• ShareASale

ShareASale

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Overview

ShareASale has a rating of 2.1 stars from 82 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about ShareASale most frequently mention customer service problems. ShareASale ranks 189th among Affiliate Programs sites.

  • Service
    11
  • Value
    10
  • Shipping
    3
  • Returns
    5
  • Quality
    7
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
0
Negative
3
1
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How would you rate ShareASale?
Top Positive Review

“One of the best affiliate program for online merchants”

John G.
5/30/08

One of the best affiliate program for online merchants - If you are small or medium sized online retailer, shareasale is probably your best bet for an affiliate program. Its fees are modest, its customer service is good, and its website is easy to use. ShareAsale is really a service driven company instead of a sales driven company. I would highly recommend it to any online merchant.

Top Critical Review

“Not genuine”

James D.
12/18/23

Despite having my own websites and a registered company they told me I was not qualified. I don't run any adult websites so I don't understand why I did not pass a quality review and know where they tell you the reason behind their decision or perhaps the company is registered to a black individual I don't know. But without transparency you would have to question a company's decision but they're not the only affiliate so move on to a better company one that doesn't play games.

Reviews (82)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

affiliate marketing (9) affiliate networks (6) 10 years (3) affiliate program (6) 5 years (3)
Thumbnail of user vikv2
1 review
26 helpful votes
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April 5th, 2018

I cannot begin to explain how much I hate ShareASale.

First off, there entire business is a con - other sites try to monetize already existing links to your website. So once you sign up, you will be paying for links that you already had to your website.

Second, they have this billing scheme where if you don't hit a threshold, they charge you a minimum. But they don't have good affiliate partners so you end up just paying the minimum monthly.

Third, once you realize the scam you cannot just quit because all the links that are now being monetized to your site are tied into ShareASale so if you quit all those links will break.

Lastly, you email and call ShareASale and their support team doesn't care. If you complain or try to go against the system they will just close your account which F's up all your incoming links.

Stay away. VigLink just launched VigLink Direct - which is a ShareASale competitor. We are giving it a shot hoping we can transition 100% away from ShareASale

Thumbnail of user laurad158
1 review
1 helpful vote
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October 26th, 2017

I work with many affiliate companies and Share a Sale is the ONLY one that I have had any kind of personal relationship and interaction with. They make it a point to talk to their affiliates and help them.

Thumbnail of user christyf11
1 review
1 helpful vote
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October 26th, 2017

I have worked with SAS for five years now, and I cant say enough good things. They have BY FAR the most user-friendly interface in the business. When I am mentioning a product I love in a post, I always start by searching for it at SAS first. If I could work solely with SAS, I would. It simplifies my life to keep the majority of my merchants within one network, and SAS is simply the best there is. Sometimes I choose not to work with a merchant simply because they arent in SASs network. The people behind the company are honest, helpful, and knowledgeable, and I also appreciate that they use reliable, real-time links. I can see a commission in my account the moment a sale is made. If you are looking for the best affiliate marketing network in the business, look no further - ShareASale is it!

Thumbnail of user criss62
1 review
10 helpful votes
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October 25th, 2017

I have been with ShareaSale as an affiliate for nearly 5 years. They are, HANDS DOWN, the best affiliate network out there. The platform is easy to use (I love the bookmarklet) and my emails are always responded to in a timely manner. Here's the thing with SaS, if you break their rules - they WILL kick you out. They fully support affiliates who are following their rules and those put forth by the FTC. So, if you're planning to do anything shady - don't sign up with SaS. If you're not - DO IT.

Thumbnail of user beckym66
1 review
9 helpful votes
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October 26th, 2017

It is rare that you find a company that works with you and helps you as much as ShareASale, not to mention has as many affiliate programs as they do. I love checking my ShareASale account every month (It is very clear & easy to see where & how you are earning every month).

Thumbnail of user dorenek2
1 review
12 helpful votes
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August 28th, 2019

Wow, your merchants need to reassess their relationship with you... I will contact them directly. What's the name of the organization that oversees online fraud again?

Thumbnail of user saram173
1 review
5 helpful votes
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September 10th, 2017

I put down a $500 deposit which was eaten up by supposed affiliates that had no relevance to anything. Complete waste of money and potentially a scam and fraud.

Thumbnail of user brianl47
Brian L. – ShareASale Rep

Sara - ShareASale is a platform, and you actually get to decide who your Affiliates are (you approve or deny them) and we would be happy to help you go over how this is done, or even some strategies on who you should/should not approve or work with. Transactions that fall outside of your own terms are also easily voided if you have an Affiliate of yours violating your terms, or even if a product is returned, etc... If you have concerns about your account and need help - we are here to help you can reach me directly at brian@shareasale.com and I'd be happy to assist you.

Thumbnail of user hollyh60
1 review
7 helpful votes
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October 26th, 2017

I work with a ton of affiliate networks and shareasale is just easy. I haven't ever had a technical issue and when you meet them in person, they are... NICE. Total win-win.

Thumbnail of user ninam54
2 reviews
1 helpful vote
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October 26th, 2017

I started my affiliate marketing journey with Share a Sale. The whole website is super easy to figure out for beginners. Easy to apply to programs, grab links, check stats, etc.

Thumbnail of user timm1999
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 21st, 2023

Upon applying just got a "no" from a "Peyton" who then later blocked my email upon asking why.

Acceptance of the Application Form is subject to the sole discretion of ShareASale.com Inc., of 15 W. Hubbard St. STE 500 Chicago IL *******, an AWIN Group Company ("ShareASale"). Acceptance or rejection of the Application Form will be notified to the proposed Publisher by email.

ASK YOURSELF PROFESSIONALLY:

Do you want to do business with people who don't have the decency to explain themselves and are reluctant to further assist with their own product?

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user muhammada47
1 review
25 helpful votes
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March 7th, 2016

Good Morning,

2 weeks ago, I logged into my Share A Sale account to find that it had been suspended. I immediately created a support ticket to try and find out why. I had a generic reply pretty quickly, but with no reason given.

I phoned support spoke to a lovely chap called Evan and enquired why my account had been suspended, all he could tell me was to read the Terms of Agreement and reply to the ticket if I thought the decision to be wrong.

I took time to carefully go through the agreement and struggled to find any reason or where I might have violated the terms, I also audited my site to look for issues. I replied to the ticket with my findings and heard nothing back.

I once again called support and got through to Evan again, who could only tell me that my ticket has been escalated to the managers, but could give me no more information, nor could he advise me on who else to speak to or what my next course of action might be.

So here I am in limbo, I have had to change networks and merchants because this issue is as far as I can see not being dealt with, could somebody please reach out to me so I can resolve any pending issues and get on with promoting my chosen merchants.

Many thanks.

Thumbnail of user badangs
1 review
14 helpful votes
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February 12th, 2020

Literally the worst user interface I have ever come across. Horrible customer service and the partners they have a really aren't that great. It's absolute BS.

Thumbnail of user beckyj30
1 review
8 helpful votes
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October 25th, 2017

I have been a blogger for over 10 years- worked with quite a few affiliate networks and I have found that shareasale has been the best overall. I have used their platform and prefer it over others for almost all of my links and programs I am signed up with.
Their platform recently got an update and it's been a wonderful change. Easy to find new companies to promote, easy to customize links for better tracking and they have been there to answer any questions that I might have.
I also have been a merchant in their network for over a year and that has been a great experience as well. As it takes time and work to run an affiliate program and get it running smoothly (not on the part of shareasale- just running the program in general) there are many resources for sending newsletters to affiliates, tracking reports and updating databases. Again, any questions have been answered and many hours spent on issues that I may have to get them resolved.
While it is the responsibility of the affiliate and merchant to use the program and generate their own income based on their efforts- shareasale provides training and helpful articles to better understand affiliate marketing, increase clicks, income and conversions. I have found these very helpful as the internet world changes often and keeping up on everything can become confusing and time consuming.

Thumbnail of user amandab9
3 reviews
22 helpful votes
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September 6th, 2011

I've had mixed results and have used this site with two different companies I worked for over the last few years. But one thing that was consistent both times was the amount of fraud. I had to spend quite a bit of time invalidating sales that weren't legit. The process to invalidate them was at least easy to do except you had to do them one at a time. My most recent problem with them is that my boss started a campaign with them before I came on to manage it. He added me as an authorized user and I had no problem logging in and making changes. However, due to the amount of fraud we decided to take the program offline temporarily and revamp it. I called support to make sure we did this properly. After it was said and done, I can't log in anymore and I'm the one who is trying to revamp the campaign. My boss's login is the only one that will work when its taken offline and when he logs in the system wants you to start a campaign from scratch. It isn't even showing the still active sales in order for us to verify them and invalidate them for fraud if necessary. And of course support never told me this would happen when I talked to them even though I explained our intentions.

Thumbnail of user dmitriya14
2 reviews
7 helpful votes
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February 18th, 2020

Horrible experience. I tried to change the category of my store after paying like $700 and they said I cannot. Waste of time and money. Terrible company.

Thumbnail of user triciam27
1 review
3 helpful votes
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October 25th, 2017

I've been a full-time affiliate marketer for over 10 years and am so confused at the number of negative reviews. They were one of the first networks I joined and one that I am most active with still today.

Unfortunately I think people who have bad experiences in affiliate marketing in general always blame the network that they joined rather than the mistakes that they made.

I've been both a merchant and an affiliate on ShareASale and have found them to be one of the most transparent, honest networks in the industry. I seek them out at every conference to see what is new. I follow their blog for advice. I attend some of their webinars. They make every effort to try to educate their partners and work for the good of the ENTIRE industry (like being an Industry Champion of the Performance Marketing Association).

If you want to know if ShareASale really works, ask one of us who have worked with them for many years successfully because it's not a "secret." You read the guidelines, you ask for help when you need it, and you proactively manage your account using the data and tools in their system.

Thumbnail of user christene7
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 25th, 2017

There's no hiding my love for ShareASale. Not only is the network's ThinkTank conference directly responsible for my rise in affiliate marketing over the last five years, I find the network itself to be the most easy to use with the best tools and the friendliest support. From tools like Make A Page, Product Showcase and Product Discovery bookmarklet, which all make it easy to include affiliate links in my posts, to the shiny new interface that makes it a cinch to find new merchant partners, it's rare I'll find something I don't like in ShareASale... and when I do, I relay my thoughts to the team and they try to fix it.

Brian & Co. Go to great lengths to educate affiliates, merchants and OPMs alike so everyone succeeds.

Thumbnail of user kylem282
1 review
6 helpful votes
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December 31st, 2019

I have a medical company with a numerous state and federal licenses and receive state contracts. Yet shareasale does not approve? They will take the $500 fee and ignore you.

Thumbnail of user elaineh40
1 review
2 helpful votes
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October 29th, 2017

I Love using Share a Sale! It's very user friendly and they have great reporting. I also love working with many of the brands on here. The support is great!

Thumbnail of user stevent47
1 review
25 helpful votes
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September 26th, 2015

Shareasale's policy when it comes to merchant abuse is to basically do nothing. Basically, they are willing to be complicit to theft.

I recently had all of my commissions reversed on my from a particular merchant due to "a vilation of their merchant agreement". I approached shareasale and they said that my only recourse was to talk to the merchant.

I tried multiple times to contact the merchant and presented multiple screenshots both from their shareasale merchant page and their actual website showing that not only was I not violating their policies, they explicitly stated that there were no restrictions both on their ppc guidelines as well as their own affiliate page on their website.

After being ignored I tried to ask shareasale for help and was told that there was nothing they could do.

To put it simply, shareasale has shown that they are fine with merchants engaging in fraud.

It blows my mind. Every other network I've worked with will investigate issues and if warranted will back the affiliate up.

Before you spend a lot of money promoting a merchant on shareasale make sure you get 1 or 2 payouts from them first.

If the merchant belongs to any other affiliate network I strongly recomend you promote it through the other affiliate network instead of shareasale.

Thumbnail of user lindad221
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 25th, 2017

Affiliate marketing to monotize a website can be overwhelming. ShareaSale makes to so easy. Its user friendly, easy to navigate, and there are so many merchants to get involved with. Very happy.

Thumbnail of user daveg13
2 reviews
31 helpful votes
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August 22nd, 2011

I have been a faithful affiliate of Shareasale for nearly 9 months without a problem. Drove alot of quality leads and sales, spending all of my commissions on advertising for their merchants.

So today, I log into my account to verify my payment for the month. I notice that the payment was rejected and my account was limited without cause or warning. So, I call their company and Bethany, an extremely useless customer service rep, said she would create a ticket and would send it to the managers (who, mind you, aren't there, yet somehow remotely just got done cancelling my payment). I wait a few hours and go to log into my account, and low and behold - I can no longer log in! So, I call back, and again Bethany remembers me and states that they can do these things without cause or warning, and that these 'managers' would contact me.

No matter what the terms of service are, is it not a NORMAL business practice to contact the affiliate (or partner) to tell them something isn't right? I received no emails whatsoever, and STILL haven't heard a peep.

Also, this Bethany woman stated they do this to protect the merchant. Funny - alot of merchants would fail to exist without the efforts of affiliates. WE go out and promote for them, saving them advertising expense, time, and find their targeted sales.

I am owed in the neighborhood of $2,116.00 - which I am now going to have to litigate to get. Which, I will succeed in getting.

BEWARE of this company - Pepperjam is a better affiliate program that actually cares!

Thumbnail of user clairew368
1 review
0 helpful votes
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January 11th, 2024

I have been trying to complete 30 thousand dollars in affiliate fraud as a merchant that happened when we had a change in employment and leadership in our company. In the transition of our employees roles and responsibilities over the course of a week the affiliates were not being as carefully reviewed on our end. Only 7 or so fraudulent affiliated were accepted but the issue caused around 30K in fake sales that soaked up time on the fulfilment and supply chain allocation end as well as the countless hours to go and void each individual transaction after confirming with in our shopify system that the order was in fact returned or fraudulent. Because there is no real customer service and you have to redirect outside of your profile account to even file a ticket, it takes forever for back and forth and there is no notification to tell you you have a response you just have to go check it no matter what, terrible for work flow. I have asked 5 times for a phone call because I cannot get someone to answer their listed number. Today finally I was given available times they could schedule a microsoft meeting, still cant hop on a call. We have currently 7K is returned commissions that I don't know if those funds will get returned to us or if we have to file a suit against them for these funds that were auto billed during the affiliate fraud and not returned but are now showing as a credit to pay out other affiliates. Do not use Share a Sale they are terrible for merchants and they seem to have no accountability for the affiliates they give accounts too which I would think would affect actual affiliates negatively as well.

Service
Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user gusr59
1 review
1 helpful vote
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June 22nd, 2023

Wast of money, theres a reason the set up fee is non refundable. Didn't get one sale in about 5 months of accepting every affiliate.

Thumbnail of user jenniferm413
1 review
1 helpful vote
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October 26th, 2017

I've worked with ShareASale for years. They are the most honest company with an amazing platform that's easy to use.

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ShareASale is a retail focused Performance Marketing Network with over 3,500+ different offers to choose from as an affiliate. Affiliates can sign up and promote any merchant they wish for free.

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Brian L.

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