I have it on pretty good authority that the margin in iPhone handset sales is pretty appalling. The benefit for CPW is the ability to sell the accessories as well as driving footfall to the stores - hopefully boosting sales of the similar (and free!) phones on offer on better tariffs.

I’m sure that knowing how Apple have operated on this deal from the start you can appreciate the fact that a third party retail partner such as CPW would be left out in the cold when it came to a decent margin - Apple are even putting the squeeze on the o2 and it’s other carrier networks after all to the tune of 30% of the ongoing revenues!

If you want to blame someone for this - blame Apple. They are even less willing to part with their profits on this - 4% on an iPhone sale is still less than £11.

No matter what though it is good to “out” merchants like this. I hope they learn their lesson from far less sales then they could have had before implementing this greedy scam.

seriously I just won’t play the game when it’s clear it’s rigged from the outset like this, a limited distribution launch so prices are fixed and profit is maximised, on top of that there’s brand management meglomania on overdrive and commission rates at starvation rations.

I’d rather work with merchants that value what’s done for them everyday for every product and pay accordingly, don’t have a pedantic brand management approach boarding on Obsessive compulsive disorder and respect who they work with enough to communicate and pay a reasonable commission.

This product is a minimum £899 sale at £35 tariff or even £1259 !!! if the £55 tariff is selected, when everything is taken into account (ok except accessories too !), sure lots of that is hardware cost but there’s an 18 month commitment to a minimum of £35 per month in that and most people prepared to wedge out £269 and make use of the iphone aren’t liable to be the cost concious type that don’t go over their plan limits so those levels of measly commission are a complete and utter joke for this product, price plans, and contract length !

good luck to all those that do push it as you’ll make some cash but not as much as you should have done.

Thanks all for your feedback. Regarding banners - they are available now in a variety of sizes, directly from your affiliate network contact. They’ve all been signed off internally, and although we do need to check how they’ve been placed, using the official copy will make acceptance much smoother!

Best regards and wishing you a successful iPhone launch day!

Jamie Brown
The Carphone Warehouse

Come on Louise, time for a re-think. Just think of the positive PR & exposure you’d get if you were to increase your commission to your normal rate .. go on, you know you want to!