Lately, people are feeling scammed; they are upset, disappointed, angry and confused.

While this isn't great, we've all been there.

My first few years online were weird and confusing, while I tried to learn a new language and listen to the gurus.

I fully understand people feeling ripped off when they buy products that massively under-deliver, and leave them disappointed. In this economy you simply can't afford to waste money on disappointing products.

BUT there is a difference in being disappointed and being scammed.

So, here is my take on ClickBank and whether the company is a scam or not.

The Positive...
To my knowledge, they have never missed paying anyone (merchant or affiliate) on time. I believe they have some odd rules about getting your money if you're a new affiliate, though, so it's important know how to get your money.

ClickBank works great for online vendors by collecting sales money, paying affiliates on time and sending you balances. They pay once a week and handle filing tax forms and more. They collect and remit VAT where needed so we don't have to.

Unfortunately, this isn't cheap.

Vendors pay much more to process orders via ClickBank than almost any other payment processor, like PayPal for example. However, there is no payment processor online who offers more convenience to sellers.

The Negative...
I believe ClickBank should clean house, removing vendors promising success with "three click" software products, and cracking down on fake screenshots. Vendors shouldn't be allowed to show screenshots of their entire account history, pretending it's money made as an affiliate.

Happily, I believe they are moving in the right direction. They have recently released a number of updates to their terms of service that will dramatically impact the false scarcity and outright deception that we all dislike.

These are simply my own opinions based on being a ClickBank vendor and affiliate for over 10 years, receiving awards each year for being a top affiliate and top vendor. I say this only to say that I have some experience with them, I like them and hope very much for the best.

This company has a rich history of helping people who are getting started online make money with affiliate marketing. Their site is easy to use and they offer very good customer service in my experience. But they have leaned toward the fast buck artists by introducing selling methods like "one click upsells" and other tools.

To be clear about it, I don't think up-sells are evil. But I do think it's wrong to make it look like your product will do everything a person needs done for $37 and then subject buyers to endless "one time offers" that make them feel stupid or like they will miss success if they don't buy now.

My Take
I don't believe ClickBank is even close to being a scam.

Yes, they have sellers who over promise. Yes, there are seller who don't provide customer service. But this doesn't mean this company is a scam, in my view.

I believe they will clean up it's list of sellers and in fact see encouraging signs of that happening even as I write this.

I have used other payment processors, but ClickBank makes selling online easy and convenient. As an affiliate I still promote their products, althoughI don't do that as much as I used to-- due to the hyped-up sites so popular on ClickBank lately. There are so many wonderful products online now that relying on ClickBank is, in my view, a mistake.

My advice is this - learn as much as you can about selling ClickBank products and promote the products you use and believe in. An honest recommendation based on your experience is always the best way to sell things online, especially if you are promoting products to your own mailing list.

Charlie Page owns the Directory of Ezines and is the author of 10 books about Internet marketing. Through his membership sites and personal consulting, Charlie helps people achieve their goal of independence in record time. Can Charlie help you? Find out at http://www.charliepage.com/

View the original article here