Just curious how many of you actually purchase from you're own affiliate links and how you guys go about doing it. I have done it before, once or twice before. This was also in my noob marketing days where I didn't value accounts like I would today. Doing this on a 2+ year account doesn't seem logical . I have recently swapped and discontinued most of my phpbay sites and went with amazon. I haven't been in their network until now. I purchase quite a bit through amazon and this only seems wise, since an employer of best buy would still get a discount of some sort. Seems that I could get away with this. I am not a big earner, so I do taxes under my own name, address and accounts are in my own name as well. So filing a dba/llc/corp is not in grasp yet. Just curious how many people do this. I am still going through their aff/TOS.
All CPA Networks will ban you immediately if you referred yourself. But, it works some times with CPS (cost per sale) programs but most will revoke your commissions as soon as they found it. And after all, buying with your own affiliate link doesn't make you smart...
I was thinking about doing it but then someone posted a great reply in one of my threads: Ask the provider to supply you with a free copy to test it out - before you promote the product. Great way to learn a lot, sift the wheat from the chaff, and know what you can promote with full conviction!
I would rephrase the question as: how down will you go to get a penny? Would you ask a friend to buy the product in their name? (tip: your friendship would not worth a lot if yes) Would you grab a penny in the bottom of a bar restroom toilets? Do you search for coke cans in the subway bins to pay for your lifestyle? Cheating an affiliate program is as bad as any of this to me. As anybody else (I guess), I clicked once or twice on my PPC ads the first time I used them. It's like killing an insect or a small animal when you're a kid: a mere step in your maturing process. But if you think about doing it again after that first experience, you're going to the dark side of the business. Greed is not a good conselor.