Being a huge affiliate network eritrea business email list with almost 20 years in business, ShareASale is not a scam. But it's also far from the best option when you're trying to get your website into performance-based marketing. While this option can be pretty decent for long-established sites looking to add more revenue, many reasons make ShareASale a terrible choice for beginners.
ShareASale - What It's All About
Founded in 2000 by Brian Littleton, ShareASale was one of the first affiliate marketing programs online. Since then, it has grown to become one of the largest programs of its kind, with over 3,000 merchants on its proprietary platform. Of those, about ¼ are unique to it.
A large number of merchants, plus the company's longevity, make ShareASale an attractive service for small and mid-sized websites. However, there's more to this service than meets the eye.
Marketed to the Small, Unfulfilled
While paid reviews might rate ShareASale as an excellent service for smaller businesses, that's not exactly accurate. For starters, the initial investment for merchants is quite high, at $650, and there's a 20% transaction fee. And, if you make less than the $10 minimum in the first 60 days and $25 in 120 days, accounts are charged monthly for the difference.
The story is pretty much the same for publishers, who pay a $25 monthly fee if their account balance is less than $50. If the balance is less than $25, the account is deleted. At least ShareASale will let you know when your balance is that low.
It takes a while for a website to become profitable, but you definitely want to get off to a good start. And you won't with ShareASale.
Here are some of our top issues with ShareASale for small websites:
Costs are too high. It takes a while for a website's audience to grow, and spending too much money on advertising early on is the road to failure. These costs include transaction fees, which at 20% are pretty high.
It's not universal. To get started with this affiliate network, you first have to apply and wait for their verdict. ShareASale's experts will review your entire website, check your numbers, and then let you know if they'll work with you. Many new sites fail this first test, and no one tells them why, though it's most likely due to low traffic. Many promising websites and blogs have signed up with ShareASale, been rejected, and later left for other affiliate networks that better fit their needs.
ShareASale has a problem with notifications. Many affiliates have complained that they are not notified when merchant programs close. In the end, websites end up littered with broken links, which can be penalized by search engines and, of course, lose you money
Poor design and usability. Most affiliate networks of this size have put effort into creating user-friendly platforms, but ShareASale's design lags behind. The look is unnatural, and is a throwback to the early days of the cluttered internet. The positioning of features also feels forced, and it takes a while to learn how to use the interface. You don't want to waste precious time learning how to use an affiliate marketing platform.
Payout is cumbersome for international customers. If your website is located outside of the US and Canada, you will find it difficult to access your earnings. They do not allow payments via PayPal, and international affiliates may take weeks to have their earnings in their local bank account.
