Should everyone be allowed to post affiliate links?

samfisher5986 on 18/05/2011 - 18:35
Last edited 18/05/2011 - 18:49

In relation to: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/45030

To my knowledge the reason you have a checkbox for Reps to post is so you know they are posting on ozbargain for personal gain. This is why the bargains they do post are heavily scrutinised by the community and they have various limits and why mods often catch them posting/voting under fake accounts.

The issue is that we had a recently signed up member posting a deal while asking for people to use his affiliate link.

He then goes on to say "I only need two people to buy the bundle through my link to get it for free." and "BTW thank you for the people that followed my link (although I don't know if it is from here or from the emails I sent my friends)."

We've had plenty of people in the past posting bargains with affiliate links, but these are known members.

There are a lot of affiliate programs around the internet and a lot of personal gain to be had.

What is the point in not allowing them in the main link? Who here is evil enough to buy it without the affiliate link? The fact is once you decide to buy it you might as well use the affiliate link, and thus the poster wins.

If the bargain is good enough it will get posted anyway.

Site Discussion

Comments

  • Jimmy6 on 18/05/2011 - 19:25

    I agree as well

    I don't see there is anything wrong with it.
    If someone asks for a non-affiliate link, than that should be provided should they not want to use it

    Fair game, its their call

    But it's not fair that the deal gets taken off the site if an affiliate link is used

    I tried posting a link last week which was a really good price for breakfast using ourdeal or ouffer or something, and it got taken off cos I used an affiliate link

    Deal was worth posting, and I thought I'd share it using the link that was given in my email

    Taken straight off without warning cos I was using an affiliate link…

    Anyhow Thanks for bringing this up.

    I'm totally with you

    • ozhunter on 18/05/2011 - 20:45

      Then everyone would post those group buy deals just so they can get credit for them. Also since deals are usually different for each state, each group buy site could get posted 5-6 times.

  • neil on 18/05/2011 - 21:19
    +2

    For the record, the rule for affiliate links, http://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/help:deal_posting_guideline…

    The short: Affiliate links on Group Buy deals are not allowed because people were posting loads of crappy deals just to get commission. So we banned affiliate links on group buy deals and group buy deals were reduced by about 60%.

    As for regular deals, we want people to post because they think it's a good deal not to make commission thus we often remove 1 post wonders posting referral links. As long as you put the non-affiliated link in the Link box and the affiliate in the description, AND it doesn't compete with moneybackco or another cashback program that is good for users, then it's fine.

    The long and clearer below:

    Affiliate links are generally not welcomed over here in OzBargain. Not that we do not want you to make money, but instead OzBargain already have a very good cashback scheme in place that is partnered with many affiliation networks in Australia. Therefore by using your link, our members might miss out the chance of getting cashback, which makes your deal more expensive!

    However, if there is no affiliation network that can provide cashback to our members, i.e. they will have to pay the same amount anyway if they don't click through your link, then the moderators here might turn a blind eye on it. Please make sure that you put enough declaration in your post about the affiliate link. Please do not post affiliate links in the main URL.

    Due to the influx of Daily Deal and Group Buy deals, affiliate and/or referral links on such deals are not permitted. This includes links or codes within the deal description.

    Steps to take:

    • Check whether this merchant already has commission cashback offered by sites like MoneyBackCo. If No, then
    • Make sure you check that the deal you are posting is not part of a Group Buy or Daily Deal site.
    • Make sure you declare your affiliation link. For example,
      • It contains my affiliation link, and if you click through and make purchase, I will be getting commission from your purchases.
      • You can also provide a non-affiliate link (optional).

    Moderators still hold the right to unpublish offers or remove affiliation part of the links, if found inappropriate.

    • samfisher5986 on 18/05/2011 - 21:24

      Great explanation neil :)

      So if you remove 1 post wonders, and banning affiliate links from group buy deals reduced junk by 60%…

      Is there a particular reason why the particular post in question is allowed?

      The only reason I think its ok for Reps to post on here is because they have the power to make a special deal for us. People posting affiliate links do not have that power.

      Also I like sparkles's idea.

  • sparkles on 18/05/2011 - 21:27
    +1

    I also think affiliate links should be allowed but limited to certain users.

    Maybe the coding could be changed so people with say, 50 good posts or 500+ votes on their deals are allowed to post affliate links. This would weed out the crap and allow people who are posting good stuff to be rewarded with a freebie once in a while. I pulled those figures from nowhere, but I'm sure you get what I mean.

    Speaking of hit and runs, I'm tired of seeing one post wonders using the forum as their personal trading post to sell stuff but not actually contributing posts, bargains or comments. Hehe, that's my grumble, good night!

  • neil on 18/05/2011 - 21:38
    +1

    Actually, that's a good suggestion sparkles. But..as affiliate links need to be in the description, I don't see it can be technically feasible unless another field is added for affiliate links. I will bring this up with the mods as a manual rule. We just need to find the magic number.

    As for the deal above, Ozpete explained why it's fine.

    The poster did the right thing putting the affiliate link in the description and there is no cashback scheme competing with it. The price you get via the referral link is the same as a normal link and you have a choice (the main one) to just use the normal link. As the deal appears to have garnered 3 votes, it seems that some think it's a deal. I should clear up, 1 post wonders usually consist of a posting with no price and a random product from a website (e.g. Focalprice, Amazon etc.).

    • [Deactivated] on 18/05/2011 - 22:04
      +1

      The point I was making about this deal, is not the criticism, but the negative votes. Negative votes hide the deal. If the deal is liked by people AND they want to use the affiliated link then that is their choice.

      There is NOTHING stopping anyone else from putting their affiliate link in the post themselves, after they sign up either through the first affiliate link or non affiliate link. That way if I see someone I like and I want the deal, I can choose which affiliate link I use, also it shares around the bonus. But if we dont permit the affiliate link NO one gets any bonus.

      Its the deal, if its fine its fine. It was promoted in the headline with the price, as a non affiliate linked price. Now if the deal wasn't a deal, say so, its not the affiliate link which makes it less so.

      Also looking at your "history" of liked deals there are no Mac deals, so really how can you judge if the deal suits if you dont have a Mac.

      All that said, this is the right place to discuss.

      • samfisher5986 on 18/05/2011 - 23:13

        I'm guessing your talking to me.

        I work with Macs, iPhones, iPads and ipod touches every single day and I know what applications to buy because I'm in charge of that. I would never purchase those applications but thats not the point.

        It really has nothing to do with what the bargain is, it was the fact that it was a new user who was posting for financial gain, and he got it.

        I really fail to see the downside to not allowing affiliate's in the description.

        All it would do is improve the quality of bargains.

        The poster should be free to point out that there is a system that can be gamed so that EVERYONE can get a discounted/free product. But putting it in the description is just saying

        "buy this product so I get free stuff, oh, and after I get my free stuff you can too!"

        Also, 3 people might have +voted that bargain, but 13 people +voted my comment so clearly others agree….

        • [Deactivated] on 19/05/2011 - 05:12

          I work with Macs, iPhones, iPads and ipod touches every single day and I know what applications to buy because I'm in charge of that

          Fair enough and a good reason, I accept that, thank you for the explanation.

          And your arguments are also valid, for the forums, where the whole issue can be seen by many, rather than one particular thread, so now we can have everyones thoughts rather than a select few who look through every post.

          For the record 15 voted it up 2 voted it down. But is this truly indicative of the whole site or just a select few. Looking at the names, there are many who are older time regulars. Whatever we dont know from just one post. And again its not a justification for a negative vote. If you did feel it breached our code, then a report would have been the right way to go.

          So back to the arguments for and against.

          It would seem that so far arguments put forward against affiliate links as permitted by the current rules, is that this shouldn't be used by new posters.

          That would require a coding effort by Scotty, and I am not sure how it could be policed. We have no automatic way of watching affiliate links, we rely on the mods and users REPORTing this to us, to remove these links. Sure we can put this in the rules, that first time, red/green p users cant use this, but again it requires manual detection and we know many new users (and even Old users) dont read or understand all the rules before posting.

          So if it is seen by many here to be something they dont like, then it can be implemented but it does require effort, and is it really worth it. - the latter is one point for discussion

          BTW I voted your last comment up, as negative votes start to hide the comment, and I think we need open discussion here. Not to mean someone cant express a point, but unfortunately some of our voting processes sometimes have the wrong effect. Also I agree with you about the apps, I would never buy them either - as a user since January 1984 (well maybe if they were available then, but not now)

  • josho9 on 14/06/2011 - 14:14

    There seem to be a lot of affiliate links turning up in the main link in any case - I don't know if the poster is inserting these or OzB is adding them after the fact.

    • scotty on 14/06/2011 - 14:33

      Can you list some example?

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