I have been promoting Clickbank products for a while on and off and have gotten sales, but I have never actually seen any of the products I've promoted. Do you guys buy the products you promote through your own affiliate link or do you request a free copy from the vendor? I'd like to take a look at them so I can write more relevant content and be able to sell them better.
You should really do this yes - would you recommend something to a friend in real life if you had never used it? If you did your friend would see straight through it anyway... if you do write unique, personal reviews of products and do well out of it, then actually using them / reading them will definitely help you even more - most of the time you can ask the vendor and they will supply you the product.
You should request a review copy. If you've already made some sales for the vendor, any serious vendor will get back to you with the review copy
Maybe you could argue that's hurting their refund rates. But I agree, professional vendors should be offering their products for free to affiliates who promote their products. Or at least provide a review copy of the e-book they offer so the affiliate can verify that it's legit.
Actually you don't need to. You can ask for some product key from the vendor to test how products work. If you wanna see how your analysis works, you can test a purchase and then ask for a refund, that is very common because most of our affiliates do that.
I usually not buying the product I promote, but most of the time I request copy of the product for free after making some sales. Most of the time, the vendor will ask my CB username and send me the review copy after checking the validity of my claim. Then, I will read the product and promote it better. It's my simple strategy.
the best practice would be to request it, if you dont get it just buy it and return it (60 days return policy)
Buying a product, trying it so you can sell it and then claim a refund on your purchase is not a honest way to go about business. And remember, what goes round comes round! I find asking for a review copy reveals a lot about the vendor: Do they respond to emails? How long does it take? What is their way of dealing with your request? etc. This will give you insight of how the customers you bring will be treated. If you are satisfied with the vendor, they will be too.
I always write directly to the seller and ask for a review copy... If they won't provide me with something to review, I ussually find something else to promote. However, before you can do so, you'll need some kind of "proof" that you'll promote and are not just looking for a freebie Keyword rich domain names is most often proof enough.