Discount Codes and Affiliate Commissions?

[ian-d]

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Senerio: If a visitor clicks through one of my links to a merchant and decides to buy, but has a handy discount code available from somewhere (mailshot, website, friend etc), will i still get my commission? Will it be based on the full value, or the discounted value?

Also, if you do still get commission, could you combine both into a site, or is that generally frowned upon by the merchants/affiliate networks?

[Barry]

In the majority of cases you will still get commission on the sale in the sameway as if no voucher had been used, however there are exceptions like lovefilm who only allow commission when using the official td discount code.

Most merchants are happy to work with you and supply discounts for your use as promotional material, but there are quite a few discount sites out there to compete with.

[ian-d]

Thanks barry, your right, too many discount sites well established so definatly wasn't going down that route, but do have something else in mind.

[nim-b]

And to answer your question about the discount being deducted from the order value that commission is calculated on, I think a lot of merchants do this. I think its generally a fair practice, as the discount is really 'non-money' that noone is ever going to see. It also allows merchants to offer discounts without worrying too much about being stung on the commission.

But I would say that, as its what we do

[ian-d]

Hi nims, agree with you completely, as i run a merchant business i would worry about being 'out of pocket' if both methods were used. Still, its good that merchants (or most) will apply this and still allow commissions, as so many discount codes are used these days!

[Hero]

its good that merchants (or most) will apply this and still allow commissions, as so many discount codes are used these days!

Keep in mind that there are a lot of merchants who cannot afford to give away both 10% discount and 10% commission on the discounted price, and sometimes affiliates need to accommodate for the merchant's margins with a cut in commission.

[ian-d]

Fully appreciated, i couldn't always cope with those losses so am careful about the discount codes used.

[altgifts]

Hi Ian,

We pay out all commissions, including if the customer has used a discount code, and we are more than happy for our merchants to promote the discount code on their site. We even offer affiliates their own exlusive discount voucher code if they wish.

We pay commission on the total of the goods minus the discount amount, as this is the actual order value.

Cheers

Gareth
www.alt-gifts.com
gareth@alt-gifts.com

[renegade]

Senerio: If a visitor clicks through one of my links to a merchant and decides to buy, but has a handy discount code available from somewhere (mailshot, website, friend etc), will i still get my commission? Will it be based on the full value, or the discounted value?

You will generally still get your commisson.
However I believe there are a few (and only a few, but as a code site owner I would like to see more - but that's another topic) sites which can match up the codes used with the affiliate ID in which case the affiliate whose code was used could potentially be awarded the commission - which may well be at a lower commission rate.

In most cases where you will get the commission it would be on the basket value net of vouchers, delivery etc.

[ian-d]

Sorry, does all this apply only to discount codes provided to affiliates from the merchants, or discount codes available in existance from anywhere?

[Mogga]

Email off mothercare tonight saying they don't even want to be on a voucher site - let alone have vouchers advertised.