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I haven't found anything on the site about requirements of when merchants must pay affiliates. Is there a specified length of time? Please say we do and show me url if you don't mind.

If not, we need one fast. That's crazy if I could put out advertising $ for a merchant and get paid next year.

I don't think there are requirements posted for vendors to pay affiliates.

I found this:

http://www.e-junkie.com/ej/help.affiliates.php

Which outlines when e-junkie will distribute the mass-payment file, but I highly doubt that e-junkie has anything (whatsoever) to do with when or how vendors pay their affiliates. e-Junkie is a tricked out shopping cart & product / affiliate / sales management system - I'm pretty sure that they don't take on any liability when it comes to what product owners promise or fail to deliver.

They may be legally covered but they would literally shoot their whole network in the foot from PR standpoint if merchants have no code of conduct or a standard Terms of service. Handling affiliate signups in bulk gives the implication of some type of affiliate network even with their disclaimer on the site and (somewhat irritating) re-mention of that in any affiliate-related questions (even though my question regarded their software, not the merchant).

Maybe it's just my opinion but a strong base of affiliates should be one of the biggest selling points to merchants and could even take them out of competing purely on price - which is usually a losing business model. If I was a merchant and my shopping cart provider said, oh and by the way... we have a slew of top affiliates waiting to promote products like yours - you'll most likely make back whatever you pay us on from them alone, I'd buy in for sure.

At least require merchants to post a terms of service for cryin' out loud. It just looks sloppy and may get you in some legal hot water - even w/ that legal disclaimer, you know how the courts are these days. Plus the PR black eye would be disastrous.