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How You Can Protect Your Affiliate Earnings from Shaving

The lifeblood of an affiliate business relies on the ability to land the sale and earn a commission but what if there are sneaky individuals that are holding a stacked deck of cards against you – kind of like betting against the house. Well, there is and it’s what’s known as “shaving” or basically: when companies don’t pay you for your affiliate sales.
As you could imagine, this is a big problem especially if your business relies on its commissions. This article will make an attempt to help you curb that shaving and make sure you get paid for your hard work.
Work with a Reputable Company
This may come across as common sense but to prevent loss from affiliate sales – go with a company that has a reputation for paying their affiliates and operate on a good standing business model. The best course of action is to rely heavily on the recommendations and reviews of trusted individuals. Alternatively, get a business on the phone – if they’re willing to assign an affiliate manager to your account than you will have greater access to the business when things go astray.
Get Started: Take a look at our reviews of gaming affiliate programs.
Track Each and Every Detail
The smart route of ensuring that a company isn’t shaving your affiliate profits is to go with technology that aid your stat tracking. Tracking may not be the most exciting part of your business but it’s essential that you aren’t ripped on commissions you rightfully deserve. Stat tracking software and analytic tools help with creating and, as noted, tracking elements of your visitors from the time they visit your website to when they click through to your affiliate offer.
Another element in stats tracking to look for are ones on the affiliate end – whether the company is offering cookies and tracking based on a reasonable time vs. siphoning individuals into a list and voiding your transaction at a later time. However, don’t trust a company at face-value – always go with your own tracking if your affiliate model is your main money maker.
Use Trustworthy Payment Processing
Chances are, you’ll be working with overseas companies due to legal regulations in the United States and other major countries. Many overseas companies may be using different payment processing to pay their affiliates – understanding the terms & services of these processors will help ensure a company is not shaving your profits when it’s time to get paid.
If anything, try to stick with trusted payment processing options such as Paypal, direct deposit or checks. If possible request an invoice with each payment that is processed so you can have for your own records; you could also compare their records to your own in case you need to dispute payments at a later date.
Conclusion
Shaving affiliate sales are somewhat to be expected when running an affiliate business. However, don’t become discouraged if this kind of event happens to your own business because there are less than reputable affiliates out there. The important thing is to ensure that you stay educated to protect your assets and prevent this affiliate shaving to ensure you get paid for every sale.
Want to share your experiences with ‘shaving’ or help others avoid this problem? Visit us in the Casino Affiliate Scams & Warnings thread and let your voice be heard.