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Read The Terms and Conditions
This is where a lot of affiliates fail. They simply don’t take
the time to read through the terms and conditions, as well as
the affiliate agreement. This is often called ‘fine print.’
Even if you have to squint or use a magnifying glass, make sure
you read and understand every part of each of these legal
documents.
The terms and conditions will most likely let you know the
company’s policy regarding spam and/or the use of spam to
promote their products, their tracking system, their
liabilities, and what they will not be held legally responsible
for - such as failure of the tracking system to track a sale.
It should also tell you under what conditions you will be
removed from the program, and what would give them the right to
not pay you commissions that you have earned.
In most cases, you don’t need a lawyer to interpret these
things for you. You can read through the terms and conditions
and make sure that it is at the very least ‘standard.’ If there
is anything within the terms and conditions that you do not
understand, you should contact the company for clarification
before you promote the product.
The affiliate agreement, on the other hand, simply states that
you agree to the terms and conditions and that you understand
them. The commission structure may be part of either the
affiliate agreement or the terms and conditions. You should
also be able to find out how and when commissions are paid in
this information as well.
In most cases, you will have to check a box stating that you
have read and understand the terms and conditions, and possibly
the agreement, and that your submission of the sign up form is
evidence of that.
Things that you really want to watch out for in these legal
documents is the information that tells you why the company may
not pay you. Not paying for the first x number of sales should
give you reason to pause. A sale is a sale, whether it is the
first or the tenth, and you should be compensated for all of
them.
If you see that the company will not pay you until you’ve
earned a large amount in commissions, this is also a cause to
pause. It is realistic for a company to hold your commissions
until your sales reach $25 or even $50. It costs the company
money to issue checks, and when you consider paying a payroll
department, the cost of mailing the check, bank fees, and the
cost of the check itself, it isn’t reasonable to issue a check
that costs more to issue than the company earned from the sales
you made. But to withhold commissions until you’ve reached $500
or $1000 in commissions isn’t reasonable.
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