Seeking Help Would love feedback on a new affiliate-friendly deal-sharing site

[soalerflare]

Hey everyone,
I’m developing a deal-sharing website where affiliate marketers can post deals using their own affiliate links, something most big sites (slickdeals) don’t allow.

The idea is simple:

• You post a deal
• Users upvote what’s best
• The top deals get visibility
• You keep 100% of your affiliate earnings

I’ve put together a basic landing page and a signup form. I can’t share the link here yet since I don't have the minimum number of posts, but I’d love to hear if anyone would be into something like this. If you’re curious or want to see it, I’d be happy to shoot you a dm.

I'd appreciate some feedback. Good idea, bad idea? Everything is welcome.

 

[azgold]

Hi, welcome to AffiliateFix!

I'm just curious as to how you plan to make money from your site, what's your business model?

 

[advanceseospecialists]

Hey everyone,
I’m developing a deal-sharing website where affiliate marketers can post deals using their own affiliate links, something most big sites (slickdeals) don’t allow.

The idea is simple:

• You post a deal
• Users upvote what’s best
• The top deals get visibility
• You keep 100% of your affiliate earnings

I’ve put together a basic landing page and a signup form. I can’t share the link here yet since I don't have the minimum number of posts, but I’d love to hear if anyone would be into something like this. If you’re curious or want to see it, I’d be happy to shoot you a dm.

I'd appreciate some feedback. Good idea, bad idea? Everything is welcome.

Hey, this actually sounds like a pretty cool concept—kind of like a community-powered affiliate hub.


Most deal forums do crack down on affiliate links, so the idea of a platform where users can share deals and earn from their own links is super appealing, especially for small to mid-tier affiliates who don’t get much exposure elsewhere.


Couple of thoughts and questions that might help refine the idea:

• How will you moderate quality? Some folks might spam poor deals just to push links. Maybe a user reputation system?
• Will there be categories (tech, beauty, home, etc.)? That could help surface better, niche-specific deals.
• How do you plan to attract traffic and build trust? Getting that initial user base will be key to avoid it looking empty at launch.

I’d definitely be down to check it out—feel free to DM the link when you can. Also, consider creating a "journey thread" here on BHW as you develop it. People love following projects and giving tips as they grow.


Overall: Smart concept. Curious to see how you roll it out.

 

[Graybeard]

WELCOME ABOARD ...

━━━●──────────────



I think the biggest problem is your voting system's reliability, it'll devolve into people just shilling their own offers. That's *if* the site gains real traction.

1. You might be reinventing the wheel.
2. Or cloning a model that's worked --for a few.

The voting system? It'll become a self-promotion contest fast. Expect vote rings, DM trades, and bots. If you do build momentum, moderating real engagement vs. gaming the system becomes either complex programming, automated AI insights or a full-time job.

That said --solve that problem, and you've got something.

But here's the rub: most serious affiliates *won't* post offers that are working for them. Why invite competition?

Then there's the second-tier override angle --users could submit offers that secretly kick them affiliate overrides when others run them. Now you've got a credibility problem. Not a bad grift, but definitely something to watch.

The voting idea? It's nice on paper --but paper doesn't always scale.

 

[T J Tutor]

Welcome to AffiliateFix!

We always love to critique sites for fellow affiliates and vendors. However, be careful how you go about it as we screen all vendors here to weed out those that may take advantage of the members.

I can’t share the link here yet since I don't have the minimum number of posts

Well, it goes beyond that. You need to be a registered vendor here to promote that site to our affiliates. You can see the Requirements & Instructions here.

As for your project, we all like it, but we all see the weakness immediately. You will need to find a way to fortify it. Much like we have our requirements for vendors when registering here, you will need something similar. Not the same as ours perhaps, but a similar vetting process and some policies that can be easily monitored. As has been stated by Graybeard, the unscrupulous will descend upon your site with the "seedy" techniques, methods, and strategies from the "dark side" of our industry. You should stay with this project as it has merit. However, all of us on the "white hat/gray hat" side of the industry have had to implement measures to prevent the "seedy" types of inequities from taking root in our endeavors.

What is your platform using for a base? A CMS of some type?

 

[soalerflare]

Hi, welcome to AffiliateFix!

I'm just curious as to how you plan to make money from your site, what's your business model?

Right now, I’m just focused on gauging interest and validating whether there's a real market for this kind of website.

In terms of long-term monetization, I’m thinking of a few possibilities like ads, sponsored deal placements, and maybe a tiered subscription for contributors who want extra features like more posts or analytics tools. The tier system would also help reduce spam and promote higher quality posts. I'm not planning to ever take out a fee from what people earn on affiliate links.

Definitely less monetization opportunity than traditional deal sites/forums for sure.

 

[soalerflare]

Hey, this actually sounds like a pretty cool concept—kind of like a community-powered affiliate hub.


Most deal forums do crack down on affiliate links, so the idea of a platform where users can share deals and earn from their own links is super appealing, especially for small to mid-tier affiliates who don’t get much exposure elsewhere.


Couple of thoughts and questions that might help refine the idea:

• How will you moderate quality? Some folks might spam poor deals just to push links. Maybe a user reputation system?
• Will there be categories (tech, beauty, home, etc.)? That could help surface better, niche-specific deals.
• How do you plan to attract traffic and build trust? Getting that initial user base will be key to avoid it looking empty at launch.

I’d definitely be down to check it out—feel free to DM the link when you can. Also, consider creating a "journey thread" here on BHW as you develop it. People love following projects and giving tips as they grow.


Overall: Smart concept. Curious to see how you roll it out.

I was planning on having a user reputation system and also the ability to report a post/account if they are just spamming low quality posts. Also I was going to limit the amount a user can post so I don't get overflowed by spam and low-quality posts. Categories is something that will be in the site, not sure if it'll be in the first version but, I would want to add it eventually.

Attracting traffic is definitely the biggest challenge for me, I don't think I'll have issues getting affiliates to post on site but, getting actual users onto site would be harder. I'm planning on running Facebook/Google, optimizing SEO and posting about the site in forums focused on deals. If you have any advice I'd love to hear it.

Having a journey thread does seem like a good idea, I might just have to do that. Thanks so much for the feedback! I'll shoot you the link!

 

[soalerflare]

WELCOME ABOARD ...

━━━●──────────────



I think the biggest problem is your voting system's reliability, it'll devolve into people just shilling their own offers. That's *if* the site gains real traction.

1. You might be reinventing the wheel.
2. Or cloning a model that's worked --for a few.

The voting system? It'll become a self-promotion contest fast. Expect vote rings, DM trades, and bots. If you do build momentum, moderating real engagement vs. gaming the system becomes either complex programming, automated AI insights or a full-time job.

That said --solve that problem, and you've got something.

But here's the rub: most serious affiliates *won't* post offers that are working for them. Why invite competition?

Then there's the second-tier override angle --users could submit offers that secretly kick them affiliate overrides when others run them. Now you've got a credibility problem. Not a bad grift, but definitely something to watch.

The voting idea? It's nice on paper --but paper doesn't always scale.

Really appreciate this breakdown, you’ve clearly super knowledgeable in this and I think don't blame you for being skeptical.

The voting system is definitely the trickiest part. I'm planning to treat it more like an MVP experiment than a fixed mechanic. If it starts getting abused or botted (which is totally possible), I’ll test out alternate approaches like manual moderation. I'm also going to be placing a limit on the amount of posts someone can make to prevent my site getting filled with spam.

You also make a solid point about serious affiliates holding back top offers. The big affiliates already have an audience and don't need a site like mine. I think this might end up being more useful for small/mid-tier affiliates who want exposure, or even for folks experimenting and testing new angles who don’t mind sharing.

That second-tier override risk is something I hadn’t fully thought through, so thank you for bringing that up I will definitely look into ways to protect users from that exploit.

At the end of the day, I’m still validating whether this even has a market, but feedback like this really helps shape what version 1 should (or shouldn't) be. So again, thanks.

 

[soalerflare]

Welcome to AffiliateFix!

We always love to critique sites for fellow affiliates and vendors. However, be careful how you go about it as we screen all vendors here to weed out those that may take advantage of the members.



Well, it goes beyond that. You need to be a registered vendor here to promote that site to our affiliates. You can see the Requirements & Instructions here.

As for your project, we all like it, but we all see the weakness immediately. You will need to find a way to fortify it. Much like we have our requirements for vendors when registering here, you will need something similar. Not the same as ours perhaps, but a similar vetting process and some policies that can be easily monitored. As has been stated by Graybeard, the unscrupulous will descend upon your site with the "seedy" techniques, methods, and strategies from the "dark side" of our industry. You should stay with this project as it has merit. However, all of us on the "white hat/gray hat" side of the industry have had to implement measures to prevent the "seedy" types of inequities from taking root in our endeavors.

What is your platform using for a base? A CMS of some type?

Apologies if I came off as just trying to promote my site but, I was mostly looking for feedback. I do agree I need to make it robust so users on the site don't get taken advantage of. In my other responses I mentioned what I planned to do to keep the posts high-quality and limit spam but, after reading some of the comments I realize that I should do more to protect against malicious actors on the site.

As for the platform, I'm not using a CMS. I work as a software engineer so I'm building it from the ground up. That gives me the flexibility to really tailor the logic, moderation, and safeguards to my needs.
Thanks, for the constructive feedback!

 

[azgold]

I need to make it robust so users on the site don't get taken advantage of.

That's the reason we only allow vetted and verified vendors to promote or recruit here. When approved, they are given vendor guidelines to adhere to. I'm not sure how you'd do that with random affiliates and it would require manual vetting but maybe there's some way you could do some kind of pre-checking.

I mentioned what I planned to do to keep the posts high-quality and limit spam but, after reading some of the comments I realize that I should do more to protect against malicious actors on the site.

You could run their email, IP and username through spam reporting databases, for starters. You can have those on your site, so they report to you automatically. Then you'd check them if you want. It's not 100% fool-proof but it saves a lot of spam complaints and deleting.

 

[Graybeard]

That's the reason we only allow vetted and verified vendors to promote or recruit here. When approved, they are given vendor guidelines to adhere to. I'm not sure how you'd do that with random affiliates and it would require manual vetting but maybe there's some way you could do some kind of pre-checking.


You could run their email, IP and username through spam reporting databases, for starters. You can have those on your site, so they report to you automatically. Then you'd check them if you want. It's not 100% fool-proof but it saves a lot of spam complaints and deleting.

https://claude.ai/share/a3e0628e-6670-4175-b4d7-befa35300cf6

I installed a automated lookup into a mailserver's initial authorization for the initial logging in of email received. You can incorporate this into your platform --the AI link says this can be done.

 

[T J Tutor]

I work as a software engineer so I'm building it from the ground up. That gives me the flexibility to really tailor the logic, moderation, and safeguards to my needs.

This is what a pro does! Congrats on taking the "high-road"!

Thanks, for the constructive feedback!

That's what everyone here wants to provide. You have a great concept and are taking the time to get it right. Asking for feedback, recommendations, etc. Some of the older "hard-asses" like me tend to be a bit more to the point, not harsh, because project leaders like you tend to want the facts without obstructions.

KEEP IT GOING!