Yes- if you have no sales as a publisher in a 6 month period, they will take $10 from your account. You will then need to get a sale (by likely buying something from one of your affiliates), or everything gets erased and you need to establish new relationships with all.
Okay, so one sale every 6 months is required. I have been a cj affiliate since Feb, but have never been charged. I receive sales monthly, though. A friend of mine asked me if cj charged and I didn't know. Thanks again.
The reason I know is because I stopped promoting with CJ for a time, and they hit me for the fee. A helpful DP member helped me just as I am helping you. Pay it forward!
From: http://www.cj.com/psa.html (f) Dormant Accounts. If Publisher's Account has not been credited with a valid, compensable Transaction that has not been Charged-back during any rolling, six consecutive calendar month period (“Dormant Accountâ€), a dormant account fee at CJ's then-current rate shall be applied to Publisher's Account each calendar month that Publisher's Account remains an open yet Dormant Account or until Your Account balance reaches a zero balance, at which time the Account shall become deactivated. Transactions will not be counted if the Transaction subsequently becomes a Charge-back.
Is a publisher still entitled to the commission if he clicks on the affiliate link and makes a purchase on his own? Edit: Sorry, I found the answer here http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=503884
The money doesn't go to the merchant, the money goes to CJ. Merchants never see a dime of it, it's just another fee that CJ collects. That means that some commissions paid out by the merchant to affiliates don't actually get paid to the affiliates, in the case of inactive account being charged $10 or being disabled. This also happens sometimes for publishers who violate the PSA - a publisher will be deactivated, but the commissions won't be given back to the merchant.