a few going on , perhaps he could direct you to a better "payout" plan.
again a word of advice! , "handle with care!"

sincerely ~ ..."he who has the gold makes the rules!"...

Greetings:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by longboardjim

sincerely ~ ..."he who has the gold makes the rules!"...

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I don't agree with that statement. Affiliate programs are a dime a dozen, and there's simply no reason to stick with someone that you feel isn't treating you right (in this case his response to a request for access), or who you don't agree with from a business perspective (the differences in price point).

In this business, traffic's king...

wow being that you have promoted his stuff for awhile they should of given u a free account/access in my opinion. I've been offer free access to sites before even after just signing up as an affilate.

Jim, Yes, I address everyone in a professional manner and would never accuse someone of cheating me outright, I'm always open to a dialog. That is why I asked here first...

Yes, curiousbunny, I have been promoting the site for almost 2 years... The way I feel is like I'm TAKING 50% from him instead of EARNING 50% for him. But, that will pretty much end me comments on this, until I hear back from Matt...

Thanks to everyone who responded, if I don't hear back in the next 3-4 days I will post as such...

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Originally Posted by JustMe

Greetings:



I don't agree with that statement. Affiliate programs are a dime a dozen, and there's simply no reason to stick with someone that you feel isn't treating you right (in this case his response to a request for access), or who you don't agree with from a business perspective (the differences in price point).

In this business, traffic's king...

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i do not have all the facts here to determine that someone has been cheated ( this is none of my buisness and should be taken up directly with matt ) so i will not make a judgement!
in regards to "traffic" yes it's nice to have , but don't you have to send it somewhere? , or does it sit in "grid-lock" for 4 hours? , i think they both have there importance/place.
i'm not understanding the statement a request for access to matt's site? , or matt requesting to see the affiliate's site?

jim

okay! , it's late! , hopefully this situation will resolve itself! , everyone have a good one!

sincerely ~ ..."it's not the questions i'm afraid of! , it's the answers!"...

When an affiliate asks for a user/password, I ALWAYS just give them one.. often, if it's a company I know or a person I trust, I give them one without them having to ask.