I want to run a site also linked to an iphone app that acts as an aggregator store front for 400 - 500 3rd party physical businesses, my intention is to take a commission fee say $30 for each referral I pass onto them each sale would be in the region of $1000, are there any ready made systems I could use that would tie the referral into a loop so that the 3rd party cant deny the transaction took place without me having to process the full payment.
I dont want to get tied into the full payment as it posses problems with debt collection and legal liabilities for the service provided?
Any help gratefully recieved as im a noob to all this.
This is called an affiliate program and most major retailers run theirs through networks like Commission Junction, ShareASale, Google Affiliate Network, etc. The network is a 3rd party that sits between you and the retailer, does all the tracking and pays you the commissions for the sales you refer to their merchants. Sign up for these networks and start looking through their merchant lists – you’ll find hundreds of stores whose products you can list and the commission they offer to pay you. Generally with retail stores it’s a percentage of the sale rather than a flat fee.
If you don’t go through a network, then you’re going to be working directly with the stores, and no matter how you set it up they can deny transactions took place and there’s nothing you can do about it (save a court order to turn over logs, if they exist).
Processing their payments in full to keep your commission and pass on the rest isn’t even an option, factoring (processing credit cards for other businesses) is forbidden in any standard merchant processing agreement.
the only secure way is through companies like Commission Junction, ShareASale, Google Affiliate Network, etc. Directly is all about honesty of the store.
Thanks for the response guys but im not looking for an affiliate network, what im after is a way of tracking or getting paid for reffering a customer to one of these businesses. These businesses are not used to dealing on the net and as such virtually none of them would be willing to look at an affiliate network solution.
Each of the sales is for a service to take place at some future date and it may get cancelled between the point of refferal and actual point of the service, so its difficult to get involved in taking the whole payment hence wanting a way to take a commision but not end up in a system where by the retailer can cut me out of the deal.
The only way ive seen so far is something like Google checkout with 2 separate transactions but the clients will be reluctant to pay before the point of sale as it may get cancelled.