Advanced MP3 Players

[bulbo]

Does anyone have any experience with these guys?

Have been promoting their products for some time now but recently (around 28th August) decided to try and promote them heavily.

I am astounded by the number of Rejected Commissions I am getting with them.

I know that rejections happen and whilst I have no definitive figures for my rejections, I would hazard a guess at somewhere around 5%. However, with Advanced MP3 Players, it is somewhere around 65%.

I don't want to get into any trouble but I will gladly paste my recent Affiliate Window account activity with them on here if that is acceptable.

Was looking to see if others have the same experience with them... I am about to pull the plug on my promotions for them.

[JulesGadgets]

Have you asked AdvancedMP3Players why there were so many rejections?

Us merchants do try and answer these questions when asked

From our experience, MP3 players (especially at the higher end of the scale) are popular amoungst the would-be-fraud orders that we receive - so a higher than normal rejection would nor be unsurprising.

jules.
Gadgets.co.uk

[bulbo]

I have indeed asked Advanced MP3 Players why the rejections are so high.

This is the response I received:-

Often customers’ payment fails, although their order email will go through. The customer then sometimes tries again later in the day. Please also remember that it could be another customer ordering / failing to the order the same item.

I wanted other Affiliates' views on this topic.

All I know is that there must be a certain percentage of people in the UK who use credit cards fraudulently and they most certainly DO seem to be attracted to your site via my AWin affiliate links.

No other merchant I deal with has ever rejected 66% of my sales.

You certainly seem to be attracting the small percentage of credit card fraudsters out there.

However, this being the case, it has made me wonder if using a PPC listing (as I am doing) is worth it for Advanced MP3 Players as they obviously attract too many fraudsters who are obviously going to waste my click purchase-price

It has got to the stage where if I see two sales for Advanced MP3 Players in my AWin commissions report, I expect one to be rejected.

This is extremely sad.

Of the 200 or so merchants I deal with via AWin, I do not have anywhere near the same problem.

Check this:-

Advanced MP3 Players sale £143.99 £5.75 02 Sep 2003 16:37 02 Sep 2003 18:56 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £229.00 £9.16 02 Sep 2003 09:34 02 Sep 2003 18:56 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £52.00 £2.08 31 Aug 2003 20:13 02 Sep 2003 18:56 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £52.00 £2.08 31 Aug 2003 20:13 02 Sep 2003 18:56 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £52.00 £2.08 31 Aug 2003 20:09 02 Sep 2003 18:56 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £154.00 £6.16 30 Aug 2003 21:34 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £154.00 £6.16 30 Aug 2003 21:31 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £109.00 £4.36 29 Aug 2003 20:05 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 20:01 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 18:58 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 18:56 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 18:50 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £209.00 £8.36 29 Aug 2003 12:34 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £209.00 £8.36 29 Aug 2003 12:17 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 11:36 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £199.00 £7.96 26 Jul 2003 17:57 27 Jul 2003 10:54 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £159.00 £6.36 05 Jul 2003 21:04 08 Jul 2003 21:57 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £159.00 £6.36 05 Jul 2003 21:00 08 Jul 2003 21:57 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £159.00 £6.36 05 Jul 2003 20:59 08 Jul 2003 21:57 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £129.00 £5.16 02 Jul 2003 03:11 02 Jul 2003 20:52 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £129.00 £5.16 02 Jul 2003 03:11 02 Jul 2003 20:52 Rejected

That is an actual copy of all my Advanced MP3 Players transactions via AWin... notice the recent transactions... that is when I started my PPC campaign.

I understand some of these are obviously duplicate orders and when this is the case, I expect rejections. However, it is the other rejected commissions that I cannot explain.

Other than, as you say, fraudulent credit card usage.

I did not particuarly want to produce that report on here as I am sure it will send alarm bells ringing amongst some of the more experienced Affiliates on here. But if you openly come on here and challenge me, I will openly respond with the true facts and figures.

[999gi]

When you strip out the obvious rejects it doesnt look that horrific to me:

Advanced MP3 Players sale £143.99 £5.75 02 Sep 2003 16:37 02 Sep 2003 18:56 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £229.00 £9.16 02 Sep 2003 09:34 02 Sep 2003 18:56 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £52.00 £2.08 31 Aug 2003 20:09 02 Sep 2003 18:56 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £154.00 £6.16 30 Aug 2003 21:31 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £109.00 £4.36 29 Aug 2003 20:05 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 18:50 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Rejected
Advanced MP3 Players sale £209.00 £8.36 29 Aug 2003 12:17 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 11:36 31 Aug 2003 12:29 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £199.00 £7.96 26 Jul 2003 17:57 27 Jul 2003 10:54 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £159.00 £6.36 05 Jul 2003 21:00 08 Jul 2003 21:57 Confirmed
Advanced MP3 Players sale £129.00 £5.16 02 Jul 2003 03:11 02 Jul 2003 20:52 Confirmed

Also the £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 could be the same as the £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 its hard to be sure

So in all you have 8 confirmed and 2 or 3 Rejected

[bulbo]

It is still 20-25% rejected. Way above average.

I know many of those posted are obvious duplicates but I just copied and pasted my account with them. Even I know when an obvious rejection is going to occur.

If the report had ran at 10 confirmed and 1 rejected, I would live with that but 3 rejected?

This campaign I have running is likely to last another week or so... I will be glad to report the full findings at the end of it as I appreciate this may be an inadequate sample size.

One thing that does cross my mind though... is your merchant account charging for all these rejected payments?

Would you like me to stop the promotion?

Also the £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 could be the same as the £79.99 £3.19 29 Aug 2003 its hard to be sure

Well, the confirmed Commish comes before the rejected commish.

So I reckon that discounts that one...

[bulbo]

Advanced Mp3's response suggests that the higher the £££ value of the items being ordered, the greater the chance of commission being rejected due to fraudulent credit card usage.

Would other affiliates concur with this statement?

I have never sold more than about £500 in one single transaction so I would be keen to hear the views of more experienced Affies on this subject.

[Luke]

I can help you out on this one - I introduced Advanced MP3 Players to the world of affiliate marketing when I persuaded them to run an affiliate marketing programme on Affiliate Future.

They are one of our best performing merchants and they convert brilliantly.

Yes they do cancel orders but Josh Welensky the Affiliate Manager is 110% trustworthy and would never cancel a vaild order, ever.

Even with cancelled orders you will be getting a much better EPC then any other MP3 player shop.

Cancelled orders are mainly because of:

Fraud - about 10% of cancelled orders
The customer pressing the purchase button too many times and ordering too many mp3 players - approx 50%
The customer changing their mind - approx 40%

Of course if u promoted them on AFuture not only would you get paid quicker but they only have five days after the sale to cancel the order


I hope that helps.

[bulbo]

Thanks for that.

I'm afraid I was spitting my dummy out a bit the other night and largely regret my rant. I had heard the Merchant's side of the story but I just wanted to see if any other Affiliates had experience.

As pointed out above, when the obvious duplicates were taken away, the rejected commissions weren't actually that bad.

It's just a bit depressing to look at your commission report which shows for today (yes, he certainly sorts the pendings out quicker than any other merchant, I'll definitely praise him for that)

£2.79 in Confirmed Advanced MP3 Players Commissions

£38.47 in Rejected Advanced MP3 Players Commissions

but having taken a look at the rejections, someone was clearly tapping at the order button while waiting for the page to load

Anyway, I'm going to continue with the campaign for all my grumbling and moaning.

BTW, the reason I use AWin and not AF for this merchant is because I use the IPS Feed.

[Luke]

I'm afraid I was spitting my dummy out

Bulbo - complaining about any merchant cancelling orders is not spitting your dummy out - you have every right to consult with other affiliates, or the network, as to why this is.

Never forget you are sending them traffic on a cost per action basis and they should be damn grateful you have chosen them!

[Luke]

AWin and not AF for this merchant is because I use the IPS Feed.

We will have something like this, only much much more sophisticated, coming very soon.

Nevertheless, whether you promote it on Affiliate Window or Affiliate Future doesn't really matter, it's a great programme and over a period of time you will do well out of it

[drivetowin]

Originally posted by Luke We will have something like this, only much much more sophisticated, coming very soon.

C'mon Luke give us a clue - what's the eta for this - I know it's been talked about for quite a while - do you have any idea of a launch date yet.