So I’m falling out of love with them a bit (more on that below) and have been looking for other reasonably priced sources for coffee k-cups and organic baby shampoo – suggestions welcome. I’ve also decided to end this campaign today on a triumphant note:

Together, we raised $1,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Because you all are awesome. Thank you for making this campaign such a success. I’m so sorry that so many of us know way too much about cancer. And I look forward to the day when it is just a bad memory.

All of the Amazon links have now been removed from the site (let me know if you see any I missed), and I’ve closed my affiliate account. They’re supposed to send me the remaining $2 at the end of October, and I’ll pay it out as promised. I’ll also be looking for another way to punch cancer about the face and head in the future.

I reviewed your Associates Account and found that several orders in your account’s Orders Report was flagged as ineligible for advertising fees. This could be because that these orders were placed by you, or on your behalf. This can also happen if we have determined that the orders resulted from you requesting or encouraging your friends, relatives, or other people you know to purchase products through your Special Links….

…Our goal is to have our associates refer new customers to us in return for advertising fees. Associates are not eligible for advertising fees when they place orders themselves, or ask people they know to routinely place orders through their links so they can earn advertising fees.

Well, yeah. My own orders have never counted, and I thought that was reasonable. But the rest of you guys? Should count. I post links and invite people to shop through my site. Then Amazon sends me money. That’s the deal. I don’t care about their goals. If they choose to make this program available, they should just make it available and not look for ways to weasel out of their end.

Maybe it’s pre-post-Olympic letdown, but I’m feeling a little petulant and “Scorched Earth” about it today. This will probably pass. Once Amazon feels the staggering loss of slightly fewer orders from me, I anticipate they will find a way to scrape the still-smoking remnants of their business back together and carry on.

Here’s the receipt for the final donation I made this morning that pushed us over the top. Just to complete the record.