Shopster eCommerce Affiliate Program FAQ

What Is An Affiliate Program?

• What is the Shopster affiliate program?
• Why become a Shopster affiliate partner?
• What is the Shopster Merchant Account?

How Much Money Can I Earn And How Do I Get Paid?

• What’s Shopster's commission structure?
• How does the Shopster affiliate program know that certain orders came from my website and that I should get the commission?
• How and when do affiliates get paid?
• What is a payment threshold?
• Do I keep commissions on cancelled orders?
• Where can I track my sales and commissions?

How Does The Shopster Affiliate Program Work?

• How does the Shopster affiliate program work?
• What types of communications will the Shopster affiliate program team send me?
• Does Shopster have any rules or guidelines that affiliates must agree to before joining the Shopster affiliate program?
• Are there rules on trademarks?
• What are incentive affiliate sites? Does Shopster work with them?
• Where can I provide feedback on the Shopster affiliate program?
• Who can I contact if I have additional questions?

How Do I Become A Shopster Affiliate?

• How do I become a Shopster affiliate?
• Do I have to own a website to be a Shopster affiliate?
• Can an affiliate be from outside of the United States?
• Does my website need to meet any qualifications for me to become an affiliate?
• Does it cost me anything to become an affiliate?

How Should I Set Up My Website?

• How should I design my website?
• How often can I change the banners, graphics, and promotional copy on my website?
• Can I use content from Shopster.com on my own website?

What Is An Affiliate Program?

What is the Shopster Affiliate Program?

The Shopster Affiliate Program enables you to promote and sell the Shopster Merchant Network and earn a commission on every sale you make through your website.

The Shopster Affiliate Program team will provide you with the tools, banners, reviews, content, and text links to put on your website, or place in e-mails. Each time a visitor clicks on a text link, content link, or banner and subscribes to Shopster, you make money.

Why become a Shopster affiliate partner?

The Shopster Affiliate Program allows you to promote Shopster's business solution on your website. At no cost to you. Most importantly, becoming a partner will add another revenue stream to your online business.

What is the Shopster Merchant Account?

As a potential affiliate partner, this is what you will be selling to your own website's visitors. It is Shopster's business solution for online retailers. The Shopster Merchant account allows eBay sellers and other online retailers to access thousands of dropship companies and millions of products for them to resell and earn profit from. There are several types of Merchant Accounts available, each one corresponding to a different affiliate commission.

How Much Money Can I Earn And How Do I Get Paid?

What’s Shopster's commission structure?

The Shopster Affiliate Program will pay you:

• $1 per FREE account sign up – Receive $1 for every new customer that signs up for a Shopster Free account
• $15 per Shopster PowerMerchant Starter Account upgrade – Receive $15 commission for each Free account that upgrades to a Shopster PowerMerchant Starter Account
• $20 per Shopster PowerMerchant Pro Account upgrade – Receive $20 commission for each Free account that upgrades to a Shopster PowerMerchant Pro Account
• $40 per Shopster PowerMerchant Enterprise Account upgrade – Receive $40 commission for each Free account that upgrades to a Shopster PowerMerchant Enterprise Account

*Shopster Selling Tip:Promote Shopster’s PowerMerchant accounts to make the most sales and the most money. With enhanced features and functionality, our PowerMerchant accounts are great way for your sellers to turn a small business into a big success.

How does the Shopster Affiliate Program know that certain orders came from my website and that I should get the commission?

After you are accepted into Shopster’s affiliate program (either through Commission Junction or Shareasale), you will be assigned a unique affiliate identification number. This unique identifier allows our affiliate marketing partners Shareasale, to track your sales and commissions. Login to your Shareasale account to access Shopster's tools, banners, text links, content links, and linking codes (all of the aforementioned will include your unique affiliate identification number).

How and when do affiliates get paid?

Affiliate partners are paid monthly. Checks are mailed by Shareasale to the billing address submitted on your application. Our Affiliate Networks can also pay affiliates from certain countries by direct deposit into their bank account.

What is a payment threshold?

A payment threshold or minimum payment amount is the dollar amount in commissions that must be accumulated before an affiliate receives their paycheck. Shareasale has a minimum payment amount of $50 and issues payments via check and direct deposit on the 20th of each month. These payments are made to those affiliates who have reached the minimum BEFORE the end of the previous month. For example, if you earn $120 by the end of September, you are paid this commission on October 20th.

Do I keep commissions on cancelled orders?

No. All commissions are updated daily for returns and adjustments. If you receive a commission check before an order is cancelled, your commission balance will show a negative amount that will be deducted from future commissions.

Where can I track my sales and commissions?

Once you join Shareasale you will receive a username and password via email. When you login to these accounts - at http://www.shareasale.com/a-login.cfm - you will be able to access Shopster's tools, banners, coupons, content links, and text links in addition to many reporting tools which will allow you to track your sales and commissions.

How Does The Shopster Affiliate Program Work?

How does the Shopster affiliate program work?

The Shopster affiliate program can be explained in 4 easy steps:

• Step 1: Send your website visitors to Shopster.com
  Once you are approved as a Shopster affiliate, you'll be able to place Shopster tools, banners, coupons, text links, and promotional copy on your website (you will receive all promotional materials through your Shareasale account). You will also have a unique affiliate identification number to track your sales. This unique affiliate identification number is included in every HTML link you grab from your affiliate account. When someone clicks through one of your Shopster links they are led to Shopster.com. If that visitor signs up, your unique HTML link tracks your sales and commissions.
• Step 2: A visitor you send sign-ups for a Shopster Free account - you receive $1
  For each Shopster Free account sign-up you refer, $1 will be credited to your Shareasale account.
• Step 3: Your website visitor upgrades to a Shopster PowerMerchant Account
  You will also be credited $10, $20 or $30 for every free account that upgrades to one of our PowerMerchant accounts (Starter, Pro or Enterprise respectively). Once a day, a record is sent to Shareasale reporting all successful sales made by our affiliates on that day.
• Step 4: Shareasale credits your sales to your affiliate account and pays your commissions

  All purchases made by customers with your affiliate identification number will be credited to your affiliate account Shareasale. You will earn:

  • $1 per Shopster Free Account Sign-up
  • $15 per Shopster PowerMerchant Starter Account upgrade
  • $20 per Shopster PowerMerchant Pro Account upgrade
  • $40 per Shopster PowerMerchant Enterprise Account upgrade

* Shopster Selling Tip: Promote Shopster’s PowerMerchant accounts to make the most sales and the most money. With enhanced features and functionality, our PowerMerchant accounts are great way for your sellers to turn a small business into a big success.

What types of communications will the Shopster affiliate program team send me?

The Shopster affiliate program team will occasionally send you e-mail messages that include; special offers and promotions, marketing tips, and updates on affiliate policies. All communications will include helpful information to assist you increase your earning potential. Shareasale may also occasionally send announcements to partners.

Does Shopster have any rules or guidelines that affiliates must agree to before joining the Shopster affiliate program?

Yes, Shopster has affiliate agreements in place for Shareasale. All affiliates must review and accept these guidelines when registering to become a Shopster affiliate. Our affiliate agreements include guidelines on website content, intellectual property, and the various promotional methods we allow members to use in their Shopster marketing activities.

Are there rules on trademarks?

Shopster trademarks may not be altered, modified, amended, or changed in any way. Our affiliate program agreements detail the use of trademarks by affiliates. Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in permanent removal from the affiliate program. If you have questions regarding trademarks and appropriate website content, please contact us at affiliates@shopster.com.

What are incentive affiliate sites? Does Shopster work with them?

Incentive affiliate sites are affiliate websites where site visitors/members are encouraged to perform an action in exchange for a reward ex. Members are paid a small percentage to sign up for another service or program. While incentive affiliate sites can be very successful in driving traffic and promoting web-based businesses, due to the nature of the Shopster business model, we do not work with incentive sites. Failure to comply with this guideline will result in permanent removal from the affiliate program.

Where can I provide feedback on the Shopster affiliate program?

Shopster welcomes feedback concerning our affiliate program. Our affiliate marketing team values your opinions. In fact, much of our affiliate feedback has been used to make improvements to our program. We invite you to send your comments and suggestions to our Affiliate Manager at affiliates@shopster.com.

Who can I contact if I have additional questions?

For additional information regarding the Shopster affiliate program, please contact us at: affiliates@shopster.com. No solicitations please.

How Do I become a Shopster affiliate?

It's easy! Just complete and submit an online form through Shareasale. We will review your application within 48 business hours and notify you of your approval status. Once approved, we will send you everything you need to start making money as a Shopster affiliate partner.

Do I have to own a website to be a Shopster affiliate?

No. Most Shopster affiliates promote the program through a website or multiple sites. However, you can also have success promoting Shopster with HTML e-mail campaigns, Blogs and forum posts. As long as your unique commission tracking code is included in the links in your Web site, Blog, Post or HTML-based e-mail you will be credited with the lead or sale. While the Shopster affiliate team provides link support for affiliates, you are responsible for ensuring that your website, blog, etc. is fully functional.

Can an affiliate be from outside of the United States?

Yes. We accept affiliates from anywhere in the world.

Does my website need to meet any qualifications for me to become a Shopster affiliate?

Most websites qualify for participation in our program, and we encourage all interested individuals to submit an application. The Shopster affiliate team does reserve the right to refuse membership to a website or revoke a membership at any time if we feel it contains objectionable materials. Websites that will NOT be approved into our program include:

• Websites that are unavailable to view, or are under construction
• Websites that Shopster perceives as harmful to our brand and/or reputation
• Websites containing sexually explicit materials
• Websites promoting alcoholic beverages or excessive drinking/drug use
• Websites promoting discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age
• Websites that promote violence or illegal activities
• Websites containing extreme religious content

Does it cost me anything to become an affiliate?

No. It is absolutely free to join and participate in Shopster's affiliate program. There is no charge to apply, and there are no minimum sales requirements.

How should I design my website?

You are free to design your website any way you like, as long as it does not violate our affiliate agreement or contain objectionable content. Affiliates can use our promotional copy and links on their websites. Our newsletters will also provide helpful marketing tips on our products, promotions, and positioning.

How often can I change the banners, graphics, and promotional copy on my website?

You are welcome to change your website content as frequently as you like. In fact, we advise you test the links available to determine what works best on your website. New banners, coupons, graphics, and promotional copy are regularly added to the Shareasale networks, so be sure to check back often. Affiliates will also receive announcements and newsletters promoting the new links and promotions.

Can I use content from Shopster.com on my own website?

Affiliates should NOT use content directly off of Shopster.com without prior written approval from our company as stated in our affiliate agreement. Instead, the Shopster affiliate program team provides specially developed promotions, banners, text links, product pictures, and promotional copy to partners to use on their websites. If there is something you would like to use on your website that you do not see available, please contact us at: affiliates@shopster.com.