

Ask HN: What is the best free affiliate tracking system? - bart

Hello, i would like to set up affiliate partnership for my project and I am looking for some good free solution to handle all my affiliates, see statistics, etc.
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dangrossman
There is no such thing as free affiliate tracking. Maybe you'll find some
shoddy free software, but that's only one piece of the puzzle. To run the
program yourself, you need to factor in the time it will take you to:

\- Recruit and sign up affiliates

\- Collect W9s and other tax forms from each new affiliate and organize/file
those documents safely and securely

\- Monitor the affiliate sales daily for signs of fraud and abuse from people
trying to do things like earn a commission for sales that didn't occur, cookie
stuff people with hidden images in forums and adware to steal legitimate
affiliates' commissions, etc.

\- Keep the books on all affiliate commissions due

\- Cut and mail the checks to affiliates all around the world

\- Handle customer support for the affiliate program -- how to use your
affiliate software, how to set up the tracking links, what your cookie
policies are, payment policies, delayed and lost payment checks, terminating
people that violate your terms and handling their complaints afterwards

\- File the 1099-MISC forms with the affiliates and the IRS at the end of the
year

In the end, letting an affiliate network take care of all that might be worth
the small fee they charge. I can highly recommend Shareasale for one, which
charges 20% of the commission (not 20% of the sale) you pay to affiliates as
their commission. For example, if you are paying a 10% commission on sales,
and someone buys a $50 item, the affiliate earns $5, and you pay Shareasale
$1. In return for that $1, they take care of _everything_ in the list above.

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bart
Hello, I have a good experience with Post Affiliate Pro. But your link to
Shareasale is helpfull. thank you.

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sysk
I've heard good comments on iDevAffiliate.com

