Andy Beard - Internet Business Systems Discussion - Latest Comments in Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

Olaf Lederer — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:46:11 -0000

Affiliation and domain names is bad business :(
A year ago 1&1 has paid 1usd for a new customer if he registered just one domain name.
Now they pay nothing!
I think the only way to make money with hosting related products to offer coupons as a reseller (godaddy?).

Btw. I don't like the namecheap interface, dynadot''s interface is much faster ;)

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

AndyBeard — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:03:42 -0000

I keep on thinking of so many ways that they could add extra value on the backend that would be revenue producing.
The Ill-will or "buyers remorse" is a danger

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

john andrews — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:02:56 -0000

It seems obvious to me that Namecheap has an aff program because people asked for it, not because they want it as part of their business. So then no surprise if they don't manage it well?

Moniker is a solid registrar, but I like them best because I get to know my sales rep behind the scenes. They have to compete as well, so pricing to the public is higher (typically) than pricing to the customers they come to know well. If you get a larger portfolio, you get better pricing and service. It's how business works.. they want to keep you happy, and would rather make money along with you than lose money selling single domains to the general public, competing with companies like NameCheap.

Moniker will even finance a move of a large portfolio to Moniker over something like 9 months without interest.... you have to call them to find out the details, but they pay the renewal fees so it's easy to secure your domains all at once without taking a cash flow hit.

I don't think anyone should start an affiliate program without thinking through the details... if you're not prepared to take care of your affiliates and provide a good incentive, you might do more damage than good.

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

Andrew Wee — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:59:49 -0000

I'm an advocate of namecheap vs other registrars and it's great to see an aff prog coming to fruition after 3+ yrs of waiting.
The terms weren't quite what i expected, and i guess it's better than nothing.

I'm with you in putting the reader/customer's interests above my own profit, so it's nice to see a little recognition from namecheap.

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

AndyBeard — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:34:31 -0000

It is a strong testimonial for Namecheap, and their largest competitor seems to make enough to run Superbowl ads every year - maybe from the $200 fees for reactivating domains after a spam complaint.. at their convenience

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

Sarah Lewis — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:04:30 -0000

I'm a relatively new NameCheap fan (I started transferring away from GoDaddy after the last Superbowl) and was hoping they'd roll out an affiliate program since I get asked for recommendations pretty regularly.

Andy's last paragraph about customer acquisitions addresses the "losing money" question. It's not at all unusual for a business to lose money on the initial sale, because they know the lifetime value of a customer and that they will make a profit over time.

Obviously, I don't know what NC's numbers look like, but I'd tend to think that people intentionally using a registrar (vs. just buying a domain as part of a hosting registration process or through TypePad/WordPress.com/etc.) are the type of people who will probably go on to buy another domain.

Add to that the fact that it's generally a pain to switch registrars, and I imagine you typically retain customers (of even just one domain) for several years, as long as you don't tick them off (like GoDaddy does :) ).

I'm with Andy; I'll forgo the affiliate program rather than offering my clients a worse deal. And if the lifetime value of a NC customer is that low, it might be better to not offer the affiliate program at all, if it's going to generate ill-will among customers who later learn they paid more than they had to as a result.

Don't get me wrong; I like NameCheap and plan on buying domains there for the foreseeable future. The affiliate announcement is just a bit disappointing, particularly when compared to the programs of other, less-recommendable registrars.

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

AndyBeard — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:53:46 -0000

I could easily reverse that logic and ask you how many affiliates you contacted in preparation of your affiliate program who practice affiliate marketing as brand evangelists rather than just coupon sites, domain research and top 10 lists of domain hosts.

The only thing I criticized in the whole of this post was the affiliate program, every other aspect is a solid testimonial.

The most telling of the tweets I received you might not have picked up.

@AffiliateStuff "LMAO!! You said it, but we were all thinking it ;)"

You might not know Kirsty McCubbin but she was the A4U Affiliate Marketing Blogger of the year, whose opinions are highly respected, and she doesn't pull punches either.

My solution? Give me $0.05 - $0.10 on all domains for the first year (on current prices, but see later, you could increase prices and pay more - improved value proposition)

Not sure if it is currently available, but Formula 5 from Stompernet would give you plenty to chew on http://andybeard.eu/adtrack... (aff)

If I bring someone across with 100 domains, that must be worth $5 - $10 to you

Give me a bigger percentage on hosting which having just compared numbers is competitive with VPS.net but without the "cloud" features. It wouldn't actually hurt you to just become one of their resellers - the margins with volume are pretty good.

Just 2 days ago I was chatting with a guy who has multiple websites just about to do a huge product launch... who had his domain with Godaddy.

One of the strong pieces of advice I gave him was to switch to Namecheap or Moniker, and do it yesterday, as it is a huge risk.

As an affiliate authenticity with your audience is your most valuable commodity. The money isn't in the list, but the relationship with them.

I wouldn't want Namecheap to go bust just so I could make money recommending them, but if you are going to have an affiliate program, it has to be one that makes sense for all parties.

Affiliate authenticity is your strongest weapon, because most major affiliates have heard horror stories with your competitors. It is something that can overcome price differentials - significantly.

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

danielle — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:50:53 -0000

you shouldn't be defensive. all he's doing is reporting what is in the email. no, it doesn't state that those codes are specifically affiliate codes, but on the other hand, it is implied that those are the codes that the prospects are to use IF they sign up. it seems shady to post the restrictions on another page where aff's have to search for what seems to be controversial information. that's NC's bad. with that said, i use namecheap and have had no problems whatsoever with their service :)

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

michellegreer — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:47:42 -0000

Andy,

First of all, you have me on chat and you knew you could come to me with these concerns before publishing this article. You know I do and have always listened. Come on now. We are the little guy just trying to make it easier and less obtrusive to buy domains.

Secondly, NameCheap would like nothing more than to offer coupons to our affiliates. Seriously. The easier we make it for you to sell, the more you would. However, NameCheap works on slim margins already. If we gave you a portion of what we made, plus a coupon code, we would literally lose money. I can't imagine any customer who is happy with our service would actually want us to lose money selling domains.

Andy, what would you do if you were in our shoes? People asked us for an affiliate program, and we gave them one. We can't justify losing money to do so. What is your solution to this problem?

Re: Now Namecheap Affiliates Can Rip Off Their Readers

LetUpdate — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:44:53 -0000

I hope the name cheap main competitor read this article. :D