If you are familiar with CJ, please be so kind as to tell us about your own experience with the company and help me not to make this a one-sided opinion. This will help others to make a more informed decisions.
Thank You!
Website
cj.com
Year Established and History
CJ was established in 1998 as Commission Junction. In 2003 ValueClick bought the company and the name was changed to CJ Affiliate in 2014. They are one of the top-ranked affiliate marketing platforms around and paid out billions since they were founded.
What is CJ Affiliate?
They are one of the biggest affiliate networks that connect merchants (vendors) and publishers (Affiliates) with each other on one platform.
For newbies: Affiliate marketing is when you promote someone else’s product and receive a commission each time you make a sale. CJ brings you in touch with sellers on an all-in-one platform that handles payments, provides tracking tools, and so forth.
cj.com
Year Established and History
CJ was established in 1998 as Commission Junction. In 2003 ValueClick bought the company and the name was changed to CJ Affiliate in 2014. They are one of the top-ranked affiliate marketing platforms around and paid out billions since they were founded.
What is CJ Affiliate?
They are one of the biggest affiliate networks that connect merchants (vendors) and publishers (Affiliates) with each other on one platform.
For newbies: Affiliate marketing is when you promote someone else’s product and receive a commission each time you make a sale. CJ brings you in touch with sellers on an all-in-one platform that handles payments, provides tracking tools, and so forth.
What does it Cost to Join?
Free to join as an affiliate.
User Interface and Ease of Use
The signup process is not complicated and can be done within minutes. You will also need to complete a few tasks like completing your profile, payment and tax information, methods of promotion, and so forth before you are good to go.
The dashboard is straight forward and navigation is not complicated with clearly marked tabs. The color scheme is friendly to the eyes without flashing banners or bright colors that will put a strain on one’s eyes.
Products are listed in detail and a lot of information is given most of the time, making it easy to browse products without having to click back and forth to the sales page to find something suited to one’s needs.
I have found that loading speeds are a bit on the slow side even with a fast internet connection.
Finding products works a bit on my nerves when it comes to CJ, especially if one is niche-specific. Categories each have a sub-menu that expands instead of grouping everything in one. In addition, you have to tick boxes and then click search to access the products, a tedious method of browsing products, but that might just be me and my need to keep things simple.
What do you need to Sign Up and be accepted as an Affiliate?
Before you can apply to advertiser programs, you will first need to complete a checklist to be accepted and get paid. Be thorough and provide detail to ensure that you will get accepted by merchants to promote their products. These include the following;
Finding products works a bit on my nerves when it comes to CJ, especially if one is niche-specific. Categories each have a sub-menu that expands instead of grouping everything in one. In addition, you have to tick boxes and then click search to access the products, a tedious method of browsing products, but that might just be me and my need to keep things simple.
What do you need to Sign Up and be accepted as an Affiliate?
Before you can apply to advertiser programs, you will first need to complete a checklist to be accepted and get paid. Be thorough and provide detail to ensure that you will get accepted by merchants to promote their products. These include the following;
- A valid email
- User Information – Your name, phone number, and so forth.
- Network Profile – List the sources from which you plan to drive traffic. This can be a website, Social page, email, and so forth. Describe your general marketing profile in detail. To sum it up, this is basically a sales pitch to tell advertisers who you are and how you plan to promote their products.
- Add a promotional property – List all of your traffic sources on which you plan to use advertiser links.
- Company details and tax forms – Choose your currency and submit your W-8BEN or W-9.
- Add your payment details - choose how you would like to get paid.
- Answer questions – Few general questions that only take a few seconds to answer.
What about Getting Paid?
Commissions are paid on the 20th of each month and the threshold is $50. (You have to earn a minimum of $50 before you get paid). CJ works on a net 30 basis, meaning, you will receive payment for sales made, 30 days after purchase as this gives time if refunds occur.
The payment method is direct deposit or Payoneer. Sadly, no PayPal or any other options are available.
You HAVE TO follow the “rules” or you will not get paid! Read the “Terms” carefully and make sure you do not promote products in a way that is not permitted. CJ is one of the platforms that will literally take your commissions for a small mishap.
Commissions are paid on the 20th of each month and the threshold is $50. (You have to earn a minimum of $50 before you get paid). CJ works on a net 30 basis, meaning, you will receive payment for sales made, 30 days after purchase as this gives time if refunds occur.
The payment method is direct deposit or Payoneer. Sadly, no PayPal or any other options are available.
You HAVE TO follow the “rules” or you will not get paid! Read the “Terms” carefully and make sure you do not promote products in a way that is not permitted. CJ is one of the platforms that will literally take your commissions for a small mishap.
How Many Affiliate Programs can I Join?
You can join as many as you like providing that you qualify for each one. Take note, you have to apply for every product that you want to promote separately.
What About the Products?
CJ has the best selection of big brand names like Verizon, Barnes & Noble, InterServer, and so forth. With well over 3000 listed products, you are bound to find something to your liking.
What About Support?
The default option is their support center, a knowledge base that answers questions. If these are not helpful you will be directed to a contact form. Feedback can be anything from a few hours to a few days or weeks. Not 100% responsive.
Scam or Legit?
Now for the big question, just how legit is CJ Affiliate nowadays? On a personal level, I would say 100% legit as I always received my payments on time and never had any major issues in the past with the platform. However, the amount of complaints that goes around does call for concern. What I do know for a fact, if you fail to comply with their terms, you WILL NOT get paid or payment will be delayed. Spamming, cookie stuffing, and so forth are not tolerated with CJ and will lead to trouble. If you are still finding your ground in the marketing space and are not 100% sure how to approach it, I would suggest staying clear of CJ until you are familiar with all the legitimate methods of promoting products or services.
Any Other Options Around?
Clickbank
ShareASale
DigiStore (Great for complete Newbies)
CJ Affiliate Pros
They are one of the oldest affiliate networks around.
A simple user interface that is newbie-friendly.
A wide variety of products are available, some are big brand names. Easy to find something for almost any niche.
If you have a website, you can sell ad placement.
You can filter advertisers by their profit potential.
Their link-creation tools are awesome.
Cons
Not too hard to get accepted as an affiliate on CJ itself, however, much harder to get approved by merchants. CJ merchants do not seem that interested to work with new affiliates in general and only pick ones that are experienced in generating tons of leads/sales.
Customer service is not what it used to be. Response time became slow.
Too many “bad experiences” all over the web. Many of these are payment-related and in many cases, the result is a failure in payment because of “breaking the rules”. Good to be punished if you break rules but I somewhat feel that they are literally seeking out the tiniest mistakes as an excuse not to pay their affiliates.
Limited payment options are available. I mean seriously, we live in a world that is evolving; they could at least add Bitcoin or PayPal as an additional method to get paid.
Inactivity fees if you fail to make sales in a certain period.
Let’s Round this Up…
CJ used to be the Crème de la crème when it comes to picking an affiliate network as one’s all-in-one platform. This is not the case anymore, at least not from where I'm standing. I joined the platform way back in 2012 and it was an absolute pleasure working with them. They use to treat affiliates with a certain amount of respect, no matter if you were new to the game or an expert. I no longer get this feeling, making them the same as many other networks that are only in it for the money and forget about the tiny guys making them that money. Asking affiliates for an “Inactive fee” if you are not active, just ridiculous! Almost like it is an honor to promote their products and pay a fine if you dare to move away for a little while. Many other marketplaces around and this type of thinking is usually what sinks a company in the end.
CJ Affiliate strives to be the leader in its field and I do get that to do so they have to look at the quality of their affiliates. However, back in the late 90s early 2000s it was the new marketers who had helped them rise up to become what it is today. Today, there is hardly any room in their company left for new marketers.
Many thanks for visiting my website and taking the time to read this review.
Have something on your mind regarding CJ Affiliate? Your feedback would be valued and much appreciated and the form of a comment.
Similar Reviews
Not too hard to get accepted as an affiliate on CJ itself, however, much harder to get approved by merchants. CJ merchants do not seem that interested to work with new affiliates in general and only pick ones that are experienced in generating tons of leads/sales.
Customer service is not what it used to be. Response time became slow.
Too many “bad experiences” all over the web. Many of these are payment-related and in many cases, the result is a failure in payment because of “breaking the rules”. Good to be punished if you break rules but I somewhat feel that they are literally seeking out the tiniest mistakes as an excuse not to pay their affiliates.
Limited payment options are available. I mean seriously, we live in a world that is evolving; they could at least add Bitcoin or PayPal as an additional method to get paid.
Inactivity fees if you fail to make sales in a certain period.
Let’s Round this Up…
CJ used to be the Crème de la crème when it comes to picking an affiliate network as one’s all-in-one platform. This is not the case anymore, at least not from where I'm standing. I joined the platform way back in 2012 and it was an absolute pleasure working with them. They use to treat affiliates with a certain amount of respect, no matter if you were new to the game or an expert. I no longer get this feeling, making them the same as many other networks that are only in it for the money and forget about the tiny guys making them that money. Asking affiliates for an “Inactive fee” if you are not active, just ridiculous! Almost like it is an honor to promote their products and pay a fine if you dare to move away for a little while. Many other marketplaces around and this type of thinking is usually what sinks a company in the end.
CJ Affiliate strives to be the leader in its field and I do get that to do so they have to look at the quality of their affiliates. However, back in the late 90s early 2000s it was the new marketers who had helped them rise up to become what it is today. Today, there is hardly any room in their company left for new marketers.
Many thanks for visiting my website and taking the time to read this review.
Have something on your mind regarding CJ Affiliate? Your feedback would be valued and much appreciated and the form of a comment.
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