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Commission Tiers: Different Commissions for Different Affiliates

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Owen Allen
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Commission Tiers allow ClickBank vendors to set different commission rates for different groups of affiliates.

The following subjects are covered in this article:

Overview

By creating Commission Tiers, vendors can set unique commission rates for that tier of affiliates. This can be useful for vendors who wish to reward productive affiliates or JV partners with higher commission rates.

You can create unique rates for any of the following criteria:

  • All products
  • Specific products
  • By product type
    • Digital products
      • Standard
      • Recurring
        • Initial payment
        • Rebill payments
    • Physical Products
      • Standard
      • Recurring
        • Initial payment
        • Rebill payments
  • Upsell flow

Getting Access

This feature is available to all vendors, subject to risk analysis and approval by our Business Services department. To request access to this feature, send an email to compliance@clickbank.com with your account nickname and mention you would like to be enabled for Commission Tiers.

Configuring Commission Tiers

Once your account has been enabled for Commission Tiers, you can create new commission tiers, determine their commission rates, and add affiliates to them.

  1. Log in to your ClickBank account.
  2. Click the Vendor Settings tab.
  3. Click My Site.
  4. Scroll down to the Managing Your Affiliates section.
    For example:
    This image shows the Managing Your Affiliates section of the user interface. It contains a field indicating that an affiliate whitelist is enabled, a table showing the existing groups within the Commission Tier area, and an Edit Commission Tiers button at the right.
  5. Click Edit Commission Tiers.
    The Commission Tiers page is displayed.
    For example:
    This image shows the Commission Tiers page. A note at the top indicates that the commission tiers are currently set to be exclusive, meaning that affiliates not on the list cannot receive commissions. There is a table at the bottom that shows the existing Commission Tiers, with a Delete icon, an Edit icon, and a Duplicate icon for each tier. At the right are buttons labeled Enable Commission Tiers and Add New Tier.
  6. Click Add New Tier to create a new Commission Tier.
    The Group page is displayed.
    For example:
    This image shows the Group page of the Commission Tier creation process. There are fields for the title and description of the group. An indicator at the top notes that 0 out of 4 steps have been completed. The buttons at the bottom are Cancel and Next.
  7. Enter a title and an optional description for the Commission Tier, then click Next.
  8. The Rates page is displayed. Configure the commission rates that affiliates in this Commission Tier will receive:
    • To configure commission rates for all of your products, select Global Rates, then enter any of the following commission rates:
      • Standard Digital Product
      • Initial Sale of a Recurring Digital Product
      • Rebill of a Recurring Digital Product
      • Standard Physical Product
      • Initial Sale of a Recurring Physical Product
      • Rebill of a Recurring Physical Product
      For example:
      This image shows the Rates page of the Commission Tier creation process. There are radio buttons at the top for Product Listing and Global Rates, with Global Rates selected. There are two boxes below the radio buttons. The left box is labeled Digital Commission Rates, and it has three fields for Standard Product, Recurring Initial Sale, and Recurring Sale. The right box is labeled Physical Commission Rates, and it has three fields for Standard Product, Recurring Initial Sale, and Recurring Sale. An indicator at the top notes that 1 out of 4 steps has been completed. The buttons at the bottom are Cancel, Previous, and Next.
      If you leave a commission rate field blank, it will use the default commission rate set in your account.
      When you are done entering commission rates, click Next.
    • To configure separate commission rates for different products, select Product Listing, then enter commission rates for each product.
      For example:
      This image shows the Rates page of the Commission Tier creation process. There are radio buttons at the top for Product Listing and Global Rates, with Product Listing selected. There is a table of products below the radio buttons. The table has columns for Item Number (ItemNo), Title, Type, Default Rate, Initial Sale, Default Recurring Rate, and Recurring. The Initial Sale column has fields where the user can enter a separate commission rate for the initial sale. For recurring products, the Recurring column has fields where the user can enter a separate commission rate for recurring sales. An indicator at the top notes that 1 out of 4 steps has been completed. The buttons at the bottom are Cancel, Previous, and Next.
      If you leave a commission rate field blank, it will use the default commission rate set in your account.
      When you are done entering commission rates, click Next.
  9. The Upsell Steps page is displayed. Configure unique commission rates for the steps in your PitchPlus Upsell Flows, if any.
    For example:
    This image shows the Upsell Steps page of the Commission Tier creation process. There is a dropdown menu at the top, labeled View commission tiers for flow, that lets you select a PitchPlus Upsell Flow. The steps of the selected PitchPlus Upsell Flow are then displayed below. Each step indicates the product number, the vendor if the product is sold by another vendor, and the default commission rate. The Rate, Initial Rate, and Recurring Rate fields let you enter a different commission rate for each product's initial and recurring payments for affiliates within the Commission Tier. An indicator at the top notes that 2 out of 4 steps has been completed. The buttons at the bottom are Cancel, Previous, and Next.
    If you leave a commission rate field blank, it will use the default commission rate set for the product, or your account rate if no product rate is specified. If your PitchPlus Upsell flow includes another vendor's product as part of an Upsell JV Contract, you cannot edit the commission rate for that product.
    When you are done configuring commission rates for PitchPlus Upsell flows, click Next.
  10. The Affiliates page is displayed. Add one or more affiliates who will be included in the Commission Tier.
    • To add affiliates one at a time, or in a comma-separated list, click Manually Add Accounts, enter the affiliate nicknames, and click Add Account(s).
      For example:
      This image shows the Affiliates page of the Commission Tier creation process. There is a field for Accounts in a comma delimited list. To the right of this field is a button to Add Account(s), and a link labeled 'import from csv file' that switches the entry mode. Below these options is a table of the affiliates that have been added to the Commission Tier. Below the table is a button labeled Delete Selected, which can be used to delete the selected affiliate. An indicator at the top notes that 3 out of 4 steps has been completed. The buttons at the bottom are Cancel, Previous, and Save.
    • To add affiliates from a comma-separated variable (CSV) file, click Import From CSV File, select the file, and click Upload.
      For example:
      This image shows the Affiliates page of the Commission Tier creation process. There is a field for a CSV file of up to 50 KB, with a Choose File button, and an indication of what file is selected. To the right of this field is a button to Upload, and a link labeled 'manually add accounts' that switches the entry mode. Below these options is a table of the affiliates that have been added to the Commission Tier. Below the table is a button labeled Delete Selected, which can be used to delete the selected affiliate. An indicator at the top notes that 3 out of 4 steps has been completed. The buttons at the bottom are Cancel, Previous, and Save.
  11. Click Save.
    The Commission Tier is saved. An email notification is sent to the affiliates.
    If you have not enabled Commission Tiers, the new Commission Tier will not take effect until you do so. See the Enabling or Disabling Commission Tiers section for more information.

Enabling or Disabling Commission Tiers

You must enable Commission Tiers before they will take effect. This lets you review your Commission Tiers before applying them to existing affiliates.

NOTE – You cannot enable or disable specific commission tiers. All of your Commission Tiers are either enabled or disabled.

To enable Commission Tiers:

  1. Log in to your ClickBank account.
  2. Click the Vendor Settings tab.
  3. Click My Site.
  4. Scroll down to the Managing Your Affiliates section and click Edit Commission Tiers.
    The Commission Tiers page is displayed.
  5. Click Enable Commission Tiers.

If Commission Tiers are enabled, you can click Disable Commission Tiers to disable them.

Enabling a Whitelist

A whitelist lets you control which affiliates can promote your products. When you enable this feature, your commission tiers become exclusive. While the feature is enabled, affiliates can only promote your products, generate HopLinks for your products, or receive commissions for your products if they are in your commission tiers.

You can use this feature if you only want to work with a specific list of trusted affiliates, or to prevent certain affiliates from promoting your products.

NOTE – This feature is admin-controlled. Contact ClickBank if you want access to this feature.

To enable a whitelist:

  1. Log in to your ClickBank account.
  2. Configure one or more commission tiers to include all of your affiliates.
  3. Enable commission tiers.
  4. Contact ClickBank to enable a whitelist.

Viewing Commission Tier Details

You can view details about all of your existing Commission Tiers.

  1. Log in to your ClickBank account.
  2. Click the Vendor Settings tab.
  3. Click My Site.
  4. Scroll down to the Managing Your Affiliates section and click Edit Commission Tiers.
    The Commission Tiers page is displayed.
  5. Mouse over a Commission Tier, then click Show Details.
    The details of the selected Commission Tier are displayed, including the commission rates and the affiliates. If you have more than ten affiliates in the Commission Tier, the full list is not displayed, but you can use the search function to find specific affiliates.
    For example:
    This image shows the details for an existing Commission Tier. There is a table of the existing commission tiers, with columsn for Actions, Title, and Description. The top entry's details are showing. At the top is a list of affiliates, with a search option to find affiliates. Below is a section showing the commission settings for the Commission Tier. A table shows the commission rates for each product, with columns for item number (itemno), Title, Type, Default Rate, Initial Sale, Default Recurring Rate, and Recurring. Below this table is a section showing the commission rates for each PitchPlus Upsell Flow. The 'view commission tiers for flow' dropdown menu lets you select a PitchPlus Upsell Flow, and its commission details are then displayed below. For each step in the PitchPlus Upsell Flow, the product owner, product number, default commission rate, and tier rate are displayed.

Editing Commission Tiers

The settings you choose for your commission rates are not permanent; you can edit them at any time, including switching between product-based rates and global rates.

To edit an existing tier, click the Edit icon This image is the edit icon, which can be clicked to edit a Commission Tier. It is a stylized piece of paper with a pencil writing on it. next to that tier in the list. This will take you back to the beginning of the tier creation process, and you can make any appropriate changes along the way.

You can add affiliates to a commission tier, or delete affiliates from a commission tier by selecting them and clicking Delete Selected. If you add or remove an affiliate from a commission tier, we send them an email notification. However, we do not send them an email notification if you change the commission rates for a tier.

Deleting Commission Tiers

To delete an existing tier, just click the Delete icon This image is the delete icon, which can be clicked to delete a Commission Tier. It is a stylized piece of paper with a large red X across it.next to that tier. You'll be asked to confirm the deletion. Once confirmed, the tier will be deleted. Affiliates that were in the Commission Tier are notified.

Video

FAQ

Q: How do Commission Tiers and JV contracts interact?

A: These two features only interact during upsell flows. The JV contract controls the amount each vendor receives on the sale.

Q: What does the double dash (--) in my product listing mean?

A: This means we have no information for this field, so your default account-level commission rate will be used. You can override this by adding a specific commission rate for this product.

Related Articles

  • Affiliate Commission Hierarchy – This article explains the different sources for commission rates, and which one applies if multiple rates are entered.

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