4checks Affiliate Program Terms & Conditions
This page describes the terms and conditions which govern your participation in 4checks.com's Affiliate Program.
“Affiliate”, “You” and “Your” refer to you the applicant. “We”, “Our” and “Us” refer to 4checks.com. “Affiliate Web Site” refers to the web site from which you link to our web site.
Referral Web Site:
Affiliates may provide a link from an Affiliate web site to our web site and earn referral fees. Affiliates may remove said link from an Affiliate web site and re-link to our web site at any time without prior approval. Affiliates may not display our name or link in any way that may defame us or mislead the customer.
Affiliates may not link to our web site from an Affiliate web site which engages in or promotes SPAM, pornographic material, violence, discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age.
Promoting our services via unsolicited e-mail is strictly prohibited, and the Affiliate must agree to not reference us in any way, shape or form, in any e-mail that the Affiliate sends in which the recipient has not specifically asked to receive it. Affiliates in violation of this policy will forfeit their commissions and be removed from the 4checks Affiliate Program. The Affiliate must ensure that materials posted on your site do not violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party and are not libelous or otherwise illegal.
If the Affiliate specifies a price point for our products on its website, it shall ensure that it is updated regularly to reflect all price changes.
We shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the Affiliate web site at any time and from time to time determine if it is in compliance with the terms and conditions of this agreement.
The Affiliate shall indemnify and hold us harmless to all claims, damages and expenses relating to the development, operation, maintenance and contents of the Affiliate site.
Paid Search Advertising
4checks.com does not allow direct to merchant trademark bidding by Affiliates engaging in paid search advertising in any PPC engine, including but not limited to Google, Yahoo and MSN, for the 4checks brand term or for any brands featured on 4checks, which include:
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Unless there is a signed agreement between merchant and Affiliate, you are not to use any of the above brand names in the title, advertising copy and description or display URL of a paid search advertisement or ad copy.
Affiliates that do bid on the above terms must send all of the traffic first to their own site. The customer can then click through from the Affiliate site to the products on 4checks.com. Affiliates found in violation of this policy are subject to punitive actions by us, without notice, including but not limited to: suspension of Affiliate account; termination of Affiliate account; withholding of payments to Affiliate; and public notification of Affiliate' suspected malfeasance.
Spyware:
Any Affiliate suspected of a relationship with any provider of spyware is subject to punitive actions by us without notice including but not limited to: suspension of Affiliate account; termination of Affiliate account; withholding of payments to Affiliate; and public notification of Affiliate' suspected malfeasance.
Qualifying Services:
All products sold by us to customers originating from the Affiliate’s web site or Referral URL, qualify to earn the Affiliate referral fees. The Affiliate will not receive referral fees if the Affiliate places an order on behalf of a customer. In order to receive referral fees, the customer must place the order him/herself.
Prices:
Prices of our products may be changed at any time, solely at our discretion, by posting the revised prices on our web site. The Affiliate acknowledges that changes in the prices of our products will change the referral fees earned by the Affiliate (price changes however, will not change the commission rate).
Payment:
Affiliates will be issued with one commission payment check for each month that they are due payment. We will mail payment in US dollars on or before the last day of each calendar month for the previous month’s referral fees, as long as the amount due to the Affiliate is more than or equal to US $25. If the amount due to an Affiliate is less than US $25, the amount will be carried forward to the next month. If this commission check is not cashed or claimed, within 90 days of being issued, the check is deemed void and no replacement check will be provided. Affiliates who do not claim their commission check, as outlined above, will have in effect agreed to forfeit their commission for that month.
Overpayments may be deducted from future payments or shall be reimbursed by the Affiliate. An online statement of customer purchase activity is available to the Affiliate at all times.
Returns and Cancellations:
If purchased products are cancelled by the Affiliate’s customer, or if we have to issue a refund to the Affiliate’s customer for any reason, the corresponding commission fee(s) will be deducted from the Affiliate’s current or next monthly commission fee payment. If the aforementioned fee(s) is more than the amount due to the Affiliate, the Affiliate will be billed for the balance amount.
Tax Reporting:
The Affiliate shall be responsible for all taxes and other similar levies applicable to the referral fees pursuant to any law or regulation. The Affiliate shall refer the referral fees to its taxation authorities as required by law. A completed W-9 form must be received before your first commission check can be processed and mailed to you.
Our Policy:
Every customer who purchases a Qualifying Product is deemed to be our customer. We will be in direct contact with the customer for the purpose of fulfilling the customer’s order. The Affiliate shall refer all questions, requests and queries regarding our services to us. The Affiliate does not have the authority to make or accept any offer on our behalf.
You and 4checks are independent contractors and nothing in this agreement will create any partnership, joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative, or employment relationship between the parties. You will have no authority to make or accept any offers or representations on our behalf. You will not make any statement, whether on your site or otherwise, that reasonably would contradict anything in these terms and conditions.
Promotion of 4checks Affiliate Program:
We will make available to you a variety of graphic and textual links, which you may display as often and in as many areas on your site as you wish (subject to the terms and conditions herein). You agree to display on your site, only graphical links that have been provided by us. All banners must feature the 4checks brand name.
The Affiliate shall not author or issue any announcements or press releases to the media without sending a copy to customerservice@4checks.com for review. You may only use such material if and when you receive our written consent.
You hereby agree that your site will not contain any content of our site or any materials that are proprietary to 4checks.com, except with our prior permission or materials which are obtained by you via the 4checks Affiliate site in accordance with the provisions hereof or the policies or instructions thereon.
You agree that your domain name will not contain any of the following words: “4checks”, “ARTISTIC CHECKS”, “CHECK GALLERY”, “CHECK CRAFTERS”, “CLASSIC CHECKS”, “IDENTITY CHECKS ”, “IMAGE CHECKS”, “LIFE CHECKS”, “MESSAGE PRODUCTS”, “STYLES CHECKS” “IMAGE BY STYLES” and “UNIQUE CHECKS ”.
Prohibition against solicitation activities by New York State resident Affiliates: As a condition of participation in the 4checks.com Affiliate Program, Affiliate agrees that its solicitation activities on behalf of 4checks.com and its associated brands, which include The Check Gallery, Artistic Checks, Message!Products, Identity Check Printers, LifeChecks, The Styles Check Company, Unique Products, Image Checks, Classic Checks, Check Crafters, Image by Styles, Custom Direct, GigglePrint and EZShield, within the State of New York shall be limited to providing a link on Affiliate’s website to ours. Affiliate acknowledges that under current New York State law, further solicitation and promotional activities by Affiliate within New York State may subject 4checks.com and its associated companies to liability for collecting New York State sales tax on all sales to New York customers. Therefore, as a condition of participation in the 4checks.com Affiliate Program, Affiliate is prohibited from engaging in any other solicitation activities within New York State intended to refer potential customers to our websites, including, but not limited to: distributing flyers, coupons, newsletters and other printed materials, or electronic equivalents of such materials; engaging in verbal solicitation, including in-person referrals or initiating telephone calls; any direct-to-merchant, pay-per-click activity; and sending emails intended to refer customers to 4checks and its associated brands, listed above.
The following pertains only if the Affiliate is an organization, club, or non-profit group; any such Affiliate shall maintain prominently on its website information alerting the organization’s members to the prohibition against solicitation activities in New York State as described above.
4checks.com will require signed affidavits from New York State resident Affiliate Partners before promotion of 4checks products can commence. Please contact customerservice@4checks.com to request appropriate paperwork and instructions.
In addition to refraining from solicitation activities within New York State, the Affiliate shall submit to 4checks.com, on an annual basis, on or before May 31, a signed certification confirming that the Affiliate has not engaged in any of the solicitation or promotional activities described above at any time during the previous year. The certification shall include the name and address of the Affiliate.
If the Affiliate is an organization, club, or non-profit group, the certification shall also contain a statement certifying that the Affiliate has placed information on its website alerting its members to the prohibition against engaging in solicitation activities within New York State. For these Affiliates, annual certifications shall be signed by a person with the authority to enter binding contracts on behalf of the organization and shall include the name and address of the person signing the certification.
Licenses and Use of Logos and Trademarks:
4checks grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to access Our sites through the links solely in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, and solely in connection with such links, to use the trademark and logo and similar identifying material relating to 4checks and its associated brands (collectively, the "Licensed Materials"), for the sole purpose of promoting 4checks products on your site. You may not copy, except as expressly set forth in these Terms and Conditions, distribute, alter, modify, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from the Licensed Materials. 4checks may revoke your license at any time by giving you notice. Any goodwill arising out of your use of the Licensed Materials shall inure to the benefit of 4checks only.
You shall not make any specific use of any Licensed Materials for purposes other than promoting 4checks' products on your site. You agree not to use the Licensed Materials in a manner that is misleading or deceptive or disparages 4checks and its associated brands, the 4checks Affiliate Program or 4checks’ products or services or that otherwise portrays 4checks, in its sole discretion, in a negative light. 4checks reserves all rights in the Licensed Materials. At no time during the Term or thereafter will you challenge, or assist others in challenging, the validity of the 4checks Licensed Materials or the registration thereof or attempt to register any confusingly similar trademarks, service marks, logos, trade names or domain names. Except for the limited license set forth above of this section, no license or other rights to the Licensed Materials will be deemed granted to you hereunder or in connection with the 4checks Affiliate Program, by implication, estoppels or otherwise.
You grant to 4checks and its associated brands a non-exclusive license to use your names, titles, logos, and trademarks, to advertise, market, promote, and publicize in any manner your participation in the 4checks Affiliate Program and/or to further 4checks' rights hereunder. Notwithstanding, 4checks is not obligated to advertise, market, promote or publicize your participation in our Affiliate Program, the existence, or any other aspect of the Affiliate Program.
The licenses granted hereunder shall run concurrently with the term of these Terms and Conditions.
Service Interruption and Tracking:
We will make every effort to ensure that our web site is operational and to track the Affiliate’s referred customers. However, certain unavoidable technical difficulties may occasionally cause temporary service and tracking interruptions. The Affiliate agrees that we are not liable in any way for such interruptions.
References/Testimonials:
The Affiliate agrees to cooperate with us in the development of testimonies and other such marketing material. The Affiliate grants us unlimited rights to reference the Affiliate in any and all marketing materials, without further compensation.
Modification:
We may modify any of the terms and conditions contained in this Affiliate Agreement at any time at our sole discretion. You will be notified by e-mail and a change notice will be posted on our Affiliate site. Modifications may include, but are not limited to, changes in the scope of available commissions, commission schedules, payment procedures and Affiliate Program rules. If any modification is unacceptable to you, your only recourse is to terminate this agreement. Your continued participation in the 4checks Affiliate Program following our posting of a change notice or new agreement on our site will constitute a binding acceptance of the change.
Term and Termination:
We have the right to terminate the Agreement at any time, either due to breach of its terms or otherwise, by notifying the Affiliate through e-mail. The Affiliate may terminate the Agreement at any time by notifying us through e-mail. If the Agreement has not been terminated due to breach of its terms, the final referral fee payment to the Affiliate will be made to the Affiliate within a reasonable period of time. If the Agreement has been terminated because of breach of terms by the Affiliate, the Affiliate will automatically forfeit any referral fees then receivable or receivable in the future.
