#1) On 2/26
I ordered a product from another designer (Designer A), using a link with their RF# and tracking code (TC) "THANKYOU". That order was logged correctly on their end as a 15% referral, with the specified TC.
* I placed that order using Opera which is my alternative browser of choice that I use when I don't want to mess up the cookies & cache etc of my every-day browser (Firefox). I have Opera set to clear everything (cookies, cache, browsing history, passwords, auto-fill data, etc..) on every exit. I also use the option, always twice in a row, to manually clear any/all such data before starting a new session, just to be certain I am starting anonymously.
#2) On 3/4
I ordered another product from Designer A, using a link with their RF# and TC of "THANKYOU_from_COL". That order was logged correctly on their end as a 15% referral, with specified TC.
#3) On 3/8
I ordered a product from a different designer (Designer B), using a link with their RF# and TC "BenableTest". That order was logged correctly on their end as a 15% referral, with the specified TC.
#4) On 3/11
I ordered another product from Designer B, but this time I used the link Benable auto-generates as their affiliate link. I don't have a screenshot of this, but this too was logged correctly on the designers end, as a 3rd Party Sale (so no referral). Since they did get a small commission from Benable on this sale, the assumption of course is that they were the 3rd party getting the referral.
#5) On 3/17
I ordered a product from another designer (Designer C) in the former Promoter Program. This time I used a "clean" link direct to their product so no RF# in it, but with TC "CC_PP2_TC_test". This order was logged correctly on their end as a 35% referral, with the specified TC.
So that is 5 different orders over 20 days, to 3 different designers and 4 different Referrers, all unique links with appropriate RF & TC when applicable. And they all worked out as they are supposed to.
* Note that in between each of these orders (I used Opera in each case) all browser data was cleared many times over. And the same goes for below as well.
That brings us to 4/1, where things get really interesting and why I am writing this detailed post.
I wanted to order one of my newer cards to see how it prints out and being the first day of the new Ambassador program rules, I was just going to use a "clean" link direct to my own product. I ended up ordering & canceling four times ...
Order #1) I pasted my "clean" link direct to product directly into Opera, which I had just opened and not viewed any other page in yet. When the sale showed up on my end it was listed as 3rd Party. No way absolutely not was that possible so my immediate reaction was that Zazzle somehow assigned themselves as 3rd Party. I canceled that order.
Order #2) This time, I added the clean link to my own webpage, opened that page in Opera, and clicked the link to my item. That order came up as a 3rd Party sale again. So I canceled that one.
Order #3) This time, I added an RF# link to the product, with TC "RFtest", to my own webpage. Opened the page in Opera, and clicked the link to my item. That order came up as a 3rd Party sale again. So I canceled that one.
Order #4) Switched tactics here by choosing a different product and a different browser (Brave). Used an RF# link with TC "NewTestFromBrave". And you guessed it, showed up on my end as a 3rd Party sale. I Canceled.
I was feeling quite aggravated and honestly, pretty negative about Zazzle thinking they were claiming themselves as 3rd Party on these orders. Because what else would one think?
But ...
Turns out, Designer A was somehow getting picked up as a 3rd Party referrer on these orders, and with the same TC I had used back on 2/26! How is that possible? This was absolutely not an issue on my end with browser cookies as I used two different browsers, and every time, was 100% certain in making sure I was starting clean, no cookies, cache, history, stored profiles, nothing ... and, as detailed above, there were 4 other orders with referrals logged correctly since I ordered from them on 2/26 with that specific TC. All I can think of is that in addition to whatever cookies are being stored locally on our (and customers') browsers which we can manage ourselves, there's also some sort of token being created/stored on Zazzle's end that we can't control, and in my case it's corrupted.
In my situation yesterday I happened to be chatting offsite while trying to order my card and yes, griping about Zazzle assigning themselves as 3rd Party when there shouldn't have been one, which is how Designer A was able to realize that uhm, Col, looks like I am your 3rd Party. Makes me wonder how often the referral credits might get bugged like this with virtually no chance of the Designer or the person getting the referral credit ever being able to connect the dots from both ends.
Lots of details here but I wanted to make it very clear that this was not a case of me picking up someone else's cookie that then stuck with me for the designated period of time and I that just need to "clear my cookies". It would be very enlightening to know how this happened, but also, can you fix it please? Nothing against Designer A, but you know, I'd like to be able to order without it showing up in their Referral History. 😉
