Best Buy Alienates Affiliates

Posted by Shawn Collins on December 21st, 2008 | 7 Comments

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Best Buy alienated affiliates last week when they slashed the commission rate for the Wii and laptops from 1% to .25%.

Shawn Collins at a Best Buy during better times Affiliate Michael Coley of Amazing-Bargains.com started up a thread on ABestWeb about the issue (A New Low – Best Buy Laptop & Wii Commissions Dropped to 0.25%!), and is not being received well by affiliates.

Personally, I haven’t used Best Buy affiliate links. I prefer Amazon and Buy.com, where I am a customer and I see both of those companies actively participating in the affiliate marketing community.

But this sort of move by Best Buy reinforces my support of Amazon and Buy.com.

It reminds me of a move that I considered to be decidedly anti-affiliate by Apple last year when they didn’t make the iPhone available for affiliate to promote when it came out.

I get why these companies want to hold back their hottest sellers. They don’t think they need any help selling the iPhone, Nintendo Wii and laptop computers.

But what they don’t get is that affiliates take a hit with lesser conversions for traffic they deliver to these companies on other products.

So, in essence, the more popular products help to pull the overall EPC back up. But when the big sellers are taken off the table, affiliates are left with low conversions on less popular products.

And guess what, Best Buy, that scenario might sound great to you, but it’s lousy for affiliates, and they’re not going to stick around.

Angel Djambazov has a good take on the Best Buy issue on Revenews.com: Best Buy Gives Affiliates a Slap in the Face.

Posted in Affiliate Managers, Affiliate News

On December 21 @ 3:06 am LisaMarieMary said

Right before Christmas? Lousy! Reminds me of some high school teachers that made me wonder why they were teaching, if they couldn't stand kids. Why bother having affiliates if you can't stand having affiliates! A small company that I'm an affiliate for that has an in-house affiliate program, has been making me feel just that way lately! I really don't want to give them up, though – I love their products – and apparently – so do my readers!

Best Buy is getting some really bad coverage lately – I was reading an article the other day by an ex-Best Buy employee – man, it was bad!
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On December 22 @ 4:56 am Paul M said

Wow… Sounds like they will be loosing a lot of affiliates. Especially PPC Affiliates. I still feel list building is the way to go! Only you can cut your income!
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On December 22 @ 5:20 am Vlad Zablotskyy said

Well, I am glad Best Buy refused to accept me into their program. Is it wise to to cut the commissions that low? Amazon and other merchant should be laughing at it.
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On December 22 @ 6:47 am Dulce said

Best Buy no more. Now they are already having this bad write ups all over the net.
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On December 22 @ 11:10 am Brook Schaaf said

My first thought when I saw this posting was, "Man, Shawn must have been cold to stand in front of Best Buy in a short sleeved shirt this time of year." Then I remembered Shawn is famous for taking stock photos in front of all major retailers for use in just such situations.
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On December 23 @ 1:03 am Brook Schaaf said

Sir, I come here not to mock you but to honor you for your preparation. The Scout motto: Be Prepared!
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On December 23 @ 12:47 pm Shawn Collins said

You mock my stock imagery, but it paid off in spades here, eh?
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