Online retailers wrestle with the issue of how much to pay affiliates—and for how long. With the idea that they don’t want to keep paying the affiliate to acquire the same customer, many have set cookies that credit the affiliate only if the customers they deliver to the marketer`s site make a purchase within 48 hours of initial click-through, or in some cases, a week. That’s short-sighted thinking, contends BackCountry.com vice president of business development John Bresee, who will speak at a session on affiliate marketing at next week`s eTail 2005.

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