Dealer Dan, pictured here with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, has been in internet marketing since 1996. He likes hugs, long walks on the beach, and making money while wearing his jammy jams. For more information, you can read all 
While it’s not so common among affiliate programs these days, there are still a few affiliate programs that offer No Negative Carryover which means at least once per week I’m getting an e-mail asking what exactly negative carryover is.
I’ve written that article to both explain what negative carryover is, and answer any of the follow-up questions I usually get about it.
So let’s get to it:
What Is Negative Carryover?
For 99.9% of affiliate programs they pay you on a monthly basis. So at the end of the month they’ll issue you a payment, and reset your balance to $0 for the new month.
However what if your account is in the negative? Maybe you had a casino player who had a big win at the Australian pokies and suddenly your account is sitting there at -$1500.
When an affiliate program does negative carryover – which most do – that negative will simply carry over into the next month.
So if your account is +$2000 in January, you’ll start in February with $0. If your account is then -$1500 by the end of February you’ll start March at -$1500.
This will not impact previous earnings(except in extremely rare cases) however the negative balance will carry over until you’ve earned enough to go back into the black again.
What Is No Negative Carryover?
No negative carryover is when the negative balance does NOT carry over into the next month.
So for example, you make $2000 in January. You start February with $0. By the end of February, you’re at -$1500. In this case you’ll actually start March with $0 – the affiliate program does not carry over the negative balance.
Should This Impact What Programs I Promote?
It’s a tough one.
Personally I feel like “no negative carryover” is something that’s pretty much too good to be true in a world as volatile as casino and sports betting.
Here’s an example.
– Your balance is at $0 on July 30th.
– On July 31st a player deposits $1,000, wins big, putting your account at -$10,000.
– August 1st your balance is reset to 0.
– As is common for winning players – they lose it all back. Suddenly your account is at +$10,300.
Now in this case – all good in the hood right? Well, not really. The player lost $1,000 total with $300 going to you, $700 to the casino or sportsbook. Yet you’re owed $10,300. Is the casino or sportsbook really going to fork that sort of thing out? And if they were it’d be easy to game the system.
Now that’s an extremely rare case – however if you see an affiliate program offering “no negative carryover” do your due diligence in regard to researching them. Like most things in this world – if it seems too good to be true then it usually is. In cases like the above some programs will protect themselves with policies in regard to that.
That’s not to say I won’t work with affiliate programs who have the “no negative carryover” rule. I work with many(and it’s great!). I’ll just research them stronger than usual first and I won’t promote them if the only thing they have going for them is “no negative carryover”.
The only time that changes is if an affiliate program offers up “no negative carryover” and the reason is when it’s a promotional method for them. For example some affiliate programs will offer no negative carryover for the first 3 months, or no negative carryover when they launch a new brand.
In these scenarios there’s a good reason for it – they’re wanting affiliates to promote them. They’re willing to risk a loss in the hope that it gets affiliates to stick with them and it gets their new brand off to a good start.
What If My Negative Balance Is Huge?
If your negative balance is huge or is going on for a couple of months due to the affiliate program having the negative carryover rules, there’s a few things you can do.
I’ve experienced this quite often over the years and have had balances in the red for as high as $100,000. I know how it feels and what the options are.
1: Work with the Affiliate Program.
Now you could always just e-mail the affiliate program and say “Hey can you wipe out my negative carryover?” but I prefer a more business like approach.
What you’re essentially asking your affiliate manager to do is to write off a debt that you’ve created. You really should give them a little something to work with.
I personally usually wait 2 months to see if the negative balance goes away. If it doesn’t, then I contact the program. I tell them that I want the negative balance gone, and in return I’ll push them in top spots for a few months. I highlight where I’ll promote them, and try and work out an exclusive promotion with them to send to mailing lists. Basically make it almost like an advertising deal you’re working out with them – except instead of them paying you directly, they’re paying off the negative.
Another thing the affiliate program can do is “isolate” the winning player. This means that the negative balance is removed from your account however you won’t receive anything off that player until THEY have balanced it out.
2: Stop Promoting Them.
I usually always try #1 first and then if the affiliate program doesn’t budge, I tell them I’m not going to be promoting them any longer until the negative balance is wiped out – be it from their own means, or from my existing playerbase.
I mean what’s the point of promoting a brand just to pay off a “debt” when you could be promoting an alternative brand and actually making money? The power is in your hands.
In some cases the program will change their minds. In other cases they won’t. I’ll move on, and then in a few months I’ll contact them again if they haven’t contacted me or the balance is still there, and try and get them to remove the balance again.
3: Ride it Out.
You could always just suck it up and ride it out until your players have earned enough that there isn’t a negative balance on your account anymore.
I’ll do this if the brand is a solid one – one I’ve worked with for awhile, I can trust, and I know have strong player retention and conversion. If I can be confident that the negative balance will be wiped out if I just keep sending them players.
4: Open A New Account.
If you have a negative balance and can’t get rid of it via the above means, you could always just open up a new affiliate account.
Now this may seem a bit shady – however it’s something that some affiliate programs have recommended I do. Actually there’s one affiliate program – who have primarily Israeli affiliate managers of course – where I have 5 different affiliate accounts there. Mainly because they have a high turnaround in the affiliate manager department and are commission based. So they’d much rather me open a new account and have them earning money under them.
In some cases you may need a whole new identity to open up a new account and if it’s against the terms and conditions of the program are risking losing funding from the new account – so just be careful.
Will I Owe The Affiliate Program Money?
No. At no point will you ever actually have to pay the affiliate program money – and if an affiliate program EVER said to you that you do, contact me so I can slap the everloving shit out of them.
You will NEVER have to pay the affiliate program money for incurring a negative balance. So don’t worry about that. Your account will just remain negative forever basically.
What Programs Offer “No Negative Carryover”?
There are very few however here’s a breakdown by the product:
This article was written on July 12, 2017 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.
If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.
