Over the last couple of months, I have been trying to eliminate the affiliate ads on my site that didn’t generate any money and clutter up my page. However, there were some sites that I felt strongly enough to apply as a direct affiliate rather than through sites like Shareasale or FlexOffers. Therefore, I was delighted when one such company sent me an email asking if I would be interested in one of their products in exchange for a blog review.
I accepted and received additional instructions. Instead of buying the product directly from the company’s site, I should purchase it through Amazon Mexico in order to leave a product review there as well.
I wasn’t able to find the product listed on Amazon Mexico, so the company representative sent me a direct link. I ordered the product and sent the receipt for reimbursement. While I waited for that, the product itself arrived and I tried it out and wrote up my post. Then the company representative wrote to tell me that supplier that sent the product was not authorized by the company and that I should send the product back and get a refund from Amazon Mexico.
I was a little peeved at this. I had already used the product. While Amazon has customarily been good about refunds, the supplier that sent the product stipulated on their terms and conditions that the product must be returned in the same condition it was sent in order to receive a refund. Furthermore, Amazon Mexico said that the supplier had done nothing wrong by stealing the manufacturing company’s ads and photos and reselling the product on the Amazon Mexico site at double the original price. Doing a little investigating on my own, it appears this supplier orders things on the US side of the border, transports them south of the border and then ships the items throughout Mexico both on Amazon Mexico and Ebay Mexico. While this is something I would expect on eBay, I had previously believed (naively) that Amazon had more legit selling conditions.
Since the company representative had sent me the link himself, he agreed to the original terms of our agreement and reimbursed me the full purchase price of the product in exchange for the product review on my site and on the company site. Fortunately, I loved the product and was able to give an honest, positive review despite the hassle with Amazon Mexico.
I decided that reviewing products would not be my new side-gig after all. I also am more diligent about checking the suppliers on the Amazon Mexico site. I now only order items that are delivered directly from the Amazon warehouse in Mexico City. That way refunds are no problem with the guarantee that Amazon provides. It limits the already limited products available on the Amazon Mexico site, but I’m ok with that. It curbs my internet shopping spending somewhat.
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Surviving Mexico 