Affiliate terms are read twice: once, quickly, by a partner deciding whether to join, and once, carefully, by someone in a dispute. Write for both readers. Short sentences, concrete numbers, and no clause that only makes sense to a lawyer.
This guide covers what to include and why. Our affiliate terms template puts it together as a starting point. Whatever you publish, have a lawyer review it: the right wording depends on where you and your partners are.
Who can join, and how
State that you review applications and can decline or remove anyone. If you only accept certain kinds of partners — businesses, not individuals; certain countries; people with an audience in your market — say so. It saves both sides time and gives you a clear basis for declining.
Require accurate details, kept current. Payout problems usually trace back to a partner who changed their email or bank account and forgot to tell you.
How a referral is credited
This is the clause partners care about most and understand least. Spell out:
- The cookie window — how long after clicking a link a signup still counts, for example 60 days.
- Attribution — whether the first or the last partner’s click wins when two partners sent the same person.
- Promo codes — that a payment carrying a partner’s code credits them even without a click.
- What never counts — referring yourself, your own company, or anyone who signs up on your behalf.
Be honest about technical limits. If a visitor clears cookies or their browser limits cookie lifetimes, a referral can be missed. Say that promo codes are the reliable path when a partner is unsure.
Commissions
Give the numbers: the rate, how many months of payments it applies to, and the hold before a commission can be paid. Then cover the edge cases that cause disputes:
- Refunds and chargebacks. A commission on a payment refunded inside the hold is cancelled. If it is refunded after the commission was paid, the amount is deducted from the next payout.
- Plan changes. Upgrades and downgrades change the commission with the payment.
- Rate changes. You can change rates for future payments with notice; commissions already earned do not change.
What promotion is not allowed
This list protects your brand and your ad budget. Common prohibitions:
- Bidding on your brand name in paid search, or running ads that link straight to your site, without written permission.
- Unsolicited email or messages, and lists the partner has no permission to use.
- Misleading claims: discounts you do not offer, features you do not have, fake reviews.
- Using your trademarks in domain names or social handles.
- Coupon and deal sites, unless you allow them.
- Cookie stuffing, forced clicks, or any technique that credits a partner for customers they did not refer.
Say what happens if a partner breaks these rules: their unpaid commissions are forfeited and they can be removed from the program.
Disclosure
In the United States the Federal Trade Commission’s Endorsement Guides treat an affiliate relationship as a material connection that must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, close to the recommendation itself. A line at the bottom of a page, or the words “affiliate link” alone, may not be enough. Other countries have similar rules.
Your terms should require partners to disclose that they earn a commission, in plain words, wherever they recommend you. It is their obligation, but the guides also expect advertisers to monitor their partners, so state it and act on breaches.
Payouts
Cover when you pay, how and when not:
- Schedule — monthly, and how many days after the month ends (NET-30, for example).
- Minimum — the balance below which a payout waits for the next run.
- Methods — PayPal, bank transfer, or others you support, and that the partner is responsible for accurate details.
- Conditions — identity verification and a valid tax form before the first payout, and no payouts to people on sanctions lists.
Mention that tax forms expire. A W-8BEN, for example, generally stays valid until the end of the third calendar year after it was signed, so long-standing partners will be asked for a new one.
Taxes
Make clear partners are responsible for their own taxes, and that you will report payments where the law requires it — for US partners, on Form 1099-NEC when their annual total reaches the federal threshold.
Changes to the terms
You will change the terms. Say how: by email, with notice, and with partners accepting the new version before they earn under it. Keep a record of who accepted which version and when.
Ending the relationship
Either side can end it at any time. Say what happens to money already earned: paid at the next payout date if the partner followed the rules, forfeited if they did not.
Independent contractor, liability and law
Close with the standard clauses: the partner is an independent contractor, not an employee or agent; your liability is limited; and which country’s or state’s law governs the agreement.
Keep it readable
Put the five numbers partners care about — rate, window, hold, minimum, payout day — at the top, in a short summary. Partners who can find those in ten seconds are partners who trust the rest.
Doing this in Affiligato
Link your terms from the portal’s sign-up page, and when you publish a new version, ask existing partners to accept it; the program records when each one did. Application questions, blocked countries and a business-email rule shape who can join, and our affiliate terms template is a starting point for the text itself.
