Clickbank is probably one of the most popular affiliate program marketplaces on the web when it comes to digital products. It can also be one of the most frustrating. Have you read the Customer Distribution Requirement they have? If you haven’t read this little notation in the FAQ, and you’re coming up on your first payment you might want to double check the fine print, because it might just be a little while longer before you get that first payment you’ve been longing for.

ClickBank accounts cannot be used for the sole purpose of collecting rebates or otherwise extending credit to yourself or others. In compliance with US law, ClickBank will withhold payment of any account balance until it contains standing sales made with 5 or more different credit card numbers, including at least one Visa card, and one MasterCard. PayPal purchases do not count toward the minimum.

The bold is mine for emphasis…. Paypal payments to not count!?! Yipes. I don’t know about you, but when I’m shopping for digital products I generally pay from PayPal balance. In fact, I leave a good chunk of money in my PayPal account every single month just for that reason! I use it to buy stock images, pay for PLR memberships, pick up the latest and greatest internet marketing goodies, and, and, and.

I’m bringing this up because I know quite a few people that have been waiting months to reach that Customer Distribution Requirement (CDR) to receive their first Clickbank check by mail. It’s a bit tricky since it’s so specific.

For example, what if you’ve had $900 worth of commissions earned in your first month, but all the customers paid either with PayPal or Visa. No one used a Mastercard, therefore your balance would still be held until someone came along and purchased with a Mastercard.

At first my scenario may sound unlikely, but take a moment to think about. Let’s say you’re promoting a product that gives you a $45 commission on each sale. You only need 20 sales of that product to make $900. That’s not so bad right?

You could have a large list to work with already, but this might be the first time you promoted a product that went through Clickbank for the payment and delivery method. I’m sure the waiting is very frustrating, and I can only imagine how many emails Clickbank gets from people that are waiting for their commission checks wondering why they haven’t been sent yet.

So, what are your thoughts on the Clickbank CDR? Are you one of the waiting folks, or did you not even know this little tidbit of policy existed?

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