User-Submitted Referral Code/Link Requests & Updates

scotty on 08/04/2014 - 10:16
Last edited 16/01/2022 - 11:25 by 5 other users
Related Pages
Original Post

This morning we pushed out a new user-submitted referral changes. This is an update to the previous attempt in 2012. Problem with the previous one is that it's difficult to add new stores that support referral benefits, and the feature ended up only supporting GreenManGaming and not being used much by our users here. What happened afterwards were wiki pages created for each online shop. Yes it's an interesting use of the wiki pages, but

  • Not a good idea to let any member to be able to edit everyone's code.
  • Free-form might not be the most ideal format, and hard to police everyone to edit in the same format.
  • The list is ordered rather than randomised.

What we have done now is having a single place for you to put in all your referral codes. Go to your Settings page and click on the referrals tab. You should be presented with a list of "stores" that we currently have referral support. For the comprehensive list of stores / products supported, please go to the referral wiki page.

New ones should be easily added as well if the method of referral is via a referral link (i.e. unique URL per referrer). Feel free to submit new ones in the comments. I need

  • The URL format for the referral link
  • Instructions to get the referral link
  • Benefit for the referrers and referees.

Another reminder that Affiliate Links and Referral Links are different and we do not allow affiliate links here on OzBargain.

Once a referral system has been set up for that domain, for every deal posted to that domain, a grey box will appear below the content and above the Share buttons containing a randomised referral link AND OP's referral link (if OP has submitted one for that domain and the deal has hit the front page vote minimum - updated 9/5/16). The benefits for the referrers and referees are also shown so people know what they (and you) are getting. For example this Amaysim offer I submitted. In this case including your own referral link and link to wiki becomes redundant.

Yes this is still in beta and needs improvement. Some potential issues / possible improvements:

  • Since you do not really need to put referral link in your content, you can submit deals with your link in the referral box without the deal being marked as "referral post". This might lead to abuse of people posting excessive deals from the stores offering referral. I shall look at ways to prevent it. I don't want to mark them as referral post at the moment because previously submitter can pick and choose whether to include his/her referral link. Now it's always included. 9/5/16 Update: Your deal must hit the front page vote minimum (currently 30) to show. This was previously 5, before being changed to the front page vote minimum.

  • Referral-code / coupon-code type referrals are not yet supported. For example Budget Direct, Rabobank, etc. We can potentially generate a popup containing the code when people click on "OP" or "random".

  • A good idea to let people pick and choose? For example some people might not want to use OP's referral link, not a random one either but from a list of friends.

So here it is. Give it a try guys! I will start removing some of the wiki pages later today. Meanwhile, please leave feedback in the comments.

If your comment is automatically unpublished due to the referral link, do not worry, moderators can still see it and will republish it before replying.

Site Discussion

Comments

  • ModeratorJSQUARED on 23/04/2018 - 02:17

    Just a reminder to everyone that if you're interested in getting a referral system for a particular store added, please include:

    • The URL format for the referral link (or coupon format if it's only in coupon form, like Uber Eats/GoCatch codes etc)
    • Benefit for the referrers and referees
    • Instructions to get the referral link

    If your comment is removed as soon as you submit it - don't worry as we will still see it on our end. It's just the system doing its job in automatically detecting and removing comments that it believes to contain referral links.

    Do not reply to this comment, add a new comment to the bottom.

  • fruit on 08/04/2014 - 10:22
    +2

    When will we get Ozbargain referral links?

    fruit on 08/04/2014 - 10:22 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
    • scotty on 08/04/2014 - 12:43
      +7

      Maybe April 1st next year.

      • tajid on 02/06/2017 - 14:33

        not 29th Feb next year?

  • neil on 08/04/2014 - 12:06
    +1

    Looks great.

    Not sure if this is an issue but just added my referrals from Dropbox, Uber & OzForex. They automatically copy the full URL to the clipboard, so I had to paste link then remove most of the URL. I'm wondering if we can have a box that allows full URL or referral code? e.g. https://uber.com/go/test1234 or test1234

  • Holysmoke on 08/04/2014 - 12:11

    Need to add AMEX which is a specific URL.

  • Gav on 08/04/2014 - 14:28

    Looks promising. Well done scotty and team.

    I can understand the reasoning behind the OP referral link but it'll just end up being a mad race for a new deal post every time Vinomofo releases a new wine! :)

    I would personally recommend a rule that you cannot add any referral text/reminders/etc in the body of the deal. It's redundant and the potential for begging comes out again.

    Are there any thoughts around what happens while this is in beta? Only people opting in to Beta will see this for now.

    • scotty on 08/04/2014 - 14:33

      Initially I was planning to release it for beta — it has actually been sitting in beta since last week. However as of this morning we are releasing this to all users because I think it would be difficult to have both systems (this & the wiki pages) running in parallel at the same time.

    • Gav on 09/04/2014 - 12:31

      Further evidence of why I believe any mention of referrals should be banned from deal content:

      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139720

      The poster edited the deal to mention his own referral and URL after he probably realised more people added their own referral codes and the reader had options.

      • Moderatorneil on 09/04/2014 - 12:35

        For clarity, the OP posted the deal with the referral link at the bottom of the body. See original post

        • Gav on 09/04/2014 - 12:54

          Apologies, I stand corrected. However I still think it's double content and should be removed/banned.

  • alvian on 08/04/2014 - 17:22

    About time for the randomised referral codes. Thanks scotty.

    A good idea to let people pick and choose? For example some people might not want to use OP's referral link, not a random one either but from a list of friends.

    If someone want to use friend's referral code, s/he has other ways to get that code, e.g. PM and e-mail. No need to complicate things.

    • dealman on 08/02/2015 - 22:09

      .g. PM and e-mail. No need to complicate things.

      Too much work imo, If I just want to buy a small thing I don't bother with asking, much easier to go with the forum's top poster's page and then select one of them to receive a benefit.

  • Holysmoke on 08/04/2014 - 22:03

    We probably will not support account number as referral code, e.g. Club Telco, Red Energy, etc for privacy concern.

    Could link to a create a PM to obtain the account number directly from the referrer.

    • brisdaz on 02/07/2017 - 13:18

      Please update OP to reflect that account numbers are now supported.

  • crazymofo on 09/04/2014 - 21:12

    Nicely integrated Scotty looks great !! I like the randomized referral idea =)

  • KBZ on 09/04/2014 - 22:14

    So how are people supposed to find referral codes for some 'stores' that haven't had deals in a while?

    i.e you removed the dropbox referrals wiki, so people have to search 'dropbox' and find a 'deal' expired or not and dodge deals which may have had 'dropbox' in the title which won't have the referrals and click the randomise thing?

    Isn't this a bit counter intuitive?

    Wouldn't it also be easier adding another tab called "User Referrals" which will display the stores and the randomise thing you added.

    • scotty on 09/04/2014 - 23:03

      Maybe the same block should also appear on store's page? For example random referral link on the Vinomofo page? Because when you do a search for Vinomofo on OzBargain, Related Store should be the first item which would bring you to that page.

      • KBZ on 09/04/2014 - 23:49

        That would be a good add as well.

  • tonester on 11/04/2014 - 08:25

    good - privacy:

    hidden/random codes somewhat circumvent referral policies such as uber's

    bad - fairness:

    the later one adds their referral code to settings, the less likely it is to be randomly shown/used, due to the larger number of codes available

    a list or conga thread shows them all in chronological order and allows comments to thank others

    other issues:

    add the list of stores in referral settings to https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/list_of_referral_links to help inform users as well as avoid new wiki pages being created (perhaps lock the old/obsolete ones from being edited?)

    need to update when referral bonus changes

    submit bargain referral popup box needs updating (aside: alternative store domain gives error when pops up but can be ignored)

    This Guy Got $US50,000 In Credit From Uber And Ended Up With Free Uber Rides For Life

    • Gav on 11/04/2014 - 11:50

      Assuming it's been applied as truly random, anyone adding their referral code makings things "worse" for EVERYONE. This is because the odds of randomly being chosen diminish. e.g. 50 people. 1 in 50 chance. 51 people. 1 in 51 chance.

      The whole system was introduced to remove the wikis/lists, since they were hard to manage and people started begging for their referral to be used.

      Under the new system, you see a list of all possible stores in your settings.

      • tonester on 11/04/2014 - 12:43

        Assuming it's been applied as truly random, anyone adding their referral code makings things "worse" for EVERYONE. This is because the odds of randomly being chosen diminish. e.g. 50 people. 1 in 50 chance. 51 people. 1 in 51 chance.

        exactly - everyone has the same chance but that chance becomes smaller as more people add their referral code

        The whole system was introduced to remove the wikis/lists, since they were hard to manage and people started begging for their referral to be used.

        hence why some forums use conga threads so that referrer should hopefully gain a referee

        Under the new system, you see a list of all possible stores in your settings.

        but not all referrals are there hence https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/list_of_referral_links which should have a list of all referral stores for completeness

    • scotty on 11/04/2014 - 19:18

      Cache inconsistency. I will need to look at out after i get back home later tonight. As well as adding more referral sites — please list them here in the comments + helpful description if possible so I don't need to sign up an account myself to investigate.

      • tonester on 11/04/2014 - 19:19

        btw the random referral links work, just not the op's

        • crazymofo on 11/04/2014 - 20:12

          Yes the random referral link works really well, I would be happy just for one link to the random and ditch the op link.

    • scotty on 11/04/2014 - 23:34

      Bug found and fixed. Full log of tonight's update will be posted in the Power Users forum soon.

  • scotty on 11/04/2014 - 23:41
    +2
    Updates 11 April 2014

    Some new features just got added:

    • Referral block also appears on the store page so you don't need to go and find a deal to find the referral link. Thanks kangaberries.

    • Due to a json library bug OP's referral link sometimes gives back 404. It should hopefully be fixed now. Thanks tonester.

    • A simple stats has been added to each of your referral link, showing (1) how many clicks it made, and (2) when was the last time someone clicked on your referral link.

    • Gav on 12/04/2014 - 14:42

      Thanks scotty. Does the stats cover just your direct link (OP) or the random link clicks too?

      • hamza23 on 12/04/2014 - 16:10

        Random as well.

  • javajo on 12/04/2014 - 17:38

    Awesome feature. Would like to see a 'random' that might rule you out of the pool for a set amount of time or completely until everyone has had a chance to share some of the referral love rather than potentially have some miss out and some double up. I'm trying to add my own referral link for winomofo but the link I get from the site starts with http://u20364.sendgrid.org/wf/click?upn=qR12Dlp7oM6tgWkwWycY……….(NOTE: I have truncated the link - i'm not expecting it to be clicked here). Anyone know how you get your actual referral code??

    • tonester on 12/04/2014 - 19:39

      try emailing yourself a referral? :)

      • javajo on 14/04/2014 - 22:42

        Tried that and that is where the link format above came from. I didn't try twitter and have now updated. thanks

    • scotty on 12/04/2014 - 20:46
      +1

      Click on any of the sharing links to retrieve the referral ID.

      For me I click on Twitter (assuming you have a Twitter account). Click on the Tweet! blue button, and it would popup a Twitter share-a-link window. You will see see your referral link there. Just copy down the alphanumerics after /signup/ and that would be it.

  • scotty on 12/04/2014 - 23:01
    +4

    Another issue we have discovered is that people have been creating ghost accounts to submit multiple referral codes, or multiple previously undetected ghost accounts submitting the same referral code.

    We will be checking our system regularly to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen. Again ghost account gets permanet ban straight away. Banned users will never get their referral code into the random pool. We will also investigate on offending referral code to get them black listed in our system.

  • Holysmoke on 22/04/2014 - 11:08

    Delivery Hero does not seem to be working - "This campaign has expired." when clicking on a referral link from a deal page.

    • scotty on 22/04/2014 - 12:01

      Yeah couldn't work out what their new program is either. I'm turning off Delivery Hero referral links for now.

  • theaboveshots on 22/04/2014 - 15:25

    I guys, when I added my amaysim referral link to my account's settings, I noticed that another amaysim referral link (not mine) was already there.
    Was it an "example" one, or all users that posted in the Amaysim Wiki got a default referral code?
    Or what else?

    EDIT: the id i found in my account was automatically transferred from the wiki page. problem is that it had been edited by someone in the wiki page, so it was the wrong one. all clear!

  • nostril on 28/04/2014 - 17:28

    How about goCatch? I've just been issues a referral code by them, and anyone can obtain one by messaging them on Facebook.

    • Holysmoke on 28/04/2014 - 17:41

      Codes are for limited use - only 3 at present

      • nostril on 28/04/2014 - 18:07

        Could still be useful to use them up. Not sure how you would set that up though, they'd have to expire or something.

      • scotty on 28/04/2014 - 19:42

        Yes that makes implementing a referral system a bit difficult.

    • giles on 22/04/2015 - 20:25

      Could we have another look at goCatch? None of the correspondence I've received from goCatch suggests a limit to the number of times my referral code can be used. Thanks!

      • Moderatorneil on 22/04/2015 - 21:05

        GoCatch only has codes like XXXXX and not links so you have to open up the app on your phone and manually enter the code. See GoCatch Referral Wiki

  • scotty on 29/04/2014 - 09:04
    +1

    There's an update this morning on the referral system. Now if the deal was posted by an L or a P-plated poster, his/her referral link will not be shown inside the referral block, which is more inlined with our referral link posting guidelines. For example those L/P posts in Vinomofo deals will only have "random" referral links but no OP's.

    • foobar on 29/04/2014 - 10:24

      Are L and P plater referrals excluded from being chosen at random?

      • scotty on 29/04/2014 - 10:36

        Not at the moment. That's a bit more computational intensive so I deliberately left it out (as L/P plate is not based on user account's creation date but first posting date). I'll collect more stats in the next couple of weeks to see whether we should pursuit it.

  • Gav on 29/04/2014 - 17:07

    Possible improvement suggestion: Split referral links (Clicks) into Direct and Random - this information would be interesting to know! :)

  • tonester on 02/05/2014 - 11:09

    Perhaps Referral Link Posting Limit needs to be reviewed as it applies to the older Referrer tag but not this newer system?

    Posting this deal gave me a 1/wk limit but this deal generated no restriction.

    Also Uber referral credit is now back to $10.

    • scotty on 02/05/2014 - 11:31

      See my original post:

      Since you do not really need to put referral link in your content, you can submit deals with your link in the referral box without the deal being marked as "referral post". This might lead to abuse of people posting excessive deals from the stores offering referral.

      However from the look of it I think it might actually be a good idea to automatically flag those deals as "Referral" if you have a referral code for that merchant in the system.

      • tonester on 21/05/2014 - 21:41

        considering this deal comment and your reply above as well as

        Since you do not really need to put referral link in your content, you can submit deals with your link in the referral box without the deal being marked as "referral post". This might lead to abuse of people posting excessive deals from the stores offering referral. I shall look at ways to prevent it.

        i suggest that the Referral Link Posting Limit now be applied to vinomofo

        • roughana on 30/05/2014 - 11:37

          i suggest that the Referral Link Posting Limit now be applied to vinomofo

          At the very least, some combining of deals would be appreciated.

  • Draxxx on 08/05/2014 - 09:01

    How do I add a referral link? eg DropBox?

    • foobar on 08/05/2014 - 09:20
      +1

      Go to "My Account / Settings / Referrals" and click to drop down whichever one you want to set up.

      • Draxxx on 08/05/2014 - 09:26

        Awesome! Thanks foobar!

  • ethanol on 15/05/2014 - 20:48

    Can we add Reship.com to the referral scheme.

    I posted the deal here : https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/144374

    $10 shipping credit bonus for both referer and referee.

    Here's mine - this is the format it takes : <MOD> - Removed referral link.

    • scotty on 15/05/2014 - 22:26
      +1

      Done. Now it's open for registration.

  • zzyss on 28/05/2014 - 14:24

    Please add Lastpass to the referral:

    • scotty on 28/05/2014 - 14:46
      +2

      Done!

  • pyramid on 06/06/2014 - 17:56

    Hi,
    Can we have betterbills.com.au as referral:

    The URL format for the referral link
    https://curebit.com/x/xxxxxx - where xxxxxx is a alpha-numeric code, e.g. mine is http://curebit.com/x/1O6hbY

    Instructions to get the referral link
    Visit http://www.betterbills.com/share and enter your email and unique link will appear. At the moment you can generate and refer friends even if you are not betterbills customer but they are changing it and will allow only members to refer friends.

    Benefit for the referrers and referees.
    Referrer and referee both get $50 each when referee completes health insurance shopping via betterbuys and $20 each to buy electricity/gas via betterbills..

    • Moderatorneil on 06/06/2014 - 18:04

      There has only been 1 deal ever posted for betterbills and wasn't very popular.

      • pyramid on 08/06/2014 - 00:46

        Thats true. I have checked their website and they are not running any promotion which can be posted as deal. But should we not keep this in referral section?

    • scotty on 08/06/2014 - 21:57

      BetterBills should be available now in your referral section.

      • pyramid on 09/06/2014 - 11:02

        Thanks mods.

  • nitsuj on 09/06/2014 - 00:23

    I followed an ozforex link and signed up, now the guys at ozforex are asking me for the username of the link I followed so they can process my referral because I guess following the link didn't work.

    Any way to get the username of someone who is in the list of referrers?

    • roughana on 10/06/2014 - 20:52

      I think knowing who you've been referred by is worthwhile. Then you can followup if necessary.

  • roughana on 16/06/2014 - 13:55

    Is Zavvi a candidate for this system or not?

    • scotty on 16/06/2014 - 14:09

      On Zavvi's help page:

      … include your unique zavvi code. To do this, simply log in to your account by clicking on Your Account in the top right of the screen. Select the "My Rewardz" tab and you will find a short form to complete.

      No. I don't see any "short form" when I go to My Rewardz page inside Your Account. Moreover, when you click on Rewardz at the top, it says:

      As of Wednesday 26 June 2014, we will no longer be issuing Rewardz points on purchases.

      Looks like they are phrasing out the Zavvi rewards system so possibly no more referral?

      • roughana on 16/06/2014 - 15:27

        ok, thanks for looking into it.

  • scotty on 18/06/2014 - 21:52

    Another update — just added Digital Ocean's referral program where referrer gets $25 account credit if referee used up $25 in billing.

  • neil on 25/06/2014 - 10:09

    Can I suggest Airbnb?

    From here:

    Earn $25 when your friend completes a qualifying reservation as a guest
    Earn $75 when your friend completes a qualifying reservation as a host

    • scotty on 25/06/2014 - 22:27

      I was in the middle of activating it however when I looked at their terms and conditions:

      You agree not to publish or distribute the link, or cause the link to be published or distributed, on or via methods, platforms and media where you have no reasonable basis for believing that all or most of the readers or recipients are your personal friends (such as coupon websites, Reddit, Wikipedia).

      In this case quirki would have violated Airbnb's T&C. I haven't checked other referral programs' terms but would that be a concern?

  • Geewhizz on 07/07/2014 - 06:54

    Can we add airbnb to the list?

  • zzyss on 15/07/2014 - 11:18

    Looks like Catch of the Day should be added to the list…

    The URL format for the referral link
    https://www.catchoftheday.com.au/register?ref=xxxxxxxxx

    Instructions to get the referral link
    Click the link to register for an account

    Benefit for the referrers and referees.
    "When you get your friends signed up to CatchOfTheDay.com.au via the referral link below, they’ll get a bonus $10 store credit after they make their first purchase! You’ll then be rewarded with your own $10 store credit! Too easy! And the more friends you refer, the more store credit you receive, so start spreading the word!"

    • scotty on 15/07/2014 - 20:27

      I will look into it.

    • scotty on 16/07/2014 - 12:44
      +1

      Catch Of The Day is now available for referrals.

  • bargaino on 31/07/2014 - 13:03

    It looks to me like people do not like or use random referrals.
    I got three vinomofo referrals in a short time (so free case) before it went random, and zero in the long time since.

    Is that just me? Scotty, do you have any numbers on the uptake of randomised referrals?

    • scotty on 31/07/2014 - 13:28

      Sorry we don't really have any stats on that.

    • zzyss on 31/07/2014 - 14:14

      According to the shop page there are 170 referrers so the chances are pretty slim now, I think. Not that many clickthroughs…

  • King Tightarse on 31/07/2014 - 16:42

    Yatango Referrals are now uniquely generated.

    It would seem that all the previous referral links stored on Ozbargain are no longer valid.
    Yatango have changed to a system that generates a unique link with each referral request. I got onto the via chat and they said that the old links are no longer valid and that they have no static links. The person I was chatting with seems to only know some of the story so I would take his answers as probable but not gospel.
    They didn't send out any communication about this that I have seen.

    • scotty on 01/08/2014 - 14:31

      I have to disable the Yatango referral links for now as the site is now yatango.com.au (instead of yatangomobile.com.au), and I believe a lot might have changed merging with MobiCity.

      • King Tightarse on 01/08/2014 - 15:58

        OK thanks Scotty.
        Wow, they could have done a group email. Sheesh!
        Cheers.

        • easternculture on 01/08/2014 - 19:40

          i still have a static referral link when i login into my account ??

  • yjun355 on 12/08/2014 - 14:01

    I have personal referral code for swiftly.com (get designs done for $19). Basically it gives a free task for person creating the task. It also then gives me another free task.
    Just seeing if it is cool to post it on ozbargain? Its a win win for everyone. They get free and I get free for each of them :)

  • Make it so on 13/08/2014 - 16:40

    Could you please add Kleenheat to the available referrals? Details are:

    URL Format: http://www.kleenheatng.com.au/sign-up/promo/xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Instructions to get referral link: Search your email with the keywords "Kleenheat" and "refer". They frequently send out emails with a referral link.
    Benefit for referees: $50 credit off their first bill
    Benefit for referrers: Discount increases from 10% to 20% off the standard tariff (for two years)

    • scotty on 13/08/2014 - 18:02

      Thanks. It should be available now in your referral area.

      • Make it so on 13/08/2014 - 23:02

        Wow, impressed with the quick service on a weekend :)
        Thanks for setting that up.

        • scotty on 13/08/2014 - 23:12

          I wish it's already the weekend :)

        • Make it so on 13/08/2014 - 23:44

          @scotty: oops, got my weekday messed up again. Being on leave does that to me. It was after-hours anyway :)

  • zzyss on 25/09/2014 - 15:06

    TuShare referral add please! :-P

    URL Format:
    https://www.tushare.com/invitation/xxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Instructions to get referral link:
    Visit https://www.tushare.com/ and look for the "Earn free credit" link in the left hand side of the page near "Delivery credit.

    Benefit for referees:
    None

    Benefit for referrers:
    For the first 20 people who sign up to TuShare using your unique link, you get $1 deposited into your account to use for delivery.

  • easternculture on 03/10/2014 - 12:30

    Airbnb please

    Format www.airbnb.com.au/ c/XXX
    Instructions to get referral link: Navigate to Dashboard https://www.airbnb.com.au/home/dashboard to obtain referral link
    Benefit for referees: Sign up using a valid referral code (or by clicking on a valid referral link) from an existing Airbnb user and you’ll receive a coupon credit for $29 AUD (or its equivalent in your local currency*, if we support it) for use toward your next qualifying reservation on Airbnb.
    Benefit for referrers: You will receive $29 AUD travel credit after your referral's qualifying reservation > $75 has taken place

    • Moderatorneil on 03/10/2014 - 12:57

      See above

    • scotty on 03/10/2014 - 13:43

      I wonder whether by actually hiding the referral block from guest users would be "good enough" as they aren't publicly published and don't get indexed by the search engines.

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