4 ms·

He gets paid if you buy anything after clicking the affiliate link, not just the books he linked to. A lot of people just happened to be buying stuff on Amazon

by rudiger 15y ago

He gets paid if you buy anything after clicking the affiliate link, not just the books he linked to. A lot of people just happened to be buying stuff on Amazon over the weekend with his affiliate cookie set. Edit: I'm not saying I agree with the negativity. It's just an answer to the parent's question.

cek 15y ago
I still don't understand the hate. What's wrong with this? Person purchasing the 'other stuff' never knows/cares. Amazon is happy. Affiliate is happy. Who's hurt/injured?
- rudiger 15y ago
  I didn't say anything was wrong with this, or that anyone was hurt. I simply answered the parent's question. It's a stretch, but you could argue that prices are slightly higher because Amazon has to pay the affiliates.
- sbraford 15y ago
  Want to understand what's going on here psychologically? To some people, whenever anyone is making a profit, however small ... some people believe that someone, somewhere, has to be getting the raw end of the deal. Note: I'm not saying putting Amazon links on your blog means you can be still be 100% objective (you can't), but rather pointing out a deep-seated belief that I have noticed among some, especially those who've found a way to make a living on GPL'd code, for example, and think iPads should be free.
bad_user 15y ago
And why do you consider this unfair? Does the payment come out of your pocket or something? Leaving aside that I have to ask this question (WTF dude?) for a $12 book you get something like 60 cents, considering a 7% referral fee. And you can make less than that per the number of items sold, as lots of people end up buying something a lot less expensive, like an MP3 (since they buy from Amazon and are right there anyway), with the more expensive items helping to balance that. And I haven't sold any tractors. So the total fee pales in comparison with the revenue Amazon generated from that article and if Amazon wouldn't do that, then the affiliate program would be basically a joke. (edit: misspellings)
- rudiger 15y ago
  I didn't say I considered it unfair. I'm just offering an answer to the question.
  - bad_user 15y ago
    Sorry then for misjudging (I haven't downvoted you btw). This is why online communications are though and no substitute for real world interactions - there's no body language to read between the lines and so you have to be pretty specific in expressing yourself.
awj 15y ago
So ... he won the amazon affiliate race condition lottery, and somehow this is a bad thing? You could argue that he sent you to amazon, possibly having a non-negligible impact on your purchasing something from them. Also, seriously, his cut doesn't get added to your bill. Almost nothing happens totally for free, and I'd rather have free-to-view content with affiliate links than buy my way through a paywall for every damn thing on the internet.
- rudiger 15y ago
  I didn't say it was a bad thing. I simply answered the parent's question.

by rudiger 15y ago

cek 15y ago

I still don't understand the hate. What's wrong with this? Person purchasing the 'other stuff' never knows/cares. Amazon is happy. Affiliate is happy. Who's hurt/injured?

rudiger 15y ago
I didn't say anything was wrong with this, or that anyone was hurt. I simply answered the parent's question. It's a stretch, but you could argue that prices are slightly higher because Amazon has to pay the affiliates.
sbraford 15y ago
Want to understand what's going on here psychologically? To some people, whenever anyone is making a profit, however small ... some people believe that someone, somewhere, has to be getting the raw end of the deal. Note: I'm not saying putting Amazon links on your blog means you can be still be 100% objective (you can't), but rather pointing out a deep-seated belief that I have noticed among some, especially those who've found a way to make a living on GPL'd code, for example, and think iPads should be free.

bad_user 15y ago

And why do you consider this unfair? Does the payment come out of your pocket or something? Leaving aside that I have to ask this question (WTF dude?) for a $12 book you get something like 60 cents, considering a 7% referral fee. And you can make less than that per the number of items sold, as lots of people end up buying something a lot less expensive, like an MP3 (since they buy from Amazon and are right there anyway), with the more expensive items helping to balance that. And I haven't sold any tractors. So the total fee pales in comparison with the revenue Amazon generated from that article and if Amazon wouldn't do that, then the affiliate program would be basically a joke. (edit: misspellings)

rudiger 15y ago
I didn't say I considered it unfair. I'm just offering an answer to the question.
- bad_user 15y ago
  Sorry then for misjudging (I haven't downvoted you btw). This is why online communications are though and no substitute for real world interactions - there's no body language to read between the lines and so you have to be pretty specific in expressing yourself.

awj 15y ago

So ... he won the amazon affiliate race condition lottery, and somehow this is a bad thing? You could argue that he sent you to amazon, possibly having a non-negligible impact on your purchasing something from them. Also, seriously, his cut doesn't get added to your bill. Almost nothing happens totally for free, and I'd rather have free-to-view content with affiliate links than buy my way through a paywall for every damn thing on the internet.

rudiger 15y ago
I didn't say it was a bad thing. I simply answered the parent's question.