Ways to detect if an affiliate program could be a scam

This is always one of the first things to find out. It’s great if they offer high commissions, but what if they never pay you? Unfortunately the world wide web is known for having people who operate in a deceitful way and pretend to offer a service which in reality is not what it appears. Thankfully things have got better in recent times but it is still wise to do you research to ensure you don’t get stung.

Here are a few ways to find out if a program or network is a scam.

• Research other peoples reviews, using our search feature to find their listing on our website is the perfect place to start.
• Be wary of companies who ask you to pay to sign-up. If you have to pay a deposit (IE the money remains in your account) that’s not so bad. But having to pay a lot of money just to join up is a warning sign.
• If you research and can’t find anything about a company you have to ask a question about them. Typing a web address into google can tell a lot, if they are hardly mentioned anywhere across the entire web and have very few inbounds something must be array.
• Contact them. If in doubt drop them an email with some questions and see how quickly they respond and what the response is like.

Hopefully those few bits of advice can help you avoid affiliate scams. Good luck in finding the right products and stores to promote.

A deeper due-diligence checklist

The quick checks above catch the most obvious problems. Before you send serious traffic, go a step further:

• Check the company registration. Look the business up on Companies House (UK), the relevant US state registry or the equivalent in its country. Compare the registered address with the one on the website.
• Look at domain age. Use our WHOIS / RDAP tool to see when the network's domain was registered. A network claiming "10 years in business" on a domain registered last month deserves questions.
• Read the payment terms. Thresholds that are unusually high, or vague wording about when payments are made, are warning signs. Compare with the norms in our payout methods guide.
• Start small. Send a limited amount of traffic until you have received at least one payment.
• Keep records. Screenshot your stats and the terms at the time you sign up, in case of a dispute later.

Common affiliate scams to know about

• Pay-to-join "programs" that make money from sign-up fees rather than from selling products.
• Shaving: networks that under-report conversions. Compare your own click data with theirs and watch for unexplained drops.
• Disappearing networks that build up unpaid balances and then close.
• Get-rich-quick courses that promise guaranteed income from "secret" systems.

For a full process, read our 12-point network checklist.

Affpinions Editorial Team

Content created by the Affpinions team, active in the affiliate marketing industry since 2007 and running this directory since 2008. Read our editorial policy.