I signed up for an affiliate program on a website called Fortitude. It's a website where writers can display their work. Anyway I refered some people to this website so I was due comission for those people I referred. When I went to my account to requested for it I found out that the account would be locked for 60 days. I didn't wanna wait 60 days for my money. So I went to support on the Fortitude website and asked them that.
Here is what they said:
August 08, 2010 00:50 - Brian W.
Why is there a locked balance on my account and how long does it stay locked? I got bills due now, I can't wait much longer.
August 08, 2010 04:17 - Nick O.
Affiliate commissions are locked because PayPal payments can be reversed within 60 days. All of a sudden PayPal will send a message that the payment was declined by the sender's bank or whatever, the money will be clawed back, and our account balance will have been reduced. There is nothing we can do about this. It's a unilateral action by PayPal and separate from the dispute process.
Reversals happens all the time.
So if someone pays us $23.88 and we pay you your commission right away, and the $23.88 payment is subsequently withdrawn by PayPal from our account, we will end up in the hole.
That's why affiliate commissions are locked.
It's not just us who do this.
The holding period is standard with all affiliate systems. I dare you to find an affiliate system that does not have a built-in delay.
Is this true? Can PayPal payments really be reversed after 60 days? I've never heard of this, and I've never heard of an affiliate system having a built-in delay. Has anyone else ever heard of that? What can I do about this? Any advice?
