Linkshare, orders but no money?

1. 68

   Bill Manningposted 13 years ago

   I have now been using linkshare, a big affiliate network, for two months. I noticed last month I got an order. Today I also got one.
   
   Yet It still says a big fat zero in my earnings???
   
   You can't make much if they never give you any money for sales!
   
   Does anyone use them, and if so could you tell me how come I'm not seeing any income even though I've gotten two sales, or "orders" as they call it?

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   1. 60

      SoCuriousposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Doesn't sound too promising.  At the very least, the affiliate manager assigned to you should be giving you explanations.  If that doesn't happen, take your business somewhere else.  There are tons of well run affiliate programs.

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      1. 68

         Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hi there, thanks for your advice. It could be I'm not doing something right. I have a hard time finding Disney and cruise sponsors, and linkshare has one of the best.
         
         I'll try to email them and find out what I seem to be missing. But yeah if they don't pay then it's not really worth it, is it? Misha I think once said he never made a dime off them.

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2. 71

   thisisoliposted 13 years ago

   I have worked on the Affiliate side (not publisher side) several times, tehy have arubbish reporting system but it always seemed to work out okay.  I would call their helpline and ask, it could be the order was cancelled, or I had to cancel a few payments to people because they tried to grab the cookies for share a sale and link share in one cookie to get double payments off my clients (I doubt youu are trying to do that though.

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   1. 68

      Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I don't even know how to get those double payments your talking about. Yeah I'll email them, I had two orders now and still show nothing in commission. 

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3. 0

   cookingdivaposted 13 years ago

   Bill,
   
   Although I have not made a dime from LS either, usually they will put money a month after (return, exchange issue) and additional month after that to be paid if you made minimum set amount. That is how CJ works to I am assuming they are similar. I would still like to see something in 'pending" section.

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   1. 68

      Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I use to use CJ too and they show your sales as soon as you get them. However it takes a month or two before you get your money, as you said.
      
      But so far with LS I don't see anything at all. I did notice they have "orders" and then "sales". So I guess I need to find out what the difference is.
      
      Shareasale has been my best one so far.

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      1. 0

         cookingdivaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Bill,
         
         I have used LS, but not made any money with them so far. CJ I have made some little money. I should check out shareasale soon.
         
         Have they contacted you yet for request? I agree with you, something needs to be done. I have realized over the months (little I have been doing this), that having a good relationship with vendor who are responsive matters, that is why I no longer choose vendor based on money but based on responsiveness.
         
         I refuse to work with godaddy and a few other vendors despite having good commission rates as they never get back to their affiliates unless they are making 100k commission per month.
         
         Good luck, I hope they are much better and responsive to know that you are professional and partner in this. I

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4. 59

   Christeneposted 13 years ago

   Maybe the orders were canceled?
   
   I've been on LinkShare since 2007 and have always gotten paid.

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   1. 68

      Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hi there Christene. So can you explain what I'm talking about? Yesterday I got one "order". But it still says zero for sales or commission?
      
      Then last month I got the same, one order but no sales or commission money. Are orders just pending transactions that may not be good?

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5. 59

   Christeneposted 13 years ago

   The reporting isn't that great there.
   
   Orders are the number of purchases.
   Sales is the total amount that was paid.
   Commissions are your earnings.
   
   Honestly I don't remember if I've ever seen an order without a commission.
   
   Go to your advanced Reports and choose Sales and Activity. There's a column for canceled items there.
   
   If that's not it contact the Advertiser directly and they should be able to help you.

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   1. 68

      Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Good deal, thanks much!

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6. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

   Okay, you can't say you're working with Linkshare, the same way you're working with Amazon, ebay or adsense.
   
   There are lots of merchants there and you have to be more specific. I work with 85 percent of the LS merchants have regular sales from many if not most.
   
   You have to treat each one like an individual. I haven't had that many problems with non-payment in recent years and things are running pretty smoothly. I only get frustrated when they close their programs with little notice.
   
   If you have questions, contact the affiliate mgr of the program in question. Unlike Amazon there's usually a person who's happy to talk to you and you get a prompt reply.

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   1. 68

      Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Nelle. Since I've never had that many sales with those big affiliate places with many sponsors I've never taken the time to contact any of them.
      
      But then this is the first time I've ever had a problem also. I see both came from the same place, a rental car company.
      
      So I'll shoot them a email and let them explain what is going on. Maybe with rentals you only show sales after they actually rent the car, which could be months from now.

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