[Julian]

I placed 2 seperate orders, on 2 different days, with 2 different links, both links were taken from Shareasale, and not from my site.

Both orders went through, but neither tracked. I had to contact the merchant both times. My account was credited with the commission (I should not have to contact the merchant about an order)

2 different orders, 2 different days, 2 different links. I placed the orders myself.

I wonder how many other orders did not track for all of the affiliates out there.

[Zeus]

Did you check the merchant page on Shareasale?
You'll see by example: Last Commissionable Transaction through Affiliate: 12/11/2008
Last Compliance Test Completed: Dec-11-08
It tells you others are closing sales and they are reported.
I had a quick look at the Trend graph too. It looks normal.

[Julian]

Got a reply back from the AM. He said that there was no referal code associated with the order.

With a 90 day cookie, my second order should have given me the sale anyway, even if I didn't use a seperate link, because of the first sale

[Julian]

I don't like accusing a merchant of wrongdoings unless there is a good reason.

I am certain that I used an affiliate link though

[Zeus]

With Shareasale, it's pretty fail safe (But Internet is not 100% perfect)
The reporting is real time and not batched. It means if the tracking pixel is still on the check out page, you'll see the sale. Even if the merchant can void the sale, he can't prevent it to show in your reports.

[Julian]

I paid using Paypal. I wonder if that stopped the tracking pixel from being set.

I am confident that I did nothing wrong when ordering either time.

[Zeus]

I paid using Paypal. I wonder if that stopped the tracking pixel from being set.
I am confident that I did nothing wrong when ordering either time.
It's not impossible. You should ask SAS to investigate. PayPal has a special setup.

[Julian]

Thanks Zeus

[Bill]

Unfortunately it looks to me like Stuffed Animals is in OneCause (onecause.com/merchant/3160) - maybe they "reminded" the cookie to get overwritten.

Oh, wait a minute, Stuffed Animals is in ShareASale - so what are they doing in the merchant list at OneCause????? :(

[Julian]

Unfortunately it looks to me like Stuffed Animals is in OneCause (onecause.com/merchant/3160) - maybe they "reminded" the cookie to get overwritten.

Oh, wait a minute, Stuffed Animals is in ShareASale - so what are they doing in the merchant list at OneCause????? :(

They are? I don't promote them on my sites. I just wanted to order some stuff for my 9 year old daughter, seemed like a good place to buy stuffed animals

[Zeus]

Stuffed Animals is in ShareASale but also CJ, Google (an), LinkConnector, and DirectTrack. What a mess!
No wonder the tracking pixel of SAS don't fire.

[msladybug]

They are with all the following networks:

SAS
CJ
GAN
LinkConnector
DirectTrack (Inhouse, I guess)

I joined them when they were only with SAS but I will certainly rethink this now. I don't do very well with them and this might explain why. I do very well with my other stuffed animal merchants. I tend to avoid merchants that play the battle of the network cookie game.

[Julian]

So:

1. They are in OneCause
2. They have affiliate programs on several different networks
3. An order I placed myself did not track


4. I will never add them to any of my sites

[Zeus]

5 tracking systems, parasites + Google check out + PayPal. You have a disaster going to happen. It's a miracle to still see sales being reported at Shareasale.

[Heather@Stacks]

If the merchant did not very carefully program the pixel or beacon for alternate payment types (PayPal, Google Checkout. etc.) the order will not track.

[Zeus]

OneCause is using Google (Affiliate Network) to steal the commissions at StuffedAnimals. You're never safe with all these thieves in charge of these networks.

[mailman]

Zeus. Can you explain how this happens and what one should do to avoid this

[Zeus]

It's hard to explain what did happen exactly in the case of Julian purchase because you have many possibilities.
He bought a gift for his Daughter with a Sharesale link and paid with PayPal. The sale should have been reported immediatly in his SAS Interface. There's a SAS pixel on the merchant checkout page and other sales are reported.

First possibility, as Paypal doesn't use the normal checkout the tracking pixel was not fired and the sale was not reported. It could be a programming error. With 5 different trackings, 3 checkouts, the probabilities for something to go wrong are important.

Second possibility; Julian wife is a OneCause or an other parasite member (he don't know it and they share the same PC). The parasite grab the commission (with the help of Google AN) and as the last cookie win, his sale is not reported in SAS.

Third Possibilty; he has a slow connection in Vermont and he experiences data loss during his purchase. The cookie is not set, SAS can't track the sale and the commission is lost.
Only the merchant has enough information to investigate the problem. IMHO, everybody should avoid merchants with several tracking systems and drop them for working with parasites.

[Julian]

To me, it seems the most likely is that the pixel didn't fire when I paid through Paypal.

I can eliminate the second possibility that Zeus listed.
The third possibility is plausable, but I have a slower connection, but should not be slow enough to cause data loss during purchase.

In the future, I will find a different merchant

[purplebear]

Ouch, didn't know all that about them. Am not sure if Alan's still managing it or not but sent him an email.

[Alan Townsend]

To me, it seems the most likely is that the pixel didn't fire when I paid through Paypal.

I can eliminate the second possibility that Zeus listed.
The third possibility is plausable, but I have a slower connection, but should not be slow enough to cause data loss during purchase.

In the future, I will find a different merchant

Hi Julian,

Per my emails when you contacted me, you may not have cleared your cookies prior to clicking through and placing your orders.

You have 3 orders total in our system, 1 shipped, 1 in pending shipment and 1 is on hold because we never received the PayPal payment. Sometimes this is due to a delay in PayPal receiving funds. If you transferred funds to PayPal as a bank transfer for example. Our customer service department left you a message by phone to call us regarding that order.

SAS is tracking and has been tracking, otherwise we wouldn't be in compliance. You can verify that with SAS if you would like. As for "OneCause", I haven't heard of them, but I will look into them.

[ProWebAddict]

As for "OneCause", I haven't heard of them, but I will look into them.

Here's a good start

http://forum.abestweb.com/showthread.php?t=113708

[Alan Townsend]

Thanks for the link Pro.

[Julian]

How will clearing my cookies make any difference?


As for OneCause, nasty, and it is bad that you have them in your program

[Alan Townsend]

Hi Julian,

If you clear your cookies before you place an order, you'll know that you're getting credit for the sale because your cookie will be the only one SAS sees.