How to read an affiliate agreement: the clauses that decide what you keep

An affiliate agreement is the contract you accept when you click "join". Most people scroll past it, and most of the time nothing bad happens. The trouble comes later, when a sale is reversed, a balance is held or a commission rate drops, and the reason turns out to be a clause that was there from the start.

You do not need to read every line. A handful of clauses decide what you earn and what you keep, and they are easy to find once you know their names. This guide covers those clauses, in the order worth reading them.

It is a reading guide, not legal advice. For anything with real money at stake, such as an exclusivity deal or a large contract, ask someone qualified where you live.

Where the agreement lives

The agreement goes by many names: terms and conditions, program terms, operating agreement, partner policy. On a company's own program it usually sits on the sign-up page or in the dashboard footer.

On a network there are often two documents. The network has its own publisher agreement, which covers how it tracks and pays you, and each company adds program terms on top. Both apply at once, which is one of the differences covered in affiliate networks vs in-house programs. When the two disagree, the program terms usually win for anything about that program.

Save a copy, with the date, when you join. Terms change, and a dispute about a sale is much easier when you can show what they said at the time.

What counts as a sale

Start with the definition of a qualifying sale (sometimes "qualified action" or "eligible transaction"). This clause decides whether a customer you sent earns you anything at all. Look for:

• Excluded products. Gift cards, renewals, upgrades, sale items or certain plans are often left out.
• New customers only. Many programs pay only for customers who never bought before, and the company decides who counts as new.
• Minimum order or plan. Some programs only pay above a basket size, or only on paid plans after a free trial converts.
• Which commission applies. Percentage, fixed or recurring, and for how long. Affiliate commission types explains what each one pays in practice.

Read this clause next to the commission rate. A generous rate on a narrow definition can pay less than a modest rate on a wide one.

How tracking and attribution work

The agreement says how long a click counts and who gets the sale when several affiliates touched the same customer. Most programs credit the last click inside the cookie window, but some give the sale to a coupon code, a direct visit or a paid search ad that came after your link.

Check two things here: the cookie window, and what overrides it. Affiliate cookie windows explained covers how the window works and why a long one can still lose sales.

Payment terms

This is the clause most people do read, because it has the numbers in it. It sets the approval period, the payment schedule, the minimum payout, the payment methods and any fees. Affiliate payout terms explained walks through each part.

Two lines in it are easy to miss. One says whether a balance under the minimum expires after a period of inactivity. The other says whether an approved commission can still be clawed back later, for example after a chargeback.

Banned promotion methods

This is the clause that costs affiliates the most, because breaking it can void more than the one sale. Programs commonly restrict:

• Brand bidding. Running search ads on the company's name, its misspellings, or its name plus words like "coupon" or "discount".
• Coupon and deal sites. Posting codes the program did not give you, or listing on coupon sites at all.
• Email and messaging. Sending the program's offers by email or text without permission, or to lists you did not build.
• Incentivised traffic. Paying or rewarding people to click or buy, including cashback and points sites.
• Paid social and ads. Running ads that link straight to the company, or using its logo and product names in ad copy.
• Sub-affiliates. Passing your link to others to promote under your account.

None of these is banned everywhere, and some programs actively welcome coupon or cashback partners. That is the point: check this clause against how you actually promote, before you apply.

Disclosure and brand use

Most agreements require you to tell readers that you earn a commission, and to do it where they will see it before they click. That matches the advertising rules in many countries, such as the Federal Trade Commission's guidance on endorsements in the United States, so it is worth doing even where a program does not ask.

The same section usually controls how you may use the company's name, logo and product images, and what you may claim about the product. Claims about prices, health effects or financial returns are common sources of trouble. Stick to what the company itself says, and use the creative assets it supplies.

Can an affiliate program change its terms after you join?

Usually, yes. Most agreements let the company change the commission, the cookie window or the rules at any time, often by posting a new version or sending an email. Staying in the program after the change counts as accepting it.

Find the amendment clause and note how you would hear about a change. If the answer is "we update this page", nobody will tell you. That is the second reason to keep a dated copy.

What happens to your unpaid commissions if you are removed from a program?

It depends on why. Many agreements still pay approved commissions after an ordinary termination, for example when the company closes the program or either side gives notice. When the reason is a breach of the rules, the company can often withhold some or all of the balance, including pending commissions.

Read the termination clause for three things: how much notice either side must give, which reasons allow termination without notice, and what happens to pending and approved balances in each case.

The fine print at the end

The last sections look like boilerplate, and mostly they are. A few lines still matter:

• Exclusivity or non-compete. A clause stopping you from promoting competitors is unusual in a standard program. If you find one, weigh it before you join.
• Liability and indemnity. Most agreements cap what the company owes you and make you responsible for claims caused by your own promotion. That is normal. A clause making you liable for things outside your control is not.
• Governing law. Which country's law applies and where disputes are heard. For a small balance this mostly tells you that a dispute is not worth taking to court, so the clauses above matter more.

A short reading order

When you are about to join a program, read these clauses, in this order:

1. What counts as a qualifying sale.
2. Banned promotion methods, checked against how you promote.
3. Payment terms, including expiry and clawbacks.
4. How the terms can change.
5. Termination and what happens to your balance.

Every program listing in this directory links to the page we read the terms from, so you can go straight to the source. For the bigger picture of how the parts fit together, start with how affiliate programs work.