Commission Rule Explainer

Merchants have a vast variety of different ways they can structure their commission rules for their programs. All of the different rules and names can be a little confusing or overwhelming, but we’re breaking them down here to help!

You can find the commission rate for a merchant on their Merchant Detail Page.

The most widely used will be the Program Default Rate. This commission rate will apply to all transactions should the merchant have no other rules in place.

Commission rules with the highest priority take precedent over those with lower priority.

From highest priority to lowest priority, here are all of the commission rules:

• Individual Commission Rules (highest priority)

  • Conditional commission rate determined by the merchant for a specific affiliate; overrules all other commission rules

• Global Commission Rules

  • Conditional commission rate determined by the merchant for the program based on a variety of factors to apply widely across programs; overrules all other commission rules, except Individual Commission Rules

• Conversion Line Multiplier

  • Commission rate determined by a conversion line, sets a new commission rate by multiplying (0.5x, 2x, etc.) the next earliest commission rate determined by an earlier  conversion line rule

• Product Level Commissions

  • Commission rate varying by SKUs purchased

• Product Group Commission

  • Commission rate determined by product groups decided by the merchant

• Merchant Override Commission

  • Conversion rate determined by an additional tracking parameter and applies a flat dollar amount commission to a transaction

• Conversion Line Override

  • Commission rate determined by a conversion line and overrides all earlier commission rates impacted by the conversion line rules

• Deal Specific Commission

  • Commission rate determined by a specific deal-based creative used to drive the transaction

• Transaction Tier Commission

  • Commission rate based on a specific affiliate metric (number of sales per month, gross amount of sales per month, etc.) with different commission rates for different ranges determined by the merchant

• Store-based Individual Commission

  • Commission rate determined by which store in a merchant’s program the sale originated from for a specific affiliate; only applies to those merchants with Stores Connect enabled

• Store-based Commission

  • Commission rate determined by which store in a merchant’s program the sale originated from; only applies to those merchants with Stores Connect enabled

• Affiliate Individual Default

  • Commission rate selected for an individual affiliate

• Group Commission

  • Commission rate is based on groups decided by the merchant

• Conversion Lines Default

  • Commission rate determined by a conversion line, impacts those transactions that meet the conversion line rules

• Program Default (lowest priority)

  • The “last resort” commission rule that will run should no other rules apply or no other rules are created

Individual Commission and Global Commission Rules are set up using conditional statements, for example, “if X happens, the Y rule applies.” With this in mind, it can help you to differentiate these types of rules from other, simpler rules!

The rule shown in the “Your Personalized Commission Rates” section of the Merchant Detail Page can be a variety of rules that are specifically set for you or apply to you. The rules included here will often be Global Commission Rules, Affiliate Individual Default, or Individual Commission Rules, but not always.

Some of the most frequently used rules include deal-based rules (ex. Set commission to X% if ABC coupon is used) and global commission rules (ex. Set commission to X% if a customer is a new customer and Y% if a customer is an existing customer).

If you ever have any questions about the commission rules that apply to you or how they are applied to specific transactions, reach out to the merchant! Merchants decide their own commission structure and can best explain the ins and outs of it to you! You can reach out to merchants by going to the Merchant Summary Report.