Comments on: Ask Kirsty – When & How To Negotiate More Commission?

By: A Tale Of Two Merchants - Or Why Communication Really is The Key » UK Affiliate Marketing Blog - Kirsty's Affiliate Marketing Guide - Affiliate Stuff UK

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:45:23 +0000

[...] so before I headed off on my jollies it sort of occurred to me that I don’t often Take My Own Advice and ask merchants for an enhanced commission structure. It further occurred to me that [...]

By: Cristian Miculi

Cristian Miculi — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:17:24 +0000

Hi everybody,

Just a quick add-on (from my experience in the software niche) – sometimes the vendor may use some extra benefits of his affiliate program instead of increasing the affiliate commission.
Examples include:
- offering the option of generating discounts for products from the affiliate’s commission in order to grow sales and, thus, earn more from commissions;
- crediting the affiliate for subscription-based products (residual income). This can also “compensate” the growth in commission;
- giving the affiliate a direct bonus in his account, sometimes even on a regular basis. This way, the vendor has more control over the money the affiliates get from him.

Of course, these features may or may not be available in the vendor’s affiliate program, depending on the platform he uses.

Bottom line – like Kirsty said – when asking for a higher commission, a polite “no” is the worst you can get.

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:19:36 +0000

That’s good then Sam! I remember that now, I thought your name was a little bit familiar (your surname’s quite unusual!). I’m glad that you managed to effectively negotiate an increase… something I should remember to do a little more of myself!

By: Sam Sinton

Sam Sinton — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:09:34 +0000

Hi Kirsty i have just discovered that i actually asked my question as a comment on your blog (not an email) – to which you did reply. (from growing your affiliate income section)

@ Sam – I’d just go to the merchant and say there are others who can provide a slightly higher EPC for your traffic but you’d really like to stay with them because you have a good relationship with them and would they mind considering giving you an enhanced commission level. If you’re one of their top affiliates they’ll seriously consider it and will probably award you more if they are able to!

Thank you for your advice!

By: Alison Moore Smith

Alison Moore Smith — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:24:33 +0000

Thanks for the information. I hadn’t thought of the competitor angle.

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:07:28 +0000

Hello Sam, Not a problem. I’m only sorry I didn’t reply to you at the time – sincere apologies. I do try and reply to everyone but at times it gets beyond me.

Thanks for posting your story about the commission negotiations. It does go to show that merchants are approachable in these issues.

By: Sam Sinton

Sam Sinton — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:24:08 +0000

Sorry Kirsty,

Commented yesterday that this was a my question which it appears not to be, however i did ask you something very similar. Joined twitter yesterday, you have one more follower! (don’t really understand it yet though!)

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:36:41 +0000

Not 100% sure but think that the question quoted was one that i asked you so thought i would give an update as to how your advice helped.

We contacted an alternative merchant and agreed a higher commission than the current deal with our current merchant and then called our affiliate manager who almost straight away agreed the increase to match the competitor. No changes to our content or site just higher commissions – exactly what we wanted!

Thanks for your advice.

p.s. Congrads on your A4U blogging award – well deserved!

By: Mark Boyd

Mark Boyd — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:01:37 +0000

Its always worth an ask.

Im on a cracking deal with Betfair. The way I approached it was… I told them BetDAQ were interested in become my main bookie (on a betting site of mine, that requires a betting exchange as the main bookie) for £XX cpa. Betfair then agreed to up my cpa. A few months later they dropped the standard cpa from £25 to £10. Im lucky enough to still be sitting on the enhanced (better than £25!) cpa today, and it was just because I had the balls to ask.

so just ask!!!