Interesting post from a disgruntled FTD affiliate.
Customers coming in through the 'save 10%' link were paying more than those who entered that site without the affiliate link. Great way to p*ss off the affiliate sales force.
I signed up with FTD thru performics today, and got a fast reply that I was approved. This made me happy.I put them up on my website right away.
I had a friend who wanted to order some flowers so this was great timing. He went thru the order process with me on the phone and we noticed that there were different prices, my performics links for the home page to FTD, as well as their new banner "10% Off Flower & Gifts", and then him going straight to the FTP website in a new browser.
1st of all I noticed right away that the 10% Off Flowers & Gifts if you order today, no longer existed, so it somehow erased his cookie.
He found what he wanted. He was ordering FTD Holiday Celebrations Centerpiece - item #06-C1
Here is the breakdown of pricing:
If you go straight to FTD without an affiliate code, here are the prices:
Was $59.99 Now $51.00 (Shown)
Was $69.99 Now $59.50 (Deluxe)
Was $79.99 Now $68.00 (Premium)
If you go thru my FTD link provided by Performics Control Panel to their home page, here are the prices:
$59.99 (Shown)
$69.99 (Deluxe)
$79.99 (Premium)
And here is the kicker, if you go thru my FTD banner to save "10% Off - if you order today" that was provided to me by Performics Control Panel, here are the prices:
Was $59.99 Now $54.00 (Shown)
Was $69.00 Now $63.00 (Deluxe)
Was $79.99 Now $72.00 (Premium)
So the moral of this long story is, it is cheaper to order from FTD if you open your own brower and go their site, then it is to go to their home page thru my affiliate link, and you certainly will pay more for an item with a 10% Off coupon affiliate link then if you order it directly.
I thought the purpose of a coupon code was to save money for our customers then to charge them more. I checked several items on their website thru all 3 of these links and all of the pricing were different for each and the same holds true, any affiliate link costs the customer more money then shopping them direct.
One more thing. My friend finally ordered from them thru a direct link to them (why would I want him to pay more?), and his total order came up at $87.49 and he printed his processed order form from the browser. Then he checked his email and got his order confirmation - his total charge was $88.49, so where did his $1.00??? It guess they sneak in a $1.00 just to auto email you.
I had to vent, so here I am. This lesson tells me that I have to further investigate my affiliate links before I start working with a new merchant, I wouldn't want to offer coupons or deals to my visitors at a more expensive rate, since that is why they came to me in the first place, to get a great deal and save some money.
Customers coming in through the 'save 10%' link were paying more than those who entered that site without the affiliate link. Great way to p*ss off the affiliate sales force.