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How to adjust your Affiliate's commissions

Learn how to change your affiliate's commission rates and the rules surrounding rate adjustments.

Kickbooster Team avatar
Written by Kickbooster Team
Updated over 3 months ago

Effectively managing your affiliate commission rates is essential for sustaining a successful and productive referral program.

This guide will help you understand everything you need to know about adjusting your affiliate commission rates, including:


Adjusting Commission Rates: General Guidelines

When you decide to change the commission rate for your affiliates, you have two main options:

  • Adjusting the Rate for Your Program: This change will apply to all existing affiliates (if rate is increased (see rules below)) and new affiliates that join your program.

  • Adjusting the Rate for Specific Affiliates: This option allows you to customize commission rates for individual affiliates, which may be based on their performance, relationship with your brand, or other factors.

Rules for Adjusting Existing Affiliate Commission Rates

It’s important to understand the rules around adjusting commission rates for existing affiliates:

  • Increasing the Commission Rate:

    • If you increase the commission rate, the new rate will only apply to new referrals made by affiliates.

    • Existing referrals will continue to be paid at the previous rate, ensuring that there is no disruption or retroactive change to commissions already earned.

  • Decreasing the Commission Rate:

    • You cannot decrease the commission rate for existing affiliates.

    • If you decide to lower the offer for future affiliates, all existing affiliates will continue to earn at the highest rate that was previously offered to them.

    • The new, lower rate will only apply to new affiliates who join after the rate adjustment has been made.

Step-by-Step Guide to Changing the Commission Rate

Adjusting your commission rate will vary slightly depending on:

  • Program type (Shopify or Crowdfunding)

  • Commission Type (Percentage or Fixed)

  • and if you're adjusting Your Program's rate or for a Specific Affiliate

Adjusting Your Program Rate

Shopify Programs

  1. Navigate to Programs

  2. Click on specific program name you want to adjust

  3. Click Settings from Program dashboard page (far right)

  4. Go to Commissions

  5. Adjust your rate > click Save

Crowdfunding Programs

  1. Navigate to Programs

  2. Click on specific program name you want to adjust

  3. Click Settings from Program dashboard page (far right)

  4. Go to Affiliates

  5. Adjust your rate > click Save

Note: Adjusting a program's fixed commission rate follows the same steps, but rather than a slider to update your percentage, you will see a field to enter the new fixed rate offering.

Adjusting a Specific Affiliate Rate

Shopify & Crowdfunding Programs

  1. Navigate to Affiliates page

  2. Search and click on affiliate name

  3. Go to Program table, and look for program name (if participating in multiple programs)

  4. Under Commission, click Edit Icon beside current rate

  5. Enter new rate > click Save

Note: Adjusting a specific Affiliate's fixed commission rate follows the same steps, but rather than a percentage, you will see a field to enter the new fixed rate offering.

Notification of Increased Commission Rates

Kickbooster will automatically notify affiliates via email when their commission rate is increased, allowing them to immediately take advantage of the higher rate. This means one less thing for you to manage.

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