Whatever you do, read Ebay's Terms of Use if you are going to promote thier affiliate program. My sad story is as follows. I have promoted Ebay.com US affiliate program for a long time, and just recently started promoting Ebay.co.uk and other EBay international companies. And because you have to join them seperately on Ebay, I assumed they were considered seperate entities on CJ. SO with that, I recieved a Trademark Bidding warning a couple of weeks ago from Ebay.com US. It warned that if I did not stop bidding on Ebay terms, then they would be able to take 50% of my unpaid Ebay commissions. SO I immediatly took down all adwords campaigns with an ebay term in them for Ebay US. I didn't recieve any warning on the Ebay.co.uk, so I assumed I was okay to keep running the internation ebay campaigns, as I thought the Terms of Use may be different. 2 Weeks later, I recieved a "2nd" warning about Ebay Trademark bidding, and now 50% of my commissions are being taken by CJ. The warning was in regards to my Ebay.co.uk affiliate campaign, but I guess they combined all the Ebay programs into one. The worst part? 1. Thousands spent on Google Adwords advertising. 2. Ebay.com US was over $12,000. While Ebay UK was only $500. 3. They took 50% of all Ebay Commissions. So over $6,000. 4. They did not listen to what I had to say about how I thought a seperate warning would have been sent If I violated the terms of the Ebay UK TOS. They were not understanding, not flexible, just cold hearted. I don't even think they read my email, they just gave me a generic, answer, saying that nothing could be done. I felt like it was an easy way for them to make some money off of my misunderstanding. So to summarize, I lost $6,500 in commissions, lost more with advertising costs, and am on thin ice with Ebay Affiliate Programs. Which means If I violate any more of thier TOS, I could lose it all. According to thier terms of use that if you recieve a third warning for anything, then they can take 100% of your commissions. Anyway, lesson learned. And Ebay affiliates be careful, if it could happen to me, it could just as easily happen to you.
O That is sad.....6K is a lot of money... but also inspiring to see that you can make that much from Ebay...
Either way I think you learned a valuable lesson and one in which all marketers online need to consider. Read the terms and conditions carefully. Do not assume anything. If something can go wrong it most likely will so doing your homework and paying attention to the details will pay you or them. Thanks for sharing
No matter what, 6k is quite a bit of money. It just seems that a 'person to person' call could easily clear things up. But unfortunately, I'm hearing more and more horror stories about how "cold-hearted" CJ is at handling such adversity. I know there are bad people out there scamming the system, but it seems that CJ is strong arming much too much without explanation. CJ just sounds like it's run by a bunch of hoodlums (based on commentary I have read here and elsewhere). 6k is a lot of money. I'd be calling them daily and bucking the issue all the way to the top. You seem to have a point with regard to the separate affiliate agreements you made unless each agreement clearly indicated that you could not use competing bidding terms and those terms were clearly outlined (and that with the first warning, they made it clear that you were only in violation of the terms set forth by the one agreement with Ebay national). You really need to talk to a real person there at CJ. Mistakes happen. Taking 6k away from someone should not be taken lightly. On the other hand, you were in violation. And with that, it sounds like you changed your campaign. Although, I still wonder if you knew what you were doing in the first place in hopes of not getting caught. You only know that. But logic would have told me to ask them if the violation applied to ALL of eBay's presence around the world. That's me. Sadly, you sound like you're paying the price. Try to work it out. It sounds like you are making them a lot of money while doing the same for yourself. So, hopefully, CJ will see reason in this and have mercy on your 'mistake'. At least try to negotiate a lesser penalty. Good luck. Sorry to hear about this debacle.
Looks like CJ's standpoint is hard as a rock. Not to all affiliates. If CJ says anything, it goes, their opinions canno't be swayed.
Yet, once you received the first warning, wouldn't you have made sure yourself that you weren't violating the .co terms instead of assuming that they were different or would allow for something that the US company (still the same corporation no less) did not?
No matter what company you deal with you need to abide by their TOS. Not doing so will get you banned. Most companies don't even give warnings ... you break the rules - you pay the consequences...assuming is dangerous in every sense. It's a lesson learned...too bad it cost you $6,500 to learn it though
Well that could be explanation why CJ don't like sites from suspicious countries. And that is why I can't participate in 99% of their programs. They simple don't believe me and I can't convict them that I want fer play.
Your story is not sad; it is pathetic. I also get a chuckle from people who blame CJ in this thread...or think they are heavy-handed. No one holds a gun to anyone's head to sign up with CJ. If they don't like the way CJ operates (TOS), don't sign up with them. There are plenty of other affiliate networks and private affiliates out there. BTW...most people don't even read a company's TOS and then bitch and moan when they are penalized. It IS a business contract afterall. I am tired of reading about affiliates breaking a company's TOS and then whining or blaming the company or making the company out to be cold-hearted. I imagine you will not like this reply, as you have made snide comments about other "reality" replies, but it seems like you are looking more for sympathy than really "alerting" anyone. Jim
No matter what it is,to lose that much money is really heart-breaking.issues like this has really scared me off affiliate marketing. been wanting to start for quite some time now,but when i hear stories like this,i get really scared. you wiil pick up someday
Actually, you are wrong. This threads main purpose was actually to warn affiliates or future affiliates. The title could have been picked differently, and maybe would have set a different tone. As for my snide comments. Do you call being called an "ass" a reality reply? Does that in anyway contribute to the discussion? Get off your high horse. If you were in the same situation I was in, you would be pissed too. If CJ really did follow Ebay's terms of use to a T, then half of the Ebay affiliates would be deactivated from the program. Not to mention, I would rather not take advice from a guy that runs a "Jam" website.
If you don't follow the rules, you only have yourself to blame. According to the TOS, eBay has the right to reverse ALL commissions for violations - be thankful they didn't do that. Remember, they did give a first warning. Don't blame it on CJ - eBay makes their own terms, and they enforce it themselves (or they pay CJ extra to do it). It's not CJ's initiative to enforce advertisers' terms unless they are specifically contracted to do so. If you have a problem, bring it up with the eBay affiliate team.
No high horse here, gamefray. Being a good business person is paying close attention to detail. You did not do this. You paid the price. There is no need to warn anyone over your lack of good business practice. And, I wasn't giving you advice. I was commenting on you, and so many others here in DP, who do what they want, get sanctioned by a company, and then complain about the company. Funny, you mention one of my two sites in my sig....my "jam" site....as if that doesn't qualify me to make comments. Jim