Electric Cigarette Affiliate Programs
As a long-time fan of electric cigarette since I first saw them at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) back in January of 2007, I knew I wanted to be early in the affiliate space, and I’ve checked out all literally all the options.
Obviously all of the vendors that we deal with here are affiliates, and each relationship seems to have it’s advantages and disadvantages. I’ll be adding info about a few more shortly, and these are the most active ones right now.
Greensmoke -
By far, Greensmoke has the best affiliate program, and it doesn’t take too much volume to get up to their top payout percentage, which is 20%.
The reason I say they are “the best” is primarily because of their products, which are completely state-of-the-art, and they hold their price well.
You won’t see them being discounted all over the web. and that’s a big plus for maintaining brand integrity.
They also offer the most marketing support, with a wide variety of banners and text links, and also provide printed materials as well, along with the PSD files. They’ll even custom order you business cards.
They provide you with two discount codes, a 5 and a 10%, and you can even get an e-mail address at their domain, if you choose to do so.
- Affiliate software – IdevAffiliate
- Payouts – 10 to 20%
- Pay frequency – monthly
- Pay on time – No, but never more than 15 days late
Esmoke.net
These guys also offer an excellent product which is easy to sell, but I’ve found that their website doesn’t convert quite as well as Greensmoke, but still pretty darn well.
Furthermore, while their products appear to be a bit cheaper, as you browse, you’ll find that the card is a little bit confusing, and by the time you add cartridges and refills, the customer isn’t saving all that much money over Greensmoke.
Their warranty is also not nearly as good, at only 30 days instead of a year, but the management is very easy to get on the phone, and they’ve claimed to me verbally, but they’ve never let a truly defective unit go on replaced for a customer. In other words, if justified, they will extend their warranty as long as necessary to make the customer happy.
It does take longer to reach their highest payout level with 60 sales required before you reach 20%, but it does make a perfect alternative choice the Greensmoke device, and the price is better.
Also, they have the best micro size device I’ve used, which is the exact size of a regular cigarette, and practically the weight too, because I can tuck it behind my ear.
They also have a good selection of banners and text links, and offer the ability to create your own deep links, and they approve sales quickly and pay on time as well.
- Affiliate software – IdevAffiliate
- Payouts – 10 to 20%
- Pay frequency – monthly
- Pay on time – Yes, always
Blu Cigs
The Blu website converts at 10.8 percent, and they have one of the most unique and affordable products around, even if they’re not the height of technology. at $59 per unit, the price is great and you’ll sell a ton.
Their problem, lies in the fact that from March to November 2009, they had horrendous fulfillment problems for various reasons, and were taking up to 6 weeks to ship, resulting in a majority of cancelled orders. finally they put up a warning, which all but killed further orders.
Then, in a stroke of further misfortune, and an interesting marketing decision, their unique electric cigarette chargers were recalled for a safety hazard. Instead of contacting current owners, the only ones that needed the info, they put up another warning, telling even non-owners not to USE their product. That didn’t help sales much either.
Anyway, As of early November, they’re shipping i9n 24 – 48 hours, the product is bitchin, and I bought one of my own.
- Affiliate software – IdevAffiliate
- Payouts – $15 on devices, and $2 on a box of cartridges
- Pay frequency – monthly
- Pay on time – Yes, always
Join their program here
ZeroTar
These guys begin their affiliate program at 15%, and it was easy to quickly get up to 20. They have a wide variety of units from the very inexpensive three-piece models, two different two-piece models, and their website converts pretty well, considering no phone.
My biggest problem with Zerotar has been there incredibly terrible customer service. They offer absolutely no telephone service, and despite my repeated emnail requests no one will talk to me on the phone.
They’ve been late on every single one of their affiliate payments, the last over 45 days late – PAST the month of holding time.
The only reason they’re still here is because I personally use and like their $80 two piece better than any other I’ve tried.
Another downside of their program is that they have their own affiliate software that frequently contains broken banners and code, and getting e-mail response to fix the issues was extremely slow.
You also do not have the ability to create custom deep links, so you are at the mercy of promoting only what they happen to provide you with a working banner / link for.
That said, if you’re trying to flesh out a store that offers all prices and models, they seem quick to ship, and their wide selection gives them a high conversion rate.
They certainly DO have a good selection, and killer prices, and i buy from them myself.
- Affiliate software – custom chopping cart weirdness
- Payouts – 15 to 20% scale
- Pay frequency – supposedly monthly
- Pay on time – Nope, but they do eventually pay
