I have yet another interesting question to discuss. It's probably been asked many times before but i wanted to share my opinion and see what you guys think. The question is, is it better to user ClickBank to sell products and manage your affiliates or to use an inhouse affiliate system (i.e. one hosted and run on your server). There are many advantages for both options and i wanted to start a discussion on this and see what you guys think. Advantages of ClickBank: Easy for potential affiliates to promote your product. Once registered with Clickbank there are no other registrations necesary. Clickbank is an established and trusted network. Thousands of potential affiliates use ClickBank. Disadvantages of ClickBank: Fees. Clickbank charges you for various things such as listing the product. ClickBank sends cheques to affiliates and often takes a hefty fee. Clickbank doesn't accept affiliates from all countries. Advantages of using an InHouse affiliate program: You are in complete control. No third party. No fees for you or your affiliates. Accept affiliates from all over the world. Send money via Paypal, something affiliates often prefer. No messing around with cheques. Filter out all the "fake" affiliates who can't even be bothered to sign up. You end up with a list of only affiliates you know will promote your product. You can offer other affiliate programs to your affiliates. More in detail statisitics for both you and your affiliates. Disadvantages of using an InHouse affiliate program: longer process to sign up. Less affiliates know about your product. Hassle of organizing the payments your self. Although there seems to be more advantages of using an inhouse affiliate program the ClickBank advantages are much more prominent and have the possibility of increasing your products. My opinion is that new merchants should begin with ClickBank and build a list of affiliates. Then, if you have a succesful launch for you and your affiliates, you can "promote" your other affiliate programs. If you want to jump straight into your own affiliate program, it's going to be hard unless you already have a large list or have the ability to promote on JVNotify PRo and other similiar networks. Thats just my opinion and i would love to hear yours!
It's certainly easier to get a program started and recruit affiliates via clickbank, the price is high fees. I don't see a problem in the check only payment or country restrictions for affiliates, since affiliates from most of the countries on the blacklist will only cause troubles with fraudulent transactions anyway. Building your own program requires alot of experience and some upfront investment, so it's definitely something for people who know what they are doing...more profitable for sure.