An affiliate programme pays a partner commission when a buyer arrives through their link. The link is the easy part. The important work is in the rules: how long a click remains valid, which purchase counts, when commission becomes final and what happens after a refund.

Write the rules before the first invitation

Decide at least:

  • which offers participate
  • default commission and exceptions
  • cookie period
  • when a purchase is approved
  • what happens after refund or chargeback
  • minimum payout balance
  • payout day and method
  • prohibited promotion methods

Put these rules on a page the affiliate can read. A verbal “we pay 20 percent” is not enough after a campaign produces fifty purchases and three refunds.

Attribution needs to be understandable

A common model is the last valid affiliate click before purchase. Another partner may have introduced the buyer earlier, but the programme still needs a rule it can apply consistently.

Choose a cookie period that fits the buying journey. A low-cost download may be purchased the same day. A coaching programme may take weeks of consideration. Longer is not automatically fairer; it simply assigns more future purchases to the original click.

Commission by offer

A default percentage keeps the programme easy to understand. Exceptions can be reasonable when product margins differ significantly.

Document them at offer level. Avoid special rules that exist only in an email or someone’s memory.

Wait until the purchase is secure

Calculate commission at purchase but keep it pending until the relevant refund period has passed or the order is otherwise final. A refund should reduce the corresponding commission.

A clear affiliate account shows:

  • clicks
  • converted purchases
  • pending commission
  • approved commission
  • paid amount
  • outstanding balance

Payout and records

The actual payment to the partner usually happens outside the platform. Record date, amount, method and reference, and connect the payout to the commission it covers. Never pay more than the approved balance because a form happened to be submitted twice.

Tax and accounting treatment depends on the parties’ countries and business forms. Decide what evidence your accounting needs before making the first payout.

Idun Blue has no affiliate programme. The feature has been retired, so Idun does not keep partner accounts, commission or payouts. If you work with partners, a dedicated affiliate tool can hold the rules above. Links with UTM tags still show up by source in Idun’s Revenue sources report under Statistics, which helps you see where buyers came from, but it is not a basis for paying commission.