"Benefit or Theft? It's A Thin Line ..."

"Benefit or Theft? It's A Thin Line ..." by Thomas Benton
A ClickBank affiliate can save money when purchasing from a ClickBank merchant. They can also grab another affiliate's commission. When is it online theft?
It's very easy to become a ClickBank affiliate. Just register. It's free. That's all there is to it. Get a ClickBank nickname. Then, when you find a ClickBank merchant's product you want to purchase, plug in your nickname and buy it. Sometime later you'll get a check from ClickBank for the commission on your own purchase.
That's clear. No problem here. That's one of the *advantages* of selling through ClickBank. There's a ready reserve of willing affiliates to sell your products. No hassle. ClickBank does it all for you. They approve the credit card or check purchase. They pay the affiliate's commission. They handle refunds and charge backs. What could be easier?
So where's the "thin line"?
The scenario: A ClickBank affiliate ("CB#1") finds a product they like. They decide to invest time and money promoting the product. Because they advertised well, another ClickBank affiliate sees their ad in an ezine or finds it through an online search. We'll call this affiliate, "CB#2".
CB#2 notices that it is a ClickBank hoplink. So CB#2 decides to copy the hoplink, paste it into their browser address window, and replace CB#1's nickname with their own. They make the purchase assured that they are buying at a discount because they'll be getting a commission check in the mail later.
Did CB#2 just steal something? Well, no, he just *took advantage* of his affiliate relationship with ClickBank. Here's the "thin line". If ClickBank wasn't involved and he wanted the product, he would've had to pay the advertised price. How did he find the product in the first place? Because another affiliate advertised. Who's entitled to the commission - CB#1 who did the work, or CB#2 who bought the product?
No matter how you cut it, CB#1 just got robbed of his commission. He earned it. He didn't get it. If someone got robbed, someone else had to do the robbing, right? This is a case of online theft that can't be proven or prosecuted.
It is likely that many who have 'grabbed' a commission in this way never gave it a second thought. It wasn't their intent to commit an act of theft. They were only saving money on a purchase. It's a "thin line".
So, what can you do? Try to PREVENT it from happening to you. That's all you can do.
Although none of the preventive measures are 100% fool proof, you can greatly decrease the chance of being robbed online in this way. (We aren't talking about credit card theft here, that's another subject).
You can purchase and install a software package that is designed to make it more difficult to grab someone's commission. Or, you can implement a few website design fixes yourself.
First, remove all ClickBank links from your sales copy and link to a webpage on your site instead. Name it "order.html" or whatever you choose. The linked page should be a frames page. Set the frame borders to zero so that it won't appear to be a frames page. Create an order form or redirect page to display in the frames main window. The ClickBank URL won't appear in the browser's address window if you use frames.
Next, add a JavaScript that *locks* the main page in the parent frame. Add another script that hides the the actual links. And yet another that prevents a link from appearing in the browser's status bar on mouseover.
Though not 100% effective, this will deter all but the most determined commission grabber.
x-----------------------------------------------------x Need step-by-step instructions for protecting your ClickBank links? Get "Profit Leaks EXPOSED - What EVERY ClickBank Merchant NEEDS to Know". Author, Thomas Benton, provides easy *copy & paste* fixes! For details, visit http://www.profit-leaks-exposed.com today.
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NOTE TO EZINE PUBLISHERS. You may replace the Profit Leaks URL in the resource box with your own affiliate URL. Please visit http://www.profit-leaks-exposed.com and click the affiliate registration link at the bottom of the page. You will then receive instructions for downloading a website package you can install on your website. This will send your subscribers to your website to make the purchase. You will receive 50% commission on each sale through ClickBank.