Amazon.com closed my associate account and kept the change

I\’ve been an Amazon.com Associate since the beginning. I\’m not sure when they started their program, but it\’s been over ten years that I\’ve promoted Amazon\’s products and services.

Imagine my surprise when I received an email from Andrea, an Associates Account Specialist (is that for people who can\’t get jobs with the post office? I\’m kidding.. relax…), that informed me my account was being closed.

First of all, let me say this.

I am huge fan of Amazon, spend tons of money there and will continue to do so. I\’m not shedding any tears.

But there are lessons to be learned here. Shall we discuss?

So here\’s the email I received…

Greetings from the Amazon.com Associates Program.

While reviewing your account, we found you are offering customers a \”4-Part Social Media Workshop – Valued at $297.00\” by purchasing a copy of the book \”Twitter Power\” from Amazon.com through your Associate links and forwarding confirmation of this order. We have also found that you are still offering customers \”Over $6972 Worth Of Bonuses\” by purchasing a copy of the book \”The AdSense Code\” from Amazon.com through your Associate links on the site www.theadsensecode.com. We have also found that you are framing the Amazon.com site with some of your twitpwr.com URLs.

Please note, per the Operating Agreement:

4. Referral Fees you may not:

(a) directly or indirectly offer any person or entity any consideration or incentive (including, without limitation, payment of money (including any rebate), or granting of any discount or other benefit) for using Special Links on your site to access our site (e.g., by implementing any \”rewards\” program for persons or entities who use Special Links on your site to access our site).

In order to keep the Associates Program viable for the long-term, we\’ve concluded that we cannot continue our Association with incentive-oriented sites and your account has therefore been closed. In addition, because you are using the Associates Program in ways in which it was never intended, you will not receive payment. Please edit your twitpwr.com so that they are no longer framing the Amazon.com site.

We hope you\’re able to make other arrangements for your visitors and thank you again for considering Amazon.com for your needs.

Best regards,

Andrea – Associates Account Specialist

http://www.amazon.com

Of course, the email is sent from a no-reply@amazon.com address, giving you no option to reply and appeal.

The bottom line is they don\’t want associates incentivizing purchases.

Why not? Doesn\’t that mean MORE sales for you?

Hey Jeff Bezos! I\’m selling tons of Twitter Power books for you. Whats the dealio, bubba?

Fine. They have their terms of service, so they cut me off.

Then they take the opportunity to tell me that they aren\’t going to pay me for GOOD sales.

We\’re not talking about paying commissions on returned product or bad orders. I\’m saying that they owe me $1000 or so and they have decided to keep the change.

Fine. It\’s not about the money. It\’s pocket change.

It\’s the principle.

Why shouldn\’t I be paid on all the OTHER items I sold for Amazon?

Take a look at this list…

I didn\’t incentivize purchases for apparel, or all those other books.

Nor did I incentivize purchases for DVD, electronics, groceries or hundreds of other items.

Doesn\’t matter. Amazon is keeping it all.

On some level I understand what they are trying to do. They don\’t want people to buy because of an incentive. That can lead to order cancellation as soon as the order is placed. There could be more refunds as a result.

On another level, they are probably concerned about people not making good on their incentives and Amazon gets the blame. \”But I saw where I get a free Learjet if I buy a DVD from your site. It says so right there on the website.\”

A simple boilerplate email could be send to people who issue these types of complaints. They are the same people that still think AOL is the Internet.

Anyhow, here\’s where their thinking is flawed.

Companies offer trial offers for products all the time, providing incentives for people to sign up. \”Get a free month of our magazine\”, \”Get 30,000 frequent flier miles when you apply for our credit card\”, and the list goes on.

They KNOW a certain number of them are going to cancel, but they are banking on a number of them staying with the offer. Why wouldn\’t you want to make more sales?

The idea is to get product into people\’s hands!

Don\’t like incentives, Amazon?

How about these incentives you offer on your own site?

Rebates, discounts, special offers… all incentives for the purpose of driving more sales.

Ok, listen up Amazon. I\’m going to give you a piece of advice that can increase your bottom line exponentially. I hope you are listening.

Allow (and ENCOURAGE) associates to incentivize sales! Your associate program has languished without any signs of innovation for YEARS. Your commissions are paltry and its no wonder that most affiliates don\’t touch your program any more. It doesn\’t PAY well.

Instead of flagging people for offering a bonus, why not focus on those who become a problem?

How do you know a problem associate? They have a ridiculous number of returns! It\’s that simple!

So, set a target for what a normal number of returns would be, and if an associate crosses that threshold, you flag their account. I believe you can program a computer to do that for you. It wouldn\’t be difficult. Trust me on this.

It would be far wiser and more productive than slapping a good associate on the hand, shutting down an account and pocketing the change.

For now, you have chosen the path of least resistance. Forget the fact that you\’ve been an associate for years. Forget the fact that you\’ve sent tens of thousands of dollars in sales. And forget that we owe you money. We\’re keeping it. Na-na-na-na-na-naaaah.

It\’s ok, Amazon. I still love you for your two-day delivery.