There are several popular titles, and I'm talking about all sorts of titles, that are used by millions of persons, around the Globe. A few months ago, anti-spy utilities were very popular. Everywhere you looked, there was a banner for an anti-spy tool. Then, everybody's computers began to run slower, because suddenly, everybody wanted to optimize Windows registries and file system. SpeedUpMyPC and Registry Mechanic are only two of the available titles that can do this kind of jobs.

Today, we are bombarded with DVD ripping technologies. Products like DVDSanta, DVD Ripper or Xilisoft DVD Ripper are all over the net. I am pretty sure they are very good, because millions bought them.

There are several ways you can buy software:

- Click on the "order now" or "buy now" buttons within the applications.
- Follow the links from the help files.
- Search for the order pages on the product website.
- Take one of the discount offers from a software archive.

Most of the vendors encourage software archives. As you know, a software archive is a collection of freeware and shareware, games and utilities and many other categories. If one program has a free-to-try version or a demo, you can download it from there. You can also buy it directly from the archive.

Not many software archives offer discounts, because they reduce the revenue per unit sold. The affiliate (software archive) has a 10- 40% commission on every sale. If he reduces the price with 5 % on his website, then his profit is 5 - 35%. Then he has to rely on quantity to raise profit, because his profit per unit is decreased. The most common situation is the "fifty-fifty deal": the affiliate site offers a discount equal to half the commission. So, if the commission is 40%, the software archive keeps 20%, and the buyer keeps 20%.

Actually, this is a win-win-win situation. The buyer is happy because he saves 20% of the product price. The vendor is happy because every sold unit means more money to him, and more possibilities to improve his business. And, of course, the affiliate is satisfied because he has some profit, and a happy customer is a returning customer that might buy something else.

You just have to be careful when buying software online. Don't purchase from strange looking sites. Don't follow "amazing deals" that offer over 50% discount. I am not familiar with any vendor that would give away more than 50% of the price to a reseller, and you have to keep in mind that the affiliate has to earn something too, or the commission would have to be even higher!