Affiliate Commission Guide

Set up your affiliate commission structure to reward your partners and drive growth. This guide covers everything from basic rates to advanced performance-based rules.

Setting Up Commission Rates

Global Default Rate

You need a company-wide default commission rate. This is your base rate that all new affiliates will receive if no specific rule is applied to that affiliate:

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Find the Default Affiliate Commission Percentage field
  3. Enter your base rate (e.g., 2% for 2 percent)

This is your foundation rate - all affiliates start here unless you give them a custom rate.

Individual Affiliate Rates

Want to reward top performers or adjust for specific partners? Set custom rates:

  1. Go to Affiliates
  2. Select an affiliate
  3. Press the "View Affiliate Settings" button
  4. Set their custom percentage in the Affiliate Commission Percentage field

Custom rates override the global default, giving you flexibility to reward your best partners.

Affiliate Payout Cadence

Control whether affiliates earn commission on subscription renewals or only initial purchases:

  1. Go to Affiliates
  2. Select an affiliate
  3. Press the "View Affiliate Settings" button
  4. Find the "Payout Cadence" setting
  5. Choose your preference:
    • Initial Purchase + Renewals: Affiliate earns commission on both the first purchase and all subsequent renewals (within the renewal attribution window if configured)
    • Initial Purchase Only: Affiliate earns commission only on the first purchase, no renewal commissions

This per-affiliate setting gives you complete flexibility in structuring different partnership arrangements. For example, you might pay renewals to your top-performing affiliates while limiting newer partners to initial purchase commissions only.

Advanced Commission Rules

Take your commission structure to the next level with dynamic rules. Reward affiliates who drive more sales with higher commission rates.

Note: Advanced Commission Rules are a premium feature available on select plans. Check our pricing page to see which plan is right for you.

Setting Up Advanced Rules

  1. Go to Affiliates
  2. Select an affiliate
  3. Press the "View Affiliate Settings" button
  4. Find the "Advanced Commission Rules" section
  5. Click "Add First Rule" to begin

How Advanced Rules Work

Advanced rules let you create a commission ladder that affiliates can climb as they perform better. Each rule has several key components:

  1. Commission Rate: The percentage they'll earn (1-99%)
  2. Trigger Point: When the rate kicks in
    • "Until": Rate applies until they hit the threshold
    • "After": Rate applies once they pass the threshold
  3. Sales Target: Number of sales they need to hit
  4. Time Frame: How long the target applies
    • Monthly: Resets each month
    • Ever: Lifetime total
  5. Product Specificity (Optional): Apply the rule to specific in-app purchases
    • Leave empty to apply the rule to all products
    • Select specific IAPs to create targeted incentives for higher-value items

Product-Specific Commission Rules

You can now create advanced commission rules that apply only to specific in-app purchases, allowing you to incentivize sales of your most profitable products more effectively.

Example Use Cases:

  • Offer 20% commission on sales of your premium annual subscription while maintaining 10% on monthly subscriptions
  • Create tiered bonuses for affiliates who sell specific product bundles
  • Reward affiliates more generously for promoting high-margin items

How to Set Product-Specific Rules:

  1. When creating or editing an advanced commission rule, find the "Product" or "In-App Purchase" selector
  2. Leave it empty to apply the rule to all products (default behavior)
  3. Or select one or more specific products to target the rule
  4. The most beneficial matching rule will automatically apply based on the purchased product

Example Structures

Here are some motivating commission structures:

Basic Performance Ladder:

Default Rate: 2%
Rule 1: 10% after 5 sales in a month
Rule 2: 15% after 10 sales in a month

Product-Specific Incentives:

Default Rate: 5%
Rule 1: 15% on Annual Subscription (all sales)
Rule 2: 20% after 10 Annual Subscription sales in a month
Rule 3: 8% on Monthly Subscription (all sales)

Rule Priority

The system always applies the most beneficial rule:

  1. Advanced commission rules (highest priority)
  2. Individual affiliate rates
  3. Global default rate (lowest priority)

Common Questions

How Often Do Commission Rates Update?

Commission rates update in real-time as affiliates hit their sales targets. Monthly rules reset at the start of each month.

What Happens If an Affiliate Doesn't Meet Their Target?

They'll receive the default commission rate until they hit their target.

Daisy Chain Commission

Create multi-tier affiliate structures where parent affiliates earn commissions from their recruited affiliates' sales. This powerful feature enables you to build affiliate manager programs, agency partnerships, and team-based commission structures.

Note: Daisy Chain Commission is a premium feature available on Advanced and Enterprise plans. Check our pricing page to see which plan is right for you.

What Is Daisy Chain Commission?

Daisy Chain Commission allows you to create hierarchical affiliate relationships where one affiliate (a "parent") automatically earns a percentage of commissions when another affiliate (a "child") generates a sale.

Key Concept: Parent commissions are calculated separately from the original transaction price - they do NOT reduce the child affiliate's earnings. Both affiliates earn their full commissions independently.

How It Works

When a child affiliate generates a sale:

  1. Child affiliate earns their normal commission based on their commission rate
  2. System checks if they have a parent affiliate configured
  3. Parent affiliate earns their daisy chain commission as a percentage of the original transaction price
  4. Both commissions are tracked separately in your transactions

Example:

Original Sale: $100
Child Affiliate Rate: 15%
Child Earns: $15

Daisy Chain Parent Percentage: 10%
Parent Earns: $10 (10% of $100 original sale)

Important: The parent's $10 does NOT come from the child's $15
Both earn their commissions independently from the original transaction

Setting Up Daisy Chain Commission

Step 1: Configure the Parent Relationship

  1. Go to Affiliates
  2. Select the child affiliate
  3. Press the "View Affiliate Settings" button
  4. Find the "Daisy Chain Commission" section
  5. Configure two required fields:
    • Parent Affiliate: Select the parent affiliate from the dropdown
    • Parent Commission Percentage: Enter the percentage the parent will earn (e.g., 10%)

Step 2: Validation Requirements

For daisy chain to work properly:

  • Both parent email and percentage must be set (can't have one without the other)
  • Percentage must be greater than 0
  • Parent affiliate must exist in the same company
  • An affiliate cannot be their own parent

The system automatically validates these rules and prevents invalid configurations.

Use Cases

1. Affiliate Manager Program

Setup:
- Manager recruits 10 affiliates
- Each recruited affiliate configured with manager as parent
- Manager earns 5% on all their recruits' sales

Benefit: Incentivizes affiliate recruitment without reducing individual earnings

2. Agency/Reseller Model

Setup:
- Agency has multiple client affiliates
- Each client configured with agency as parent
- Agency earns 10% override commission

Benefit: Agency earns from client performance while clients keep full commissions

3. Team-Based Structures

Setup:
- Team lead manages team members
- Members configured with lead as parent
- Lead earns 7% on team performance

Benefit: Rewards leadership without penalizing team members

4. Tiered Partnership Programs

Setup:
- VIP affiliates can recruit standard affiliates
- VIP earns 8% on recruits' sales
- Standard affiliates still earn full commissions

Benefit: Creates growth incentives while maintaining competitive rates

Viewing Daisy Chain Transactions

Daisy chain transactions appear in your regular transaction views with clear identification:

  1. All Transactions View

    • Parent transactions marked as "Daisy Chain"
    • Shows relationship between parent and child
    • Includes original transaction reference

  2. Individual Affiliate View

    • Child affiliates see their normal transactions
    • Parent affiliates see both:
      • Their direct sales (normal transactions)
      • Daisy chain commissions from recruited affiliates

  3. Transaction Details

    • Original transaction ID
    • Child affiliate reference
    • Daisy chain percentage applied
    • All standard transaction metadata

Important Limitations

Single Level Only Currently supports only one level of daisy chaining. If Affiliate A recruits Affiliate B, and Affiliate B recruits Affiliate C:

  • A earns from B's sales ✓
  • B earns from C's sales ✓
  • A does NOT earn from C's sales ✗

Same Platform Support Daisy chain commissions work across all transaction sources:

  • iOS App Store purchases ✓
  • Google Play purchases ✓
  • RevenueCat transactions ✓
  • Apphud transactions ✓
  • Iaptic transactions ✓

Currency Handling Parent transactions maintain the same currency conversion as the original child transaction, ensuring accurate commission calculations across all currencies.

Best Practices for Daisy Chain

  1. Start Conservative: Begin with 5-10% parent commissions and adjust based on results
  2. Clear Communication: Ensure both parent and child affiliates understand the structure
  3. Track Performance: Monitor which parent affiliates are effectively recruiting and supporting their team
  4. Balanced Incentives: Keep parent percentages attractive without reducing overall profitability
  5. Regular Review: Assess parent-child relationships quarterly and adjust as needed

Common Questions

Does daisy chain reduce the child affiliate's earnings?

No. The parent's commission is calculated separately from the original transaction price. Child affiliates always receive their full commission based on their configured rate.

Can I change the parent percentage after setting it up?

Yes. You can update the daisy chain percentage at any time. The new percentage will apply to future transactions, but existing transactions retain their original percentage.

Can an affiliate be a parent and a child simultaneously?

Yes. An affiliate can be a parent to some affiliates while also being a child to another parent affiliate. This enables flexible team structures.

How are daisy chain commissions paid out?

Daisy chain commissions are paid the same way as regular commissions - through Stripe Connect or marked as paid externally. They appear as separate transaction line items in payment processing.

Can I remove a daisy chain relationship?

Yes. Simply clear both the parent email and percentage fields in the affiliate settings. Future transactions will no longer create parent commissions, but existing parent transactions remain unchanged.

What happens if I delete a parent affiliate?

Existing daisy chain transactions remain in the system for historical records. New transactions from child affiliates will no longer create parent commissions. You should reassign child affiliates to a new parent or remove the daisy chain configuration.

Ready to set up your commission structure? Head to Settings to get started.