In March 2010 I said the change from the nice inhouse affiliate program (managed by DIYthemes itself) to ShareASale was not a good idea. Today, more than half a year from that day, I decided to review not only my opinion but also ShareASale as my business partner.
As you can read in my old post I was not satisfied with how European affiliates were treated. I’m currently living in Germany, so I had to struggle with the new policies as well as many other European affiliates. Cliff notes: PayPal was somehow considered to be “unsecure”. That – in my personal opinion – is ridiculous, but alas, my opinion doesn’t count much.
At least I thought so when I joined ShareASale to sell Thesis as an affiliate to other people. Since my first day with ShareASale (which was grueling) a lot of things changed. A few days ago I got my first check as I had amassed enough commissions to break through the payment trigger.
In Germany checks are a very rare thing and you (if you are an US citizen) probably won’t believe how difficult it was to turn the paper into cash ;-)
The Prequel
As I mentioned in the above text PayPal was not an option anymore and I was asked to accept the new policies. I liked the payment through PayPal because it was a process which I call totally ‘hassle-free’.
I could also have sent a Fax to ShareASale stating I’m not an US citizen, blabla. For tax stuff I don’t really understand or even care about. As Fax machines are almost as rare as checks are I was pissed. Pissed enough to ignore all kind words (even by Brian Littleton himself in a comment to my rant mentioned above).
PS: I had to pay €15,- (which translates into $20,75) to make the people in my bank accept and process the check. If I had been less stubborn in the first place it would have been only $3 or $4 to receive a direct payment into my bank account…
The Review (Finally)
I’m sorry if you are already bored by my personal journey. In this part of my post I will explain why ShareASale is a very good affiliate partner and why you also should start selling Thesis today!
- ShareASale is reliable
If you need an affiliate-related job done: The people over at ShareASale will do it. - ShareASale is friendly
If you’ve got any problems, you’ll get friendly answers which are orientated at solutions, not problems. - ShareASale is fast
Their service is really fast. An across-the-whole-earth-check (USA – Germany) took only 10 days to arrive in my mailbox, ready to be turned into cash. - ShareASale is accurate
Every cent of my commissions is mine to keep. They are not charging me when they send their checks. More than fair. - ShareASale is huge
Thousands of merchants have already joined their affiliate system – for good reasons which you are reading right now. - ShareASale is old-school
At first sight the administration panel is a hell of a design. But today I love it because in the end everything is quite logically arranged. - ShareASale is effective
While DIYthemes was already making big bucks with their old inhouse affiliate program they chose to switch to ShareASale. Those moves ain’t accidents!
Conclusion for European Affiliates
If you are currently struggling whether to join the ShareASale program or not you can be assured that selling Thesis is not as easy as buying it. But it’s absolutely worth it.
If you decide to get paid by an US Airmail check you should choose a higher payment trigger in your administration panel (Edit Account Settings) – by doing this you will not avoid paying ridiculous amounts of money to your bank but you will have more money left for you to spend.
Most bank houses in Germany charge you with 1,5% (and €15,- minimum) of the amount listed on the check, so it’s not a good idea to have yourself sent a check worth only $50,-
Alternative: You are able to get paid with a direct money transfer into your bank account. As it’s still from the USA you’ll still have to pay additional fees which are as low as $3 or $4 – which is totally O.K. in my opinion.
