Frequently Asked Questions

Member Questions | Merchant Questions

Member Questions:

What's so unique about BuyCasts?
BuyCasts is a new and innovative way to buy and save online. We are a social purchasing network that helps you deepen your social values by linking you to merchants who share your values or who are willing to help you advance your values.

Simply tell us a little about yourself and what products or services you'll soon be buying, and BuyCasts will take care of the rest. We'll direct you to merchants who will not only offer you special discounts and incentives for your patronage, but who will also share the social values and interests most important to you.
How much does it cost?
It's free!! BuyCasts cost you nothing while allowing you to save on purchases, advance your social values, and earn income for you and your family.

If you're seriously interested in earning additional income, BuyCasts also offers premium memberships that let you earn higher rates for your referral activities.
How does BuyCasts work?
BuyCasts has developed a unique technology called a Permissive Search Agent. It's a browser plug-in that you download to assist your normal search activities at any major search engine or shopping site. Your Permissive Search Agent will prompt you to qualify your purchasing intentions when you conduct a typical search. If the search isn't related to a purchase, then you would do nothing. The message prompt will simply fade away. However, if the search is related to an upcoming purchase, then tell us when you expect to be making the purchase, and BuyCasts will direct you to the merchants offering special discounts and promotions: we call this “BuyCasting”.
How does BuyCasts help advance my social values?
You can configure BuyCasts to always direct you to merchants who either best match your social values or who are willing to pay financial incentives that you can donate to your favorite charitable causes. BuyCasts converts 30% of all advertising fees, associated with your network activities into a monetary amount that you can contribute to the social cause most important to you.
Does BuyCasts pay me for searching the internet?
No. You can never personally benefit from your own search or click behavior. However, you can earn BuyPoints from merchants when you register purchases that you'll soon be making and interact with those merchants interested in your upcoming purchases. BuyPoints can be redeemed as a cash donation to your favorite social or charitable cause, but BuyPoints can never personally benefit you financially.

However, if you are interested in making money, you can refer new members and merchants into the BuyCasts network. You'll earn residual income on their network activities.
What type of charitable causes can I support?
BuyCasts has more than 130,000 non-profits in its database and is adding more each day. You can choose from charities, faith-based organizations, political action groups, advocacy groups, universities, colleges, high schools, sororities, and fraternities. If you don't find your favorite charitable organization in our database, you can have them registered by clicking here.
Are you going to ask me a bunch of personal questions?
No. When you register, we ask typical profile questions such as name, mailing address, email, and phone number. Optional questions about what you do for a living and what you like to do for fun are asked, but nothing too personal. You will then build your “BuyPact” by explaining what's really important to you and letting us build your social map.

You won't need to answer personal questions in order to build a BuyPact. You tell us about your social values simply by linking yourself to charitable and non-profit organizations that reflect your values. We then use these organizational links to match you to merchants who have linked themselves to the same or similar charitable organizations.
Are you going to give my information to merchants?
No. Any information given to a merchant is provided only by you. You can earn additional BuyPoints by allowing merchants to contact you or by answering a merchant's qualifying questions. However, you are in total control as to when or if any information is shared with a merchant.
How can I earn money with BuyCasts?
BuyCasts members can earn residual income simply by referring new members and merchants to the network. You can monetize your social and local footprint by telling your friends, associates, and local merchants about BuyCasts. Each month you can earn up to 40% of the advertising fees associated with the members and merchants that you have referred to the network.
Is BuyCasts a multi-level marketing network?
Absolutely not, you can only earn Referral Points on members and merchants you directly refer to the network.
How will you pay me?
Advertising fees associated with the members and merchants you refer to the network are converted into Referral Points. You may redeem these Referral Points as cash contributions into any personal savings, IRA, Health Savings, or 529 Plan (child's education) account.
How much money can I make?
It's all up to you. How many members or merchants do you think you can refer to the BuyCast system? Use our referral calculator to estimate your earnings. BuyCasts pays residual earning on all referrals and places no limit on how much you can earn.
How do you manage fraud?
First we ensure no one can personally benefit from his/her individual activities within the network. While interactions with merchants are rewarded BuyPoints, these points can only be redeemed as contributions to a charitable organization. However, because members can benefit personally from their referrals, we have developed patented processes and technologies that can detect suspected fraudulent interactions based on a member's history and patterns within the network - much like a credit card company. More importantly, we are able to suppress or suspend the frequency and number of ad impressions when we suspect fraudulent behaviors. Fraud determinations are the sole discretion of BuyCasts, LLC.
Is my Permissive Search Agent always monitoring my search activities?
It's up to you. You can turn off the search-monitoring feature by logging out of the system at anytime and then simply log back in when you want to search for purchases you'll be making soon.

Or, you can always leave it on. Remember, BuyCasts never uses or shares your information unless it benefits you and only once you have authorized it.. You're in total control.

Merchant Questions:

How is BuyCasts different from other pay-per-click networks?
Traditional PPC marketing generates unqualified traffic (click-thrus) and is inefficient because it leads to poor conversion rates. However, BuyCasts is a social purchasing network that operates on a Pay-Per-Buyer model, and it is designed to generate a consistent flow of qualified buyers into your store and/or website.
What does Pay-Per-Buyer mean?
Pay-Per-Buyer means exactly what it says. You only pay for interactions with qualified buyers. Traditional PPC marketing makes you pay for “click-thrus” that are not verified as a purchasing intention. However, BuyCasts verifies the purchasing intentions of all traffic before it ever comes to your site. We can even provide you with the buyer's purchasing timeframe. You can either pay one price to see the timeline of buyers planning on making a purchase within the next 90 days or pay a different price for the timeline of those buyers with a longer expected purchasing timeframe.

Wait, there's more! You can configure BuyCasts to ask the buyers visiting your site for the authorization to contact them directly as well as further qualify them with a short list of questions. You can also offer special discounts and promotions to the buyer whose profiles you most desire.
How do you do this?
At the heart of the BuyCasts concept is an extremely valuable closed-loop purchasing network that enables consumers and businesses to not only target each other based on their respective economic interests but also on the social values and interests that they share. To make this happen, participating consumers download and personalize a patented technology called “Permissive Search Agent” that prompts the consumer to register their purchasing intention whenever they conduct a keyword search at any major search engine or shopping site. We call this “BuyCasting”.
How do you get consumers to join and participate in the network?
Members are motivated to join and participate in the network because BuyCasts enables them to save on purchases, deepen their values, and even earn income for their personal savings accounts.
Are you paying consumers for their individual “click” behavior?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Participating consumers can never financially benefit from their individual activities within the network.

Consumers earn BuyPoints for registering their purchasing intentions and interacting with merchants, however, BuyPoints can only be redeemed as charitable donations to non-profit organizations. These donations are chosen by the consumer and fulfilled by BuyCasts.

However, consumers may also earn Referral Points for referring new members and merchants to the network. Referral Points can be redeemed for cash contributions to a personal savings account such as an IRA, Health Savings Account, or Child's 529 Plan.
Is BuyCasts a multi-level marketing network?
Absolutely not. Members can only make Referral Points on the members and merchants that they directly refer to the network. We do not pay any referral fees across multiple-levels.
How do you deal with fraud?
BuyCasts is uniquely positioned to manage fraudulent activities in a way that traditional search marketing providers can't. To save money on purchases, find other merchants with shared values, collect BuyPoints, or earn Referral Points, consumers must be logged into the BuyCasts system. This makes the job of managing "click fraud" much easier because we always know from where and from whom any activity originates. Thus, BuyCasts has developed and patented a fraud detection system that leverages the patterns and histories of participating consumers to detect “suspect” activities - much like a credit card company. Perhaps, and more importantly, we are able to suppress or suspend the frequency and number of ad impressions when we do suspect fraudulent behaviors.

Additionally, we discourage fraudulent behavior by ensuring that consumers never financially benefit from their individual activities.
How do you match consumers to merchants based on social values?
This is an optional feature. When consumers and merchants register in the BuyCasts system, they are given the option to build their social values map simply by linking themselves to charitable organizations that reflect their values. BuyCasts deploys a search algorithm that is personalized by the consumer to rank and display ad results based on the merchants that best match the consumer's social values map – what we call a “BuyPact”. Merchants who choose to link themselves to social values are able to achieve higher rankings without having to bid higher prices for buyer interactions. This is an extremely powerful feature for small businesses and local advertisers.
How do you overcome privacy concerns?
Unlike most search engines, we don't abuse the trust of our users. BuyCasts is built on the principles of “permissive marketing.” We never do anything without obtaining permission from the consumer first. BuyCasts is specifically designed to protect the privacy of consumers. Members have total control of when and how their purchasing intentions are shared in the system.
What are the payment options for my campaigns?
Payments are made through a credit card. When you register, you'll need to fund your account with an initial balance ($50.00 minimum). Pay-Per-Buyer fees will be withdrawn from your account based on the buyer traffic and activities generated by your ads and campaigns. You may manually replenish you account balance at anytime or auto-replenish your account when it depletes below preset level.
How can I target my audience with BuyCasts?
BuyCasts is a closed-loop purchasing network, and consumers must join the network to benefit from its advantages. Member profiles and social maps are collected during the registration process, which enables BuyCasts to offer its merchants exciting new targeting capabilities. BuyCast merchants can build and target ads based on parameters including demographics, lifestyles, geographies, household information, and social values.
What types of additional consumer information can I capture?
BuyCasts allows you to configure the system to offer buyers additional BuyPoints in exchange for permission to contact them as well as to answer questions through a qualifying survey. When you build ads in BuyCasts, you are given the option of turning on the “Contact Permission” feature and adding qualifying questions to your campaign. BuyCasts takes it from there. We will present your “contact request” and “qualifying survey” to buyers who visit your Web site. BuyCasts will capture the consumer's permissions and answers to your questions and immediately provide them to you in the merchant portal.
Do I need to create my own form and landing page to capture additional information?
No. BuyCasts does all the work for you. All you need to do is create your ad campaign. When buyers give you permission to contact them or answer your questions, BuyCasts will automatically populate your account with this information. There is no need to spend your advertising budget on a creative team to do the work that BuyCasts can do for you!
Does BuyCasts use spyware or adware?
No, there is no need. BuyCasts is completely permission- based. Consumers are in control of their information at all times. Consumers decide on a search-by-search basis who they share their information with.