So I've heard all these people posting how Clickbank is shaving sales. I didn't believe it really for obvious reasons. Until... I used to make consistent sales every day. Then this past few weeks I've noticed sales fluctuate wildly. Some days I'd make a lot of sales. Then the next day I'd make none. Its almost like a pattern. It didn't really make any sense. So I did a search for legitimate proof, and I ran across this: http://ripoffreport.com/reports/0/421/RipOff0421649.htm Could this be leading to a class action lawsuit and/or federal charges against Clickbank? I definitely think there is something fishy going on with Clickbank now. I'm going to test it out myself.
Mate, don't use such scary titles, I was expecting a solid piece of news in this article not another "clickbank are cheaters" rant... While the fact that this guy didn't get credit for his own purchase is a bit disturbing and account switching and time trends he mentioned are also interesting, none of the facts that he mentioned are verifiable (he could have at least posted some screenshots and contacted the vendor to double check if transaction registered on his side as well). You might as well could have written "Martians are going to burn ClickBank with green lasers for their cheating" in the title.
I wouldn't call that article just a "rant". Clickbank members are so obsessed with it, that they completely ignore the fact that CB could be doing something fishy... If they still exist since 1998 it doesn't mean that they are doing everything "the right way". In fact, that's how a lot of businesses survive. Nowadays, you have to be on the "grey side" to be successful, if you know what I mean. Clickbank does pay commissions and all that, but if they shave the sales, as A LOT of affiliates/publishers are saying, it's not going to look as bad, as if they wouldn't be sending paychecks.
A well done report, lot of people have experienced the same thing including me - changing the account and sales get back.....something fishy
I'm still very skeptical about ClickBank shaving sales because: 1) It would be extremely stupid for them. It would take one pissed-off ClickBank employee to leak this information and that would be it for it for them big time. 2) Most of the posts I've seen here on the topic prove only that their authors don't know a thing about statistics ("I've was making a sale every other day, and now it has been 3 1/2 days without a sale with 97 hops. Clickbank must be cheating me!") If there are enough people that want to prove this theory - why not make an experiment? 1) Let some publishers volunteer here in this thread. 2) Then whoever is interested in proving this thread true would wait for their sales to "drop" and then make a purchase though their own hop link (making sure that the ID is still there on the payment page once they get there) from one of the publishers who volunteered here. Then if commission is not applied - they can PM the publisher with their name and have the publisher check the transaction log. Results will be posted here and we'll see. Since most of the products pay 70%+ commission it would not be expensive. And if someone is extra greedy they can even ask for refund if the publishers wouldn't mind.
Hm... Yup. I've experienced weird as hell things with sales suddenly stopping for certain products without any apparent reason (ie same traffic coming in.) It's frustrating. But I still make enough money with them to keep me coming back for more.
While fluctuations in sales can seem fishy, it's hardly proof of wrong doing. These same fluctuations happen no matter which affiliate service you use, or what you sell online. It's a natural part of internet sales. Sometimes it's your fault, sometimes it's your servers fault, sometimes it's CB's fault, sometimes it's Google's fault. This article has absolutely no hard evidence to back up it's claims. So what's most likely to happen is CB will find this article, and file a defamation suit to shut it down. What a moron. At least have solid evidence before posting something like that.
You are right! But regular fluctuations should not be accepted. CB should make its system strong enough to withstand all these irregularities.
a senseless, VERY unprofessional rant. He has NO base to stand on because: * did he record and does he have PROOF that an actual purchase was made using his ID, and he never got credited DESPITE his ID showing up? -------> NO! * he can whine how his ID is not showing up <--- which is proof that on his side something is not working right (anti virus program killing cookies?) Browser Security Settings? The only way to "get" clickbank would be proof that actual sales were conducted and PROOF that his affiliateID was properly used and displayed. he should have recorded a number of sales where you can see someone checkout, his affid displayed...and then shown that he never got credited with clickbank despite a proper checkout via clickbank. He fails since he did not provide this proof...so all he does is RANT for nothing. Dont get me wrong, i had my streaks too with days without sales - but he needs something substantial to prove his "complaint" on..its just hot air and every lawyer, clickbank etc. will laugh in its face.
Well it's been more than 2 yrs for me and CB is still my biggest money maker. There have been ups and downs but eventually it has outdone any other network out there for me.
Agreed, it's just a load of crap.....how the hell can you file federal charges when all you have is assumption and no definitive proof? All said and done though I wish him the best of luck, it can only help add clarity to the clickbank situation if he does succeed.
There's a trillion people that says clickbank shaves sales. Clickbank supporters say they don't that means the story lies somewhere between the two extremes.
well the poster claims he has documented proof of proper sales. He also says its an "ongoing investigation" and therefore he cannot release the videos. Sounds a little odd to me. However, ONE proper sale (afflink shown), checkout/purchase...and then wait a few days to show that you never got credited would be ENOUGH to prove that somethigs up - i personally would not have a problem releasing such video, you can still file a lawsuit. You could easily document this.....eg recording how you clear cookies, how cookie is being set..and all that.
I'm not so sure, to me it would sound as though he has something nasty on his PC either overwriting or deleting the cookie, I'm sure spybot does this?? I'm sure in time we will see if he does have irrefutable proof..
They are just about the only game in town though. Commission Junction makes you take the SAT's to signup. I always get riled and say i'll sign up later. I know it took me like 5 background check affiliates to finally make consistant sales and i Pwn'd the hot keywords. I guess i better start learning how to do everything myself. Depressing.
if something would have killed his cookie his affid would have never showed up at checkout..he claims it has.
despite from the fact that you need 5 sales first...despite those inconsistencies with sales i dont have ANY problems with them. Their paychecks (and direct deposits) arrive punctual, you can adjust your watch with them almost. I just wish i would sell MORE. CB basically is already paying for all my expenses, rent, groceries etc.....but its not enough to live high-life in jamaica, YET
Apart from the bla bla that can go forever, no one mentioned the real reason (or the most likely) that explains the fluctuations. I'm not going to either since I’m sure its useless. It has been mentioned on this forum forever but most people don’t look at the most logical things. But for everyone out their with doubts - Its really easy to show if clickbank is accepting payments and keeping the money or not. Hello? The thank you page is hosted on the merchant server, all it takes is to count (and save the details) of whoever load the page. I have done this for over a dozen products, and never their was someone that downloaded a product and the transaction was not found on my clickbank reports as well. So its really easy to proof it for anyone that really wants it. I have been trough ups and downs like mostly everyone but it would be easy to find out if clickbank accept a payment and do not credit accordingly. The thing is that people are stopped on the clickbank checkout page with the message "Unable to process your payment at this time" - the fraud detection is doing his job and blocks transactions for hours, this explain the fluctuation, as easy as that....
....wow I was worried about that headline until I saw it was someone crying on the Rip Off Report.....