Hi Thomas, thanks for chimming in...

"When you take away "last cookie" from the sale, you remove one of the biggest momentum plays for a launch: The benefit of the affiliates to offer bonuses."
Not true. The bonuses can be offered anywhere in the process. Not just on the final day when the cart is open (as you well know). So it really doesn't remove any sort of benefit.

"So we reset the cookies in favor of who sent the lead first - just before the cart opened."
Well this then negates your earlier point about an affiliate having no incentive to mail again and "last minute bonuses"

"BTW: You CAN have total control over that - even with 1SC and Infusionsoft. In a recent six-figure internal launch in the real estate niche that I managed, we captured the affiliate code into the record for each lead."
Okay great tip, but that's a work-around. Meaning you had to re-mail the referring affiliate's link and rely on the fact that the lead clicks it.

The difference is between "am I feeding your sales funnel" or "am I selling your product".

If all I'm doing is sending leads your way so you can keep pushing teaser/pre-sell content to my lead then that lead should be locked-in. I sent you that lead. I gave you the ability to start quickly pre-selling them. I should receive the monetary compensation for that referral. Once my lead opted into your pre-launch funnel, I shouldn't have to keep mailing again and again.

Granted, the merchant wants that. No question it benefits the merchant. But it's inefficient for the affiliate.

There are stats un-talked about and realities many don't know of.

Cookie stuffing is all too common for example.

A 4th highest "lead referrer" who send 1300+ double opt-ins into a large 7-figure launch a few months ago made ZERO sales. 7-figure launch. 4th top lead referred earns $0 commissions?

Do the math on that one.

They were using "last cookie" and I know the team who was involved with the launch personally ... and they're aware cookie stuffing was going on left right and center.

It's also why I don't promote CB offers ever in the IM niche. At least 25% of referred sales are stolen commissions. Sure, it still works great for the merchant. In fact, talk to some merchants at a seminar with a few drinks in them and they'll tell you stories of which launch they've rotated-cookie drops in... meaning every 2nd visitor, they re-cookied as their own affiliate ID. This still showed that affiliates were making sales, but the merchant's own id was pulling out many of those sales.

With a locked-in lead system, (and I'm a cheerleader for Nanacast because I've spoken to Josh many times and I know their system does this in spades), the referred prospect that I freely sent a business ... which, we all can agree is the most expensive part of marketing/advertising... is now MY lead in THEIR funnel.

If/when a sale is generated, I should get the sale.

Merchants who ignore this fact will still have a lot of players promote for them (as some don't much care about the above)... but some merchants also turn a blind eye to shady practices.

A large launch that's cooking right now and will certainly be 8-figures uses locked-in leads. They're well aware of the above and know that locked-in leads really entices all of their top JVs to mail immediately, again and again and again to put as many of their own leads into the funnel as possible. This allows for maximum pre-selling and, therefore, maximum conversions when the cart opens.