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I've been waiting for someone to build this for a while but wow, that's stiff pricing.
by johnnyg 13y ago
I've been waiting for someone to build this for a while but wow, that's stiff pricing.
- jeffasinger 13y agoI'm surprised they're not able to give you money off on each order. Amazon gives up to 8.5% of each order to affiliates (and at least 4%).
- tc98103 13y agoI was thinking the same thing. Why isn't this a free service that collects an affiliate fee instead. Seems like it would lower the barrier for adoption.
- ceejayoz 13y agoI'd guess it violates the affiliate program TOS.
- dangrossman 13y agoThe end-user is not clicking through a referral link, going to the Amazon site and making a purchase. How would Zinc earn the affiliate fee? If you're suggesting they negotiate a custom referral arrangement with Amazon, that's probably impossible at the MVP stage.
- arbuge 13y agoThey might be filling orders manually as some suggested. A Turker working for Zinc.io and placing the orders via their affiliate links would do the trick. No need for negotiations etc.
- jeffasinger 13y agoToo many affiliate orders from the same affiliate from the same IPs would probably cause some flags to raise at Amazon.
- dangrossman 13y agoYou can't refer yourself, else the program wouldn't work -- everyone would sign up, everyone would click their own links, and Amazon would effectively have dropped its prices across the board while adding a rebate-processing overhead to every order. That's why program agreements virtually always prohibit this.
- arbuge 13y agoAmazon is careful about this with their affiliate program - but most other retailers aren't in my experience.
- arbuge 13y agoThat would be offering the end user an incentive. Forbidden by Amazon affiliate program TOS Item #14 as far as I can see: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/operating/participation/ https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/oper...
- jessaustin 13y agoAre the prices really so bad? Those fees seem comparable to a payment service provider. This is a different service with presumably lower risks, but if you have to buy stuff and this service replaces a significant portion of an FTE it could definitely be a "reasonable cost of doing business".