Comments on: Toys R Us affiliate program now sucks even more

By: Dyan

Dyan — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:43:26 +0000

You would think that after all the trouble with lead paint and Chinese imports (at least here in the US) that companies, especially toy companies, would be bending over backwards to reward affiliates for sticking with them.
I also find their timing a bit shady…the midst of the holiday rush. I applaud you Kieron. Yes, you won’t make the money from the sales, but at least Santa knows what list to put you on (even after your ogling of Fiona and the girls)

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 08:21:20 +0000

I think your all moaning about this far too much. Removing ToysRus from your sites seems to be cutting off your nose to spite your face. The likes of Dixons pay 0% on many products and a crapy 0.5% on others (like Digital SLRs) - what you need to do is work closer with merchants not drop them in some childish fashion in an attempt to teach them a lesson.

By: Dazza

Dazza — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 17:53:00 +0000

I actually got a phone call from them before they pulled the commission. I think the main problem is that they don’t have commission groups and cannot reduce the hardware commission to reflect the smaller margin.

However considering the huge markup on software there’s no way any retailer is making a loss on these £300+ bundles even with the affiliate/network commission. They make more on the software than they do the console itself, which has been the business model the games industry has been using for years.

By: PPC Coach

PPC Coach — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:39:49 +0000

Their PPC policy has no doubt cost them millions in sales already, now they do this? Wow. I’ve got a toy store and never used them in the first place because of low payouts and their crazy ppc policy, but this just takes the cake.

Again, good job on calling them out on this, louder voices need to be heard.

By: shane

shane — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:45:42 +0000

selective zero commission items.. oo the newest idea to scoop more profit eh.

if they make nothing they why do they sell them eh. .or is it cause they know they’ll bring in buyers who buy other things..

is the name of the game with loss leaders and undercutting.. Toys R Us should deal with it.. take the hit on consoles, stop selling them or close their scheme !

they can not seriously expect affiliates to send traffic to a site where they may not get paid for sales on hundreds of pounds of sale value !?

ok why not ad 2% commission on to everything else you do make a profit on then ? .. ooo wait no.. that’d be a trade off, something verging on a fair deal eh.. can’t have that can we.

yet another merchant consigned to the “we only want to play with a loaded deck of cards” brigade

hey ho they’ve made their bed let em lie in it http://www.mooseontheloose.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/toysrus468.jpg

bin em.. bin em fast.. and tell the network why you binned em !

By: MarkM

MarkM — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:14:57 +0000

So merchants are now selectively removing commission from hot items, how nice of them.

By: Roving Reporter Shane onto Toys R Us » Affiliate Marketing Blog

Roving Reporter Shane onto Toys R Us » Affiliate Marketing Blog — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:30:51 +0000

[...] as charismatic Kieron fairly pointed out in his blog, Toys R Us have gone one step further and reduced commissions on [...]

By: Moose

Moose — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:09:11 +0000

There have been a few emails floating about recently from different networks on Wii’s, maybe worth checking them out too. Firstly like you Kieron we use Shop Window. Affiliate Window have to immediately take all Toys R Us products from the feed. Also there must be something contractually where they are breaking, firstly with inadequate notice & secondly not honouring the cookie period. This month we have sent near on 33,000 visitors to Toys R Us, and most of that is Video Game Related so where is this 30 day cookie. No doubt Affiliate Window are not happy, but they must stand strong obo of affiliates for this one. It’s at times like this, ie the Christmas Shopping season, when you know which merchants your friends are.

By: Mr Daz

Mr Daz — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:52:06 +0000

I agree, Toys R Us commissions are very low which, as they’re my best converting merchant on thetransformers.net I have to live with it.

As for the Video Consoles bit, all of the merchants are doing that now. One by one I’ve had emails from merchants stopping any payment on consoles, including Play.com and GAME.co.uk. I won’t blame Toys R Us for that, they’ve left it longer than most.

It’s true as well that there are no margins on consoles. GAME don’t sell them solus on their website. Bundles yes, individual consoles no.

By: Roshan

Roshan — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:54:02 +0000

I’d like to give the opinion of a merchant and say that the margin on consoles is actually very little. Most retailers who are dealing in quantities of say 1- 100 wouldn’t get that much of a bulk discount. When we first bought PS3 when they launched, the cost inc vat to us was £406 and the RRP was £424.99. As a standard commission we offer 6% on our products which means we were actually making a loss on these via affiliates added to the commission we pay to the networks it gets worse. However, i do think Toys r Us have made a mistake offering 0%. They should definitely have the margin to offer atleast 2-3%.