I’ve been thinking about “trust” and “Internet marketing”. Having started the ScamFreeZone in 1997 to help people find home business opportunities while avoiding scams, trust and ethics are very important to me, and I found myself with a question…
Once a marketer crosses the “ethical” line and starts lying, how can you trust their motives in ANYTHING they do?
For example, if a marketer does the following…
1: Lies about the number of product copies available (only 224 available!!)
2: Lies about when a product will be taken off the market (only until Sunday!!!)
3: Lies about income generated, or the sources of such income (this method made $524,192 last year!!!!)
4: Lies about anything else (insert your favourite sales letter lies here)
… how can you trust them AT ALL?
Where does an unethical marketer draw the line? Is it when they reach a point where something becomes illegal and they’re faced with doing something potentially criminal?
How do you know for sure that the “3 clicks to instant mega riches” software they sell doesn’t contain a key-logger to snoop on your bank details?
How do you know for sure that they won’t sell your contact details to other “marketers”? What about selling them to people who’ll try to scam you of your bank account or credit card details?
OK, so let’s say you want to learn how to make some money online, but want to AVOID unethical marketers. How do you do that? How can you determine a marketer’s credibility and trust?
Here are my recommendations. I suggest you check out…
… how long the marketer has been in business online
… how frequently they send promotional messages to their free email lists
… whether they promote high quality offers or trashy unethical offers
… whether they take the time to add personal reviews or get exclusive deals for you
… whether they send you quality info and reports for free, with no strings attached
Let me know, below, if you have any other ways to sort good marketers from bad, or if you have any other thoughts about the trust issue.
By the way, if you liked this blog post, you may also want to read A Disturbing Internet Marketing Trend by Gauher and Internet Marketing Victim Services by Mark, both of whom have related information.
You nailed it Neil,
I have to agree with you – this trend is alarming and number of those claims seem to continue to grow.
Hi Neil,
You sure did make a lot of good points. (Just part of why I’m still on your list after all these years). The ones with too much “hype” are rapidly becoming history for me and a lot of other concerned subscribers and potential consumers. The ‘bad guys’ make it harder for the rest of us who are honest marketers to even make it in this often confusing realm.
People don’t know whom to trust anymore and it’s not good at all. I’ve read so many of the salesletters you mention, and like you, I’m skeptical at best and I certainly don’t fork over my hard-earned money for their panacea products, either!
Your recommendations are excellent and will be helpful to others, myself included.
Thank you for this helpful post… it may save some unsuspecting new folks from more heartache.
Have a good day,
Donna
Hello Neil… You end up learning by experience, when its too late unfortunately some are perhaps not dishonest as such but just deliver 99 cents short of a dollars value! With lovely packaging.
Hi Neil. Totally agree. Joel Comm had some interesting thoughts too:
http://joelcomm.com/whats-wrong-internet-marketing.html.html
http://joelcomm.com/upsell-insanity.html
I bought Massive Passive Profits believing that only 199 were ever going to be sold and one day later I have had a JV email saying that they are nearly up to 2000 units sold!!!! Surely this is misrepresentation which is illegal?
I guess the way to work out if there are more than a couple of hundred being sold is if there is an affiliate link at the bottom of the sales page cause lots of affiliates wont be able to make much money if they can only sell a few each.
If the products are so good and the marketers ethical why do they need to resort to lying?
Neil,
Great post, I agree 100%. It is very disturbing! I would like to add one more thing to look out for:
Phony looking images of the marketer standing next to, or sitting in a Porsche, or Lamborghini, or any very expensive sports car. I just saw a recent promotion with a guy (no more than 26 or 27 years old) standing next to, and leaning in to a very expensive cart claiming this is the car he bought with his earnings.
I really, really doubt that he owned that car! You could tell because he wasn’t even in the car, just leaning in, and took a picture, it almost looked like the car was in a lot somewhere! Hilarious – and scary unethical too….
Thanks for keeping us informed.
-Brett
Profit Internet – money making tips from a real internet marketer
Cheers Neil,
This is a huge problem. I just wanted to remark on the part you mention how do we know some do not have keyloggers.
I happened to download a program some time ago that indeed did have 3 malicious components one being a keylogger For those who don’t know a keylogger is an algorithm that captures what keys you press for any information inputted via your keyboard
This deceptive marketing business is so blatantly rampant and practiced by so many it literally becomes a weight trying to decipher is this one good or not. Even those who have been in business for yrs neil can be part of it.
Best to check things out thoroughly just like you would in presenting your business to a niche research goes a very long way
cheers
-WD
All these are great questions, Neil! And you have provided some good starters on who and what to avoid. The reality is that we can virtually never know who is lying, cheating, stealing, etc. unless someone blows the whistle. Many people are unwittingly promoting scam email blasters because they make a few dollars selling them. The same might be said for much of the so called guru “systems”. What we need is an authority website that has all the scoop on everything and can advise the market as to who really has unique and useful tools, systems, and content! By the way, I really appreciate your low key approach to your list (me) and you have trustworthy information.
I rarely buy stuff online because it is so difficult to know who to trust. The things that I have bought are through marketers who’ve provided some freebie that showed something of what they are capable of and have a good, helpful email list.
There are a lot of folks who give away junk PLR/MRR stuff and then bombard their lists with ad swaps that have deceptive subject lines, etc. I wrote about one experience at http://blogs.wcnickerson.ca/world-wide-web/online-marketing/2010/10/ive-discovered-the-problem-with-internet-marketing-its-me/ where I had a short “conversation” with a marketer after unsubscribing from his/her list.
One thing that usually puts me off is the immediate OTO upsell when I’ve just joined their list. I haven’t had a chance to look at the product I just downloaded to see if it is worth anything and they already want me to buy something else from them. I know it is a tested and true marketing technique, but why not wait until I’ve actually bought something?
If the offer is too good to be true, it’s probably too good to be true!
I have been getting concerned about this issue for a while now, so thanks for the blog. Ever since the new rules came into effect late last year, many marketers, including (or mainly) some of the big names seem to have changed tactics to stay within the law. I think some of the tactics being used are just as bad or worse than the old ones. One springs to mind, forced continuity programs, which I thought were pretty unethical, have been replaced with voluntary continuity programs. Sounds like a step in the right direction, but only just, as the optin box is pre-ticked for you. Unsuspecting people are still ending up in continuity programs they didn’t realize they had joined. Just one example of trends that I find disturbing today, there are so many maybe it would make a good ebook to give away to get you into my continuity program.
when i first started in this game i bought products that i simply could not use bacause i did not have the required skills at the time,looking back some of these products were ok but most were poor,which raises the question is it ethical to sell a system that in the right hands will work to a novice? .after an expensive learning curve i was able to make money from this game,but not from any system that i had purchased.i came to realise that you have to find somthing that people want and then promote it.then you need traffic lots of it,tried adwords and made a little money but they kept moving the goal posts and then i tried facebook and it is working for me at the moment.
This topic bothers me a LOT. I’ve been online for over 10 years and its seems to be getting worse every day. The amount of bs piled on more bs is simply amazing.
I think the challenge for regulators is that it’s so ubiquitious and fleeting it’s hard to regulate.
Hi Neil,
It’s always good to be ‘recommended’ by a marketer that
you know can be trusted.
Like I found you via Michael Cheney and found Michael
via Tellman Knudson etc.
All good stuff.
Regards
Tony
Here is the way I see it.
If the well established known marketers, such as yourself, Joel Comm or others have an issues with these frauds then call them out. Start a blog category or blog called “IM Scams” or something thereof.
Here’s why. Just talking about it does nothing except maybe separate yourself from them in the IM world among your readers. However, the well known marketer that takes action, calls them out, becomes the whistle blower not only shows that he or she has the balls but also establishes themselves above those who only discuss the problem.
That person will become the “hero”, the Robin Hood to the many who want to succeed in IM but get all confused in everything thrown at them. He/She will get a ton of quiet “high fives” from the folks at their computers and will carried around the “field on the shoulders” of those who have developed great respect and admiration for stepping forward.
It’s not only the Clickbank frauds that I have no respect for, it’s also the known marketers, such as Russel Brunson and Anik Singal who market this garbage to their lists. They haven’t tested the product. They just get a notification that this product was released on Clickbank, sign up as an affiliate and send the email to their lists as if this is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Why do they need to do this? I thought they were millionaires who have spent years earning the trust of their subscribers by putting out respectable products and services.
The trust is shot now, they are what I call marketing whores now and I don’t give a flying f**k what they try to sell me. I simply unsubscribe and make posts like this when asked.
Neil, you asked. I answered.
You know what else I think, Dr. Neil “Robin Hood” Shearing has a nice sound to it. What do you think.
I never purchase anything from anyone even the “good guys” without first attempting to leave the site. It is amazing that the $97 product finally sells for $47 after several attempts to leave. It is planned dishonesty.
Another thing I hate that is an indication that the marketer has no respect for me is the promo video with no controls or indication of how long it will last.
Hey Neil, long time no chat! Great points in your article.
The whole internet marketing field can be a bit of a minefield. There are a lot of dodgy people around looking to make fast money anyway they can. But luckily, there are also some really talented and kind hearted people who are not only making good money, but long term income. It’s about finding the right people to surround yourself with.
Something guaranteed to show you the “true colours” of a marketer is how they handle complaints from their customers on forums and blogs. Sure, the nicest person in the world can still get frustrated from time to time, but the “bad seeds” you’ll see constantly degrading and harassing other people.
cheers
Sam
All of us experience this. It is agravating and unfortunately makes a lot of people suspicious. As a result, we joined the Better Business Bureau and display their logo on our website.
Potential customers do check us out with BBB. As a result of our listing they feel comfortable doing business with us.
In twenty years of business we have had four instances that required a product replacement or a refund. Even when our customers make a mistake on their order, we don’t charge them for the correction.
Our customers like to recommend us to their friends. How many other internet businesses can say that? Unfortuately, not enough.
What was that French blokes name again? Stephan Dumarche?
If you knew then what you know now, and all that
~ Paul
Its so easy to spot! the pop ups giving you discount after discount as you try to leave the page . The phony voice of the bloke who always does the voice overs for the spivs, The chavvy templates This added to all the above is a dead give away
I agree with Neil’s viewpoints about this topical discussion that effects us all. We all are brought down to a lower level when unethical practices such as Neil has mentioned, are implemented and practiced by an uncrupulous, selfish marketer.
These sharks forget that they are human…more about being human in your marketing in this blog article
http://www.stepbystepuniversity.com/?p=548
http://www.professionalwebsitebuilders.com
Well, I never trust them. I will buy it something if I like it from inside me, not based on what are they saying this and that.
Neil,
The deception is not simply in the salespage, which is why I am no longer promoting anything unless I can try it out myself and verify that the product is indeed what they say it is. Sometimes I have to actually buy the product, and then put myself in my customer’s shoes as I am going through the process… If I have difficulties with the process of purchasing and using the product, I KNOW some of my customers will also have trouble. At least I have a way to contact the product owner directly, which is not usually the case with customers.
I had one customer purchase a product from one sales page that stated everything they were going to get, they waited and waited for the promised product, only to find out 4 days before the refund period that the product creator had changed the sales page, changed the price and changed what he was delivering to the purchasers. When she complained about not getting what she asked for, the affiliate manager simply refunded her money and did nothing to try to deliver the promised goods.
This type of bait and switch is wrong, and really caused a lot of difficulties between my customer and myself, since I had promised a bonus based on the initial product offering, when that did not materialize, I was at a loss as to what to offer as a bonus.
Thanks for putting this out there. Marketers need to think before they go for the sale – no matter what the price…
Micheal
I think more reputable people, like you, should continue to focus a laser targeted earth sized spotlight on this problem. It’s incredibly frustrating for a noob like me to even pick a product to promote in the IM niche, when the people I’m supposed to “know, like and trust” keep hammering me with offers and producing products that are misrepresented and lied about so shamelessly. Seems to me that false advertising is the order of the day, and that sucks as far as I’m concerned.
I may be a noob at online marketing but I’ve owned an offline business for for 28 years. If I had tried these underhanded tactics offline, I might have lasted 1 month. Not to mention, I’m not sure I could sleep at night.
Hey Neil, it’s tough for people to know who to trust. Call me naive but I don’t believe deceitful marketers actually get very far. They may bring in a few sales in the beginning but I believe their success is short lived.
To me it all boils down to whether a marketer is simply out to make a buck or they are in business because they love what they do. The differences can be obvious.
If you’re simply out to make money and as much of it as you can, you’ll have a different mindset. Having a business that you love and put your heart and soul into means your focus is on your customers and your visitors. It’s about how you can help them and truly understand their needs and concerns. It gets back to do what you love and I don’t think deceitful marketers truly love what they do.
Sure money is important and it’s why we are in business but without the right mindset it’s a lot tougher to be successful.
The recommendations you suggest for finding ethical marketers and business owners are dead on. Keeping those in mind and following people that put a genuine interest in you is what it’s all about.
Hi Neil,
I subscribe to no specific dogma or doctrine except …
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, no matter who said it even if I have said it unless it agrees with your own reason and common sense”
Bhudda
Frankly, I subscribe to everybody just to see how they attempt to outdo one and other. It is, at times, very funny.
have you ever been to http://www.buymystupidebook.com/ ? ENJOY!
The problem with the marketers is that they have run out of money and ideas.
What was an easy marketing a few years back has become a lot more difficult and these guys try to regurgitate their old programs back onto the market year in and year out. New promotion, different name!
They’ve spent their money, believing the the bubble would never burst and now resort to ANYTHING to replace it.
What really upsets me is the $39.00 offer that turns into 3 extra upsells, without which the product probably wouldn’t work anyway. Final cost $500 – $600 but advertised at $39.00 across the web.
GREED, my dear Neil, is the key to marketing today. Less work, more money seems to be the new Internet rule. Press two buttons and make a million dollars overnight. So the program leaves out some of the real information about making money from the Internet. Who cares! Clickbank will refund you, if you remember and are not too shy or embarrassed to apply. In the meantime, I’ve had your money for two – three months collecting interest.
Anyone dissatisfied, even the slightest little bit, need to get a refund. Only 500 copies and you find 2000 are sold. Refund. The program is outdated. Refund.
Clickbank will soon catch on that we aren’t going to put up with these rip-off by unscrupulous marketers.
I have been doing more unsubscibing than subscribing and that seems to be a growing trend lately.
The big time gurus pushing high dollar crappy products, upsells up the wazoo and having to opt-in to every video or for a free report have really turned me off to a lot of them.
Your mail still gets through and I hope it remains that way. :=)
Mike
Without a doubt, marketing tactics have gone overboard…. to the point where you almost can’t trust anyone or anything anymore. It is more magnified these days since even some of the “gurus” that are “trusted” are endorsing stuff that is crap. This really puts honest marketers that have a genuine product that can help people at a disadvantage.
Good Stuff Neil. You forgot about the scarcity tactic…”Only 14 copies left”. This works but, only if You really have only 14 copies left. And what-about the “I gonna take this offline after the last copy has sold”. Sooo does this mean you don’t want anyone to purchase more copies?
It’s getting to where I don’t trust any marketing guru anymore.
Paul
Yes,these dishonest people make it much harder for us genuine ones to make any money out of it – if anything at all. The ones I dislike are the ones that say,
“There are only 200 left – go get the product so you have this marvellous software”
When in actual fact they don’t just have 200,they have loads of them and it is just a trick to get you to buy and part with your cash.
Great points and thoughts Neil, a solution may not be as far off as you’d think.
Now that the web30 technologies are becoming mainstream, computers have a way of tagging products and services from the moment they enter the data chain. To be classed as a product or service in the new web of things it must have an owner. That owner can be tagged and any review or rating on either will be linked to both for all to see.
We are at a turning point as both public and private sectors realise they all have to use the web and everyone has the same basic rules to follow. The web is for everyone and it is becoming more about how we work with it and what we want to get from it. Over at http://cloudinc.org/ they have a few useful videos that introduce ME 1.0. and explain a few of the basics.
Once the penny drops, the possibilities and opportunities of having the ultimate trust tag shine bright. In a world where facts and quality count above PR and hype these dubious people are filtered out. The fact that ultimately you will only filter in exactly what you want probably won’t go un-noticed.
I guess the key though will be getting people to deal with greed or just face facts that there isn’t a quick and easy solution to most problems. It takes effort at all levels through the economic supply chain. The common sense to understand the facts and make the best decision based on them has to come from the individual.
Hi Neil,
I have been a follower of yours since the launch of ScamFreeZone in 1997 and just want to say that the main reason is that I kow you are a marketer with Integrity and when you recommend another product I know you have checked it out and it is “scam free”.
It is a shame that the day only has 24 hours as I would like you to review all the B.S products coming out of Clickbank recently.
I wish you had the time but why should you waste it on this rubbish.
I now always go and check the Warrior Forum for reviews before buying anything.
I would like to add one more disturbing item you have left open on your list (which by the way does not apply to Clickbank who are 100% safe for Guarantees) and that is Marketers with Big names who promise full refunds if claimed within 30 days and therefore in their words they take all the risk if the product is not for you no questions asked but then dont keep their promise.
Thanks for the many years of trust and integrity you have given the IM community Neil.
I saw a sales page recently where there were flashes of expensive cars, mansions, yachts and what not in the video before the guy started to speak. I believe he was playing with subliminal techniques which AFAIK, are illegal.
As hinted above, it is us who are to blame because we see those expensive and huge homes and cars and make mental images of owning them soon after the purchase. This is not going to happen just because we purchased an ebook or a software. We need to indulge in sound business practices and be there for some time.
As someone said “I have toiled for 20 years to become the overnight success that I am now.”
Arun
Hi Neil,
I believe you are being somewhat naïve if you are suggesting that this ‘trend’ is a new development.
I believe I purchased this product by Mr. X because it was recommended by Martin Avis. Martin later announced to his list that Mr. X was not telling the truth in his sales letter and when confronted Mr. X readily admitted it.
Less than a week later I received the same recommendation from another prominent Internet Marketer whose judgement I trusted. During subsequent weeks I observed more and more well known names recommending the same product.
Most sales of this type are made because the buyer has come to trust the list owner. If list owners don’t carry out due diligence then such unethical practices will continue.
Regards,
John Petvin
You got the point, Neil
I really agree on your point and I can say, there is a lot of lies here or there..
Anwar
Good points, Neil, but let me add one more, regarding affiliate marketers: what about the so-called product “reviews”, which are no more than disguised sales ads?
I’ve recently read one of those “reviews” where the marketer showed he didn’t even know what the product was all about. He simply wrote (or copied from somewhere else) a generic-type “review” that would apply to any report/video/course related to blogging…
To me “review” has become synonym of advertising, it is simply impossible to find an unbiased, honest, trustworthy product review online.
Hey Neil, if only someone would have alerted me to these “Brigands” when I was shiny and new to the Internet!
I have had several businesses in the past. When I first got into them I went to existing businesses like I was interested in and I was welcomed. I was told what I should do about this and that but more importantly, I was told what to avoid and what to be careful of. I am still friends with many of them today.
The general feeling was that “All ships rise with the tide” But this business is different! Very Different!
Because it is my nature to be honest, I assumed that the people on the other end of my computer were too. Boy! did I have my eyes opened!
I have never met or seen so many people who were pure “Mercenary” If I asked for a little help, or had a question, they offered me their personal attention for a mere $10,000 dollars etc.
I guess the old axiom is correct ” A fool and his money is soon parted” and boy was I a fool! I believed their hype and their products. But I am sure I am not alone. When your new you simply don’t know who’s who or what’s what.
I can just say that my experience made me extremely bitter and jaded about this business. The robber Barons got me good! But I am a true believer in Karma. The great wheel of Karma is turning as we speak. I wait to see them get what they gave!! bob
I certainly don’t trust anyone trying to offer me riches via a gmail or yahoo account. If they can’t afford a proper email address, then they aren’t making they mega bucks they claim.
This struck a chord with me.
I’ve just wandered from the safe shores of affiliate networks into what I soon discovered were the shark infested waters of the claims management companies. Without mentioning names, I was scammed for 5 months by a bunch of crooks in Warrington who ran a claims company (now ceased trading) took all my leads and did nothing with them. I lost tens of thousands of pounds in the process.
I also caught another claims company of my acquaintance touting for introducers on a public forum by advertising that they paid people 5 times as much as they actually did!
They haven’t paid me a penny in 4 months.
I’ve learned the hard way that trust is probably the most important aspect of any online business relationship. I’m not going to make that mistake again.
Great post Neil!
Those of us who are a little more savvy are now wise to all the tricks, but the sad thing is that there are many, many people looking to get into IM everyday, who are still being taken in by them.
Its now almost as if the “gurus” now just use the same lame and lazy copywriting template with all the usual pyschological triggers to try to prize your money out of your wallet. Its almost funny sometimes when you see the “200 only” message for something that has been selling on Clickbank for months!
I also have a big beef with the marketers who endlessly recommend new products to their lists without really checking them out themselves. I now never buy anything immediately – even if there are only “5 copies left.” I do a bit of research first and check out what people are saying in IM forums. This also has its own irritations though, given the rise of the bogus “review” sites that are just simply affiliate pages.
In the words of the X Files – “Trust no-one…”
In my opinion, unless you have a good reason to feel otherwise (i.e., you’ve been referred by a trusted and knowledgeable contact) you have to assume every marketer is pushing the envelope when it comes to claims.
Especially when those claims run contrary to common sense and what we know to be true about Internet marketing.
Once a marketer starts lying in their sales promotions and damages the trust factor, it’s very difficult for him or her to regain any level of credibility, especially from other marketers. It’s an insurmountable slippery slope.
I have not come across an answer to this questions and to be honest, I haven’t searched hard…
Will Clickbank pull a product from its site based on fraud..ethics etc? and
What would be the outcome if say a couple hundred people at a certain time of day all purchased a product and immediately upon receiving their purchase email turned around and asked for a refund? Would clickbank get a hint?…ban the seller?…penalize in some way the buyer?
Just curious…cause it might be a way for the masses to strike back.
There you go Neal
)
1) start a new category called – “It Smells Like A Clickbank Scam”
2) purchase the product or get yourself and a few other trusted experts (they can stay behind the scenes if they would like) to purchase at the same time (it may be so bad you don’t even need to purchase it)
3) all purchasers do a review and post either a thumbs up or thumbs down with a comment or two.
4) if deemed an all out scam then set a time for the masses to purchase (be sure to get the word across the Warrior forum
5) the time comes, we purchase and refund all at once
6) then email Clickbank support why we did what we did.
…you get these thoughts from growing up in the 60′s.
Unfortunately I think it is only going to get worse. Best way to combat this is to warn as many people about these type of products. Keep up the good work Neil.
Gauher
Hi Neil,
The exaggerated claims and 10 upsells are an insult and therefore easy to spot, but others you may only know after you’ve spent the bucks. So I would recommend do some research on the internet marketer and the quality of products sold by them in the past before buying.
Yes, there are a lot of scams out there. When I join something, I try to at least make sure it is legit before promoting it. Thanks, Neil Shearing!
You right about that bro, I feel you on that, it goes on everyday. Especially since it’s so easy now to fake income claims through photoshop etc, I’ve seen it all. One TRUE marketer that I trust 100% is Willie Crawford, he knows his stuff and won’t leave you in the dark, let’s get this money
Neil, something that also worries me are the misleading advertisements of “free software” which I often use, only to find that it requires an activation code which has to be purchased. There only a limited number of truly free software providers, the first being OpenOffice, Gretl (time series program), R (statistical program), MySql and low and behold Microsoft with its Visual programming series.
Another gripe I have is the one where serious illnesses are used in “marketing” with the promise of read about it at some or other link only to land at an extensive waffle about the treatment and the research only to land up at a point where you either will get a “free” report when you enroll in some or other magazine/purchase a printed or e-book. This seems to me that it is to a large extent misleading advertising. Do I now trust these people – of course not and never will.
Long time no talk, Neil -good to read this post . . .
For years I tried to buy something that would feel right to market. Some big marketers and super-hypsters with very impressive-sounding financial empires that really do earn them tons of money were tops on my ‘list.’
But, over time, and never being certain that I would feel good selling their wares, I just quit trying to find anything from another marketer to sell. I am glad I did, for several reasons.
A. Marketing takes far too long for a single person to make enough return to justify all the frustrations and long periods of unrest.
B. All it takes is for a few naysayers to nix a marketer’s reputation, and months and lots of bux to reach a semi-repaired reputation.
C. Unforeseen obstacles appear all over the place for marketers, and a single person marketer must have an army of sourced supporters. It just takes one key outsourcer to ruin a smooth-running business based on out-sourced services.
D. Most “business opportunities” marketed online do not reveal how their originators rely upon large resource groups and individuals to manage their enterprise. They make it sound like marketing their product is super easy, but for a single person startup, it is actually impossible.
E. While ClickBank and CommissionJunction are quite honest businesses, and they do have good people managing their systems, it amazes me how silly and foolish people are when it comes to evaluating products and services, and even payment processors – such as PayPal – connected to these online marketers. In PayPal’s case, hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting members have had PayPal simply steal their entire account balance, and refuse to even allow phone conversation to find out what the reason was, if any – usually no reason – for the confiscation. PayPal is a non-bank, private trust with not a single thread of responsibility to any banking regulatory body, public or private, and can do anything it wants with customers’ money entrusted to PayPal.
Banks would be immediately shut down and banned from operations if they even tried what PayPal does on a routine basis.
F. So, if a marketer does use a responsible payment processor, does have adequate support sources, does use honest ads, and does give customers good service, who handles inevitable delivery issues, ornery customers with silly claims, and dishonest demands for payback without returning items, or falsely claiming more were sent than actual, then falsely represents that marketer to a complaint website, how does the marketer cope?
Neil, the topic here is about dishonest marketers, but dishonest customers can make honest marketers appear to be dishonest by misusing online reporting services to do so. The marketer using hyperbola to pump up sales IS dishonest. But, the marketer that relies on affiliates to make sales can be made to appear dishonest.
The only real solution to this Guillema is to find a trust-worthy third party to manage sales and customer issues, or to place checks and balances into every part of the selling process.
Amazon.com is one of the best examples of an honest marketer. But, they use responsible payment processors, customer feedback on every item sold, and seller feedback on customers. Amazon’s system provides an ideal climate for honest marketers and customers to conduct healthy business, but a pretty poor environment for dis honest marketers and customers to make deals.
If anyone wants to open a reputable online business, coupling with an honest blanket organization, such as Amazon.com, is top-of-the-line. That’s the difference between ClickBank and Amazon: one offers little integrity checking; the other integrates it with every move of every one, marketer and customer alike, who uses their service to market anything.