Buy.at – Welcome, But Please Remember…

The U.S. Is A Brand New Market

After reading all the good reviews about Buy.at launching in the U.S. I thought I would head over on Opening Day to take a look at what they were about and to look into creating an account depending on what the folks from the U.K. had to offer. After all, I am always excited to see what sorts of innovations other affiliate networks are developing, especially from other countries because I think they have an ability to look at things from a completely different perspective than U.S. companies.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed.

We Do Not Know You Yet

There was not much description or examples of features or content on their pages, and they only have one affiliate program, CD WOW!, whose brand I did not recognize and had never heard of… (which doesn’t mean a lot – I don’t get out much:) ) - I recognize all of this could be because they are just getting off the ground – but, from what I understand they have been around for a while in the U.K. so I was hoping for more.

Note: An article about the 2003 lawsuit involving CD WOW! and the British Phonographic Industry (pronounced with an F - NOT a P) can be found here at Wikipedia and here at The Register.

Again, due to the high praise folks have been posting about But.at recently, I thought there might be more content “inside”. So, I started the account creation process where I found they wanted a Primary URL, permanent Buy.at handle which apparently cannot be changed and Financial Details – routing & account numbers.

Now, I don’t mind the URL and handle so much, but, they mention that, “…your web handle is permanent, and as such needs to be unique to yourself, and be suitable for use across all of your operations.”

It Is Better To Date Before We Get Married

I don’t even know what “operations” I’m interested in with Buy.at yet, and they want me to create some sort of permanent handle? A lot of thoughts ran through my head – should I use my common “handle”? If I do, what if they turn out to be less stellar than I have heard? I don’t want that “handle” nor do I want a Primary URL to be associated there… What if they turn out to be great? If clients will be exposed to it, I don’t want some sort of generic “xyz2468” thing to be my handle. Remember, there is nothing on any of their U.S. pages where they disclose how these pieces of information will be used in their programs.

I was also extremely uncomfortable giving an affiliate network I am not familiar with my routing & account numbers without, at least, reading a privacy disclosure statement or knowing more about what the network has to offer.

Bottom line – And this is just me– I did not create an account with them today. There may be a lot more trust in the U.K. where folks feel more comfortable making these sorts of commitments and giving away sensitive information without the full picture. But, I think for me, at least, I will wait for a little more disclosure and a lot more trust to be built by them before I jump in.

What do you think?



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    3 Responses to “Buy.at – Welcome, But Please Remember…”

    • 1
      Malcolm Cowley
      March 1st, 2007 07:56

      Hi Mark

      Many thanks for the feedback and apologies you did not have all the information you needed from us to have comfort to complete the sign up process this time round.

      We have moved quickly to address some of your concerns so you will find now that routing and banking information is no longer needed to complete the intial sign up process - we were just wanting to make sure we got everyones details as payment is such an important part of what we do as a network but I can see your point on how it might appear off putting and a bit forward with the lack of surrounding information so we have changed it quickly for you and others who would feel the same - many thanks for the heads up.

      On the handle front just to explain we will have the functionality to create new handles as well but it might not be very quick - its something we were looking at for the UK side of the business so when its done it will be available for all.

      Your handle choice will not effect signing up to programs and becoming approved but adding in a few of your more well used URL’s will give us and them a chance to get a feel for you as an affiliate. Once you have signed up you can add in more url’s if you wish.

      If you really don’t want to give over that information at this toe dippingstage just put test for the primary URL but definately choose a handle though .

      Ill be speaking to CD WOW! US about the other thing you mentioned and seeing if I can get them to post some feedback for you on your blog

      They are very keen to make things work as are we.

      Thanks again for the feedback

      Mal

    • 2
      Mark
      March 2nd, 2007 08:22

      Hello Malcolm - Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate your well thought out response.

      Best regards,
      Mark

    • 3
      Kevin OLoughlin
      March 2nd, 2007 13:42

      Hi Mark,
      Just wanted to say hello, and also quickly introduce you to CD WOW! Hopefully you will be hearing a lot more about us now that we’ve teamed up with a great outfit like Buy.at!

      Malcolm has already responded to your queries regarding the registration process, and amongst other things it is this responsiveness that appealed to us. I’d like to think that CD WOW! is willing to listen to and act on ideas from affiliates and customers, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s great to see a successful affiliate network like Buy.at being so open and quick to react to suggestions.

      I also wanted to briefly address the 2003 lawsuit you mentioned involving CD WOW! In a nutshell, a trade body called the British Phonographic Industry (that’s PHONographic!) brought an action against CD WOW! in an effort to restrict the freedom of choice of internet consumers.

      All titles sold through our stores around the world (we operate in 12 countries) are 100% legitimate. All CDs, DVDs and Games are sourced from known suppliers.

      Obviously the case didn’t affect us too much because CD WOW! is still going strong, and still offering a great service at a great price… and long may it continue.

      Thanks for giving me the opportunity to explain our position. Be sure to check us out over the next few weeks and hopefully you’ll become a big fan of our store.

      Cheers,
      Kevin


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