Affiliate Referral Programs

You have seen the ads all over the internet. "You won't get rich but you can make real extra income." "Realistic Extra Income For The Average Joe." I stumbled onto the Project Payday sponsored forum and like many others, was intrigued. At that time I was not aware of "Project Payday", but I read the forum thoroughly and it sounded like a really good idea. I never purchased Project Payday or any other program of its kind. I am so glad that I didn't. But I did learn the program through the forum.

This is how it basically works. Advertisers pay site owners to find them good quality leads. Site owners pay traders to bring them these leads, or "referrals". Referrals sign up for the offers through the site owners. Then they are compensated by the traders.

The forum is full of "traders". New people, such as myself are called "referrals". This is because the traders pay the new people to be referrals for their sites. Here's the scenario. A trader offers me $20 to go to the site they are working for and sign up for some trial offers. These trial offers range from $1-$9.99 or more. Once I complete these offers, I go what is called "green". Then the trader pays me the $20 via paypal. Now I have my own referral link for that site. I can recruit my own referrals and be paid by the site owners. On average, depending on the prize you choose, you can make $120 for every three referrals that go green for you on that site. However, you pay each referral $20, so your profit is $60. Not bad. Actually, it sounds pretty good, right?

Here is what they will not tell you. A month later, there was a strange charge on my bank account in the amount of $49.95. I called my bank and it was an offer I had signed up for previously. I had canceled this offer during the trial period, even had the confirmation number. Now I was being charged for something I did not agree too. After a few phone calls, the charge was reversed. Two days later, it was back. More phone calls and some heated arguments finally cleared it up. This was Video Professor. I canceled because, I never received the video. So, I was not going to pay. Plain and simple.

Another week goes by and there are three $1 holds on my bank account. I called my bank back and it was another offer I had previously canceled. Only, they were showing up under different names. But they were all under the same umbrella company. My bank recognized this company as many people had filed complaints against them. Who was the company? Initially, Privacy Matters 123. Also known as, Privacy Matters 80, Advantage Direct and will show up as Market Labs Pre- Authorization. Needless to say, I was not impressed.

Two months later, my bank account was still being hit by these companies. I finally closed out my account and re-opened a new one. Another fellow trader whom I became good friends with, had $250 sucked out of his account. Since he did not know this would happen, he did not budget that amount to be gone, obviously. The consequence? He went negative in his account because he was not aware the money had been withdrawn. He is still fighting the company to have the money refunded.

There you have it. No one told me about these hidden dangers. They did tell me to read the TOS (Terms of Service) thoroughly. I did, two or three times. I read the forum for over two weeks before I decided to try it. Luckily, I was not severely hit financially, unlike some of the other people. But it would have been nice if some one had told me upfront that no matter what, I would get hit by these companies more than once.

As a trader, you can make money. But the referral can end up in a ton of debt. I am a trader, but I do not make much money. This is due to the fact that I treat people as I would like to be treated. And that is with honesty. I tell my potential referrals to watch out for piggy back offers and to keep a close eye on their bank accounts. I worry about people on fixed incomes or SSI becoming prey to these companies. If I know that is the person's situation, I will refuse to trade with them. I am not discriminating, I am trying to protect them. I cannot in good conscience let someone's bank account be drained just so I can make a measly $60 profit. Can you?