An open discussion about exclusive discount code use/abuse

[BFG 9000]

Greetings all,

I've just spotted that some exclusive codes I've issued are appearing on sites I wouldn't expect them to be on.

What's the general consensus on the correct course of action here?
Who should get the commission? The referring site, or the code 'owner' who went to the trouble of contacting me to arrange a unique code?
I've added a poll, but would like to see peoples comments.


TTFN

BFG

[Iain_M]

I don't own a coupon site yet, but I'd say the code "owner" should get the commission, as it is their code and was only issued to them.

The owner of the referring site should be notified that for the exclusive coupon code the owner of that code will get commission and not them.

[pinman]

Ditto the above.

I do have a voucher code site - Money Off Shop - and I'd expect to have the commission IF the code used by the buyer on the merchant site was exclusively created/given to me by the affiliate network for use on my site.

[3wdl]

Personally, I think it's apsolutely disgraceful that some networks have introduced an automatic system where the exclusive codes override standard cookies.

In a situation like this I think it's down to the correct monitoring being put in place by the merchant / network - i.e. if someone has taken an exclusive commission without permission then the network / merchant should reverse the commission and assign it to the correct affiliate.

However - too many non-discount site owners are losing out on tracked commissions where automatic systems are in place and we're going to start to see people hit by this more and more. It's something that deeply concerns me.

By all means networks should be distrubuting codes and working closly with affiliates but I do think that there are limitations to how far that should stretch.

Just my 2p. In your situation it's also worth contacting the site owner to ask them to remove your exclusive code.

[Hero]

too many non-discount site owners are losing out on tracked commissions where automatic systems are in place

can you back this up?

[3wdl]

can you back this up?

Thankfully we don't have a system in place that overrides the cookies so can't give an exact %, however we do record the codes from a number of merchants and have seen a number of valid commissions come through that are using discount codes, often exclusive ones that would not have been awarded if an automated solution was in place to override codes.

It's some of the things we looked at when releasing our new voucher code manager, especially as we were the first network to impliment offline codes back in 2002, but we decided that we would never override cookies to protect our broader affiliate base.

Thanks
James

[Hero]

there are 4 instances where the commission is awarded to the exclusive code owner (site A):
1. where the user goes directly to the merchant using code "siteA" which was advertised offline
2. where the user visited site A and then used the code ("siteA") advertised on that site
3. where the user visited site B advertising the code "siteA" and placed an order using the code
4. where the user visited site C, which didn't advertise any codes, clicked through to the merchant, then visited site A (or site B), saw the code, copy-pasted during checkout and placed the order.

I don't know what you have found through your voucher transactions, but we have found that 4 is not actually the norm. It is unfortunate when that happens, no one is ignoring it, and solutions are being investigated. However, cancellations and manual reattributions are not a good solution.

Furthermore, to clarify this as throwing mud is easy: the webgains voucher system does not override cookies. If an exclusive code is used, we forget about the cookie info, but we don't touch the cookie. If a subsequent order is placed without the use of the code, then the original affiliate gets the commission.

What I have found, interestingly, is that affiliates who tend to steal codes, when you contact them to remove the code, they simply tend to swap links to a network that doesn't have the system in place, and in effect, a network that doesn't monitor voucher use. This was a risk we were willing to take, in order to ensure that the affiliates we work with play by the rules.

[3wdl]

Hi Hero,

Point 1-3 is all fine in my book; it make sense and it's something that we do (though we monitor code use for point 3, rather than doing it automatically).

Point 4 is the reason we don't do it - we've seen it happen and don't think it's a good thing for the industry; it may not be the norm but it happens enough to justify our decision but it's always interesting to hear another networks POV.

Wasn't slinging mud btw; personally I think that Webgains are a good network - just expressing my opinion on the matter and explaining the reasons we didn't go down this route!

[MagicFreebiesUK]

would love it if it went to the code owner. Had an exclusive code for an online photo printing place which made its way onto a lot of other sites but saw no commission for those sales.

[befuddle]

Only yesterday I had to put limitations on an Exclusive code of mine because of 'enormous recent usage' after it went viral and was posted on a forum of a 'competitor site'.

The code, product and volume of sales were such a good match that the merchant's product sold out in just 2 days.

I don't see any of that commission though.

Only days earlier a similar thing happened and at least then the forum post had a link back to my site, so I managed to attract some sales via my own links.

[Rynert]

Apologies for the dumb question, but, do exclusive codes only actually work when the referrer identifier/cookie is set by the Affiliate whose code it is?

In other words, if the punter comes from any other site and tries to use the Code, rather than getting the 10% discount, they get nothing.

[kier]

Apologies for the dumb question, but, do exclusive codes only actually work when the referrer identifier/cookie is set by the Affiliate whose code it is?

That is certainly possible for merchants to do technically but it isn't common.

[buspassjohn]

As some of you already know, when we issue exclusive codes, they remain just that, we are small enough to check every sale for the code used and if it is through an affiliate that wasn't issued the code the commission goes to the code owner.
I can see that for large merchants this can be a difficult task but not impossible, we only issue exclusive codes to affiliates that are prepared to back us and make an effort on our behalf, not just list every code they can find.

[Hero]

Apologies for the dumb question, but, do exclusive codes only actually work when the referrer identifier/cookie is set by the Affiliate whose code it is?

In other words, if the punter comes from any other site and tries to use the Code, rather than getting the 10% discount, they get nothing.

If the majority of merchants were able to do this, then networks wouldn't need to worry about solutions to tackle the issue. Apart from tech limitations, merchants also need to think of the consumer - they will lose the customer if they tell them that "you can't use the code cause you didn't come from the right site".
The consumer should not be penalised for something that's not their responsibility. In the case of cashback sites, the customer can potentially get penalised, if they use a code that doesn't belong to the cashback site, as they will not get their cashback. However, the majority of cashback sites have clauses explaining this and the customers are aware that they can't have their pie and eat it at the same time.

[Keith]

Just seen this thread its a subject which has often been discussed

In my opinion if a one off sale comes through using someone else's exclusive code the referring site should get the commission, after all users are human and may take time to find a code before going back to the original basket to input it.

However if a glut of sales come through for the same affiliate using the same exclusive code belonging to someone else it is quite obvious that the affiliate in question is bending the rules and action should be taken, in this case the code owner should get the sale.