As a vendor, you can set affiliate commission rates in multiple places. This page describes the hierarchy of affiliate commission rates.
The following sections are covered in this article:
Overview
The following hierarchy determines which affiliate commission rate is used, with the first available rate used for a given sale:
- Upsell JV Contract rate, if the sale was within an upsell flow with a relevant Upsell JV Contract.
- Commission Tier rate, if the affiliate is included in a commission tier. Commission Tier rates may not be applied due to the following settings:
- Commission Tiers have separate commission settings for products sold in upsell flows and products sold outside of upsell flows. The upsell rate is not used if the product is sold outside of an upsell, and vice versa.
- If a product is set not to allow Commission Tier rates to override the product rates, the commission tier is not used for sales of that product.
- If Commission Tiers are disabled, their rates are not used for any sales.
- Upsell Flow rate, if the sale was within an upsell flow.
- Product rate.
- Account rate.
The following sections display this hierarchy in more detail based on the product type and sale location, including the field that specifies the rate.
Products Within an Upsell Flow
The following table shows the hierarchy of commission rates used when a product is sold within an upsell flow. If you have provided commission rates in multiple locations, the rate that is highest in the hierarchy is used.
NOTE – When you create a product, the product commission fields have a checkbox labeled Allow Commission Tiers to override these settings. If you deselect this checkbox, Commission Tier rates are ignored for sales of this product.
| One-Time Product | Recurring Product | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Sale | Recurring Sale | ||
| Upsell JV Contract |
Affiliate Commission % field in Contract |
Affiliate Commission % field in Contract |
N/A |
| Commission Tier | Rate field for the Upsell Flow |
Initial Rate field for the Upsell Flow |
Recurring Rate field for the Upsell Flow |
| Upsell Flow | Commission field in upsell flow |
Commission field in upsell flow |
Recurring Commission field in upsell flow |
| Product-level |
Commission field in Product Creation or Product Editor |
Initial Commission field in Product Creation |
Recurring Commission field in Product Creation |
| Account-level | Commission field in Marketplace Editor |
Commission field in Marketplace Editor |
Commission field in Marketplace Editor |
Products Not Within an Upsell Flow
The following table shows the hierarchy of commission rates used when a product is sold outside of an upsell flow (including products that are followed by an upsell flow, but are not within the flow). If you have provided commission rates in multiple locations, the rate that is highest in the hierarchy is used.
NOTE – When you create a product, the product commission fields have a checkbox labeled Allow Commission Tiers to override these settings. If you deselect this checkbox, Commission Tier rates are ignored for sales of this product.
| One-Time Product | Recurring Product | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Sale | Recurring Sale | ||
| Commission Tier | Standard Product field or Initial Sale field |
Initial Sale Rate field |
Recurring Sale Rate field |
| Product-level |
Commission field in Product Creation or Product Editor |
Initial Commission field in Product Creation |
Recurring Commission field in Product Creation |
| Account-level |
Commission field in Marketplace Editor |
Commission field in Marketplace Editor |
Commission field in Marketplace Editor |
FAQ
Q: Do Commission Tier rates always apply?
A: Commission Tiers must be configured and enabled before their commission rates are applied. If an affiliate is not included in a commission tier, the rate does not apply to them, and if commission tiers are disabled, their rates cease to apply to any sales.
Q: Why can't I set recurring commissions in the product editor?
A: You can set recurring commissions during product creation. However, once a recurring product has been approved and sold, its commission rates cannot be edited, since affiliates are already receiving that commission rate.