Would you be interested in having this feature at SmartCanucks?

A few months ago Julie told me about affiliate programs offered by Indigo/Chapters, Amazon.ca, Dell, etc. I had a look at this and here's what I found out.

Many companies pay website owners for selling their products online. e.g. Indigo/Chapters pays 5% commission. So, if (that does not happen coz i don't have affiliate links on SC now) someone clicks on a special link at Smart Canucks, goes to the Chapters website and orders something say for $100 I would get $5 commission.

If you visit other deals websites or forums you'll notice that they sort of spam the links everywhere to get the maximum amount of commission possible. I personally feel guilty if I post about an "awesome deal" just to get the commission so i don't do that. The only source of revenue on here are the google ads at the top.

This however means that if anyone here shops at any company that offers affiliate links no one gets that extra commission! which is sort of dumb. So I thought of an idea and I'd like to know if you would be interested in it: I can setup a system so that the percentage commission is shared with the members too. So we sort of split the commission.

For example:

- I have a list of commissions/cashback you get if you shop at a cetain store. e.g. I may say that you get 3.5% cashback when you shop at chapters and I get 1.5%... something along these lines.

- Say you want to buy a book from Indigo/Chapters and this book usually costs $160 but is on sale for $100. You can still buy it for $100 and get the commission

- You come to SmartCanucks and click on a special link that takes you to Indigo/Chapters' website

- You then buy the book just as you would normally have done. You still get the discount or free shipping or whatever deal you were going to get.

- Chapters will then pay me $5 commission for that transaction.

- You get your $3.5 back through paypal/cheque.

Of course $3.5 doesn't sound like a lot but when you add up your online shopping and considering the huge number of online stores that offer commissions you'll get some good cash back.

Would you be interested in this feature? If there's enough interest I can start installing it right away and everything will be 100% automated so it will be simpler than it sounds.

Sounds really good to me!

here are some stores that offer commissions:

Indigo/Chapters
Canadian Tire
Toys R Us
Tiger Direct
HBC
Apple store
The Source
Roots
Canadian Hickory Farms
Dell
eBay.ca
eBay.com
WestJet Airlines
Sony
The Shopping Channel
Travelocity
Wiley (the publisher)

thanks for the votes so far... out of 6 people 5 voted that they like the idea...

If you have any comments or feedback please let me know

I think it's a good idea Boo!
Since you have to pay for this message board now. It may be a good way for you to earn some money for it.
It may work out at the end of the year. :)

Interesting idea.

I think it a good idea.

I always use this site to look at the weekly flyers, since they are conveniently located in the same place. Why not have the commission so I can shop online and get some money back? Oh, and Boo can get some money too. ;)

The idea sounds terrific. I do think Boo that you should receive more commission than that. 1) You thought of the idea, 2) It is your site, 3) You put time and effort into making this work, 4) You should have some way of making money to support the site.

I, personally, do not do a lot of on-line shopping. But if something came up, I would definately do it here.

thanks for the feedback :)

I'm delighted to get a lot of positive replies. I'll start adding this feature to the forum so you'll see new things appear as I progress

I think it is a good idea Boo.
Sites like this are very expensive to run, and if this would help keep our site alive and not have it facing some of the problems that a lot of other site are facing (CFNS) being one of them w/ the high costs of maintaining the site it I am all for it..
I don't shop on line a lot, The Shopping Channel and WestJet are my main shopping venues but I will back it when I buy from either of them

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Originally Posted by irenewpg

The idea sounds terrific. I do think Boo that you should receive more commission than that. 1) You thought of the idea, 2) It is your site, 3) You put time and effort into making this work, 4) You should have some way of making money to support the site.

I, personally, do not do a lot of on-line shopping. But if something came up, I would definately do it here.

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I agree, Boo you pay for this site and do a terriffic job maintaing it - not to mention paying for contest prizes and candy payouts. I definately think you should get more commissions, in fact I would have no problem if you got all the commission. I don't shop online a lot but sometimes I do order from a couple of the places you listed like ebay.ca or the source & I would be happy to do it through the link on this site.

It is a good idea, though I personally doubt how much I'll use it.

I am all for it, but try not to clutter up the site with ads... I like this site because I don't have to wait for all the ads to load (my computer is old and doesn't like ads sometimes) but am willing to put up with it.

i dont shop online but if i did i would use it and i may shop online in the future just need a credit card first :D

I often forget about the Google ads at the top of the page - you get so used to seeing them there. But they hardly take any time to load, and Boo earns money each time you click on one. I started making a point of clicking on a couple each time I log in, in support of the site. Just a thought....

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Originally Posted by pwwbear

I am all for it, but try not to clutter up the site with ads... I like this site because I don't have to wait for all the ads to load (my computer is old and doesn't like ads sometimes) but am willing to put up with it.

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