Affiliate Link Disclosure Post

This site uses Affiliate Links, by choosing to use them you are supporting the site, which is appreciated, but you are also potentially leaving something on the table in terms of your own Cash Back or Points Back for certain shopping options, I want to highlight this so it is clear to you, and you can make a choice if you want to get your own Cash back, or use my links.  I personally recommend when there is the option to get your own Cash Back or Points back from a Shopping Portal, that you do so, even at a cost to me, since I want you to benefit.  This is the purpose of Saverocity.com

Affiliate links are hyperlinked products within the Text of a post, or on advertised space on the site you are reading.  Many bloggers use them as they are the primary source of income for the blog.  I have decided for Saverocity that I do want to use some Affiliate links in the text of a post, and will try my best to say which ones are and which ones are not revenue generating for me.  

From your side, as the reader, please assume that any link you see in this blog that goes to an external product IS an affiliate link – though in reality many times they will not be.  Here are a couple of scenarios to consider:

Direct Link to Third Party Site Affiliate Link

This could be something like hotels.com, I could include the link in post just talking about options for an upcoming award stay.  If you decide to click through and make a booking I would receive a commission share of about 5.5%.  My thinking on the matter is that if a casual reader swings by the blog, reads an article that adds value and saves them time and money (by using Hotels.com and the Welcome Rewards loyalty program). Then if they should use my link it is a Win/Win.  However, for readers that are committed to the site and want to learn more about making smart decisions, I would rather you were aware that clicking through might not be in your best interests, although it would be in mine.

Caveat Emptor Clicking an Affiliate Link often means you are deciding to leave something on the table for the Blogger

You have three options when it comes to your online purchase, these are to:

1.  Go Directly to the destination website (waldorfastoria.com, or Macy’s.com etc) by typing the name into the URL Bar off the browser directly.  If you do this, then the price of your product – lets say a room at the Waldorf Astoria New York will be offered at the standard hotel rate for the website.  The Waldorf will keep your money for the booking and you get a room for the night.

2. You hear about Hotels.com and go there directly, then search for the Waldorf Astoria New York.  You will earn Welcome Rewards Hotels.com reward program where you get one free night for every 10 booked, and perhaps a discount on the rate quoted on the Waldorf Astoria Website.  The Waldorf Astoria would pay Hotels.com a share of the revenue from your room reservation.

3. You hear about the Waldorf Astoria New York through a Blog post about it, or other Affiliate Marketing and click through the Hotels.com link on the post to book the room.  When you do that the revenue sharing suddenly changes.  Ironically, despite the Waldorf Astoria giving out more money from their profits to pay the revenue splits, the overall cost to the customer is often reduced, though in this example the cost of the room is consistent, at $349 per night.  It is the Hotel that takes from the $349 and pays Hotels.com a fee, which they share with the blogger.

What you can see is that each time, the piece of the pie (your money being spent on something) is divided up differently, but the actual cost of the product can be lowered by using the affiliate link, or booking/buying through a third party.

In this final example you can see how instead of Hotels.com paying the Blogger a cut of the commission they pay it to Big Crumbs, and in turn Big Crumbs passes on most of it to you.  This route actually lowers your overall cost, gains you points towards Welcome Rewards, and is the best thing you could do in terms of putting more money in your pocket.

*It is worth noting, in the example above that often, when booking a Hotel, like the Waldorf which is part of the Hilton Honors program, that if you opt to use a third party site such as Hotels.com you invalidate earning in the Hilton Honors program.  Personally, I am fine with that, because I think the 1 Welcome Reward Night is worth more, as is the Cash Back.  This doesn’t apply to flights, just hotels… but something to keep in mind.

Big Crumbs

Without a doubt, Big Crumbs is one of the best Cash Back portals out there for the consumer, lets take a quick look at how it works, if you decide that you want to take your own cut from booking through Big Crumbs rather than using my Affiliate links then you need to set up an account with Bigcrumbs.com doing so is free, and it is just a good thing to have set up so you can benefit from the Cash Back when you make your booking.  The link to Big Crumbs here is an affiliate link.

Big Crumbs is just one of many options for Cash Back or Points Back; I often check evreward.com to give me the best cash/points back option at the time, and I typically fluctuate between Ultimate Rewards or Cash Back, depending on who is offering the most.  I have found ShopDiscover offers very high levels of Cashback too, for owners of a Discover Card.

Bigcrumbs.com is also unique in that it offers a small referral commission to the person who introduces you to Bigcrumbs.  This is an ongoing thing, somewhat like Multilevel Marketing.  Here is a chart of how that breaks down:

A Targeted Offer Affiliate Link

Targeted Offer Affiliate Links are different, in that I will be going out of my way to provide you with the best offer I know of, related to that Third Party Site – if I only can access a 40,000 Mile AAdvantage Citi credit card offer, but there is a public one for 50,000 AAdvantage Miles then I would want you to take that.  There will be times when, despite due diligence I post what I think is correct, but there is a better out there in the public domain.  If you find about about this, just leave a comment on the post, or send me an email and I will bring the better offer forward

• You will see these mainly with Credit Card sign ups EG: Get 100,000 miles with $3,000 spend in 4 months, Annual Fee Waived for the first year
• Another example of a Targeted Offer Affiliate Link would be with a company like Motif Investments, where in my review I finish with a link that gets both you and me $100 to sign up and fund with $1000 (Amazing Deal Alert People!) here is the Post Motif Investing – An Introduction and Analysis

These types of affiliate links typically don’t have that third stage of cash back/points back – EG for a credit card you can’t go through Big Crumbs to Chase and get the card- so this is the time when using the bloggers links is a great win/win for everyone – providing that they are the best deals you can get in terms of the sign up bonus.

So, if you see a good deal I talk about, cross check it with evreward or other resources you have, if you find a better ROI for you, let me know and I will update the deal to reflect that, and ensure that the readers get the best options available.