How to use the Affiliate Program
In this article:
What does my partner's account look like?
Getting started with settings
Note: The Affiliate program is available for Business, Premium and Custom plan users.
When you first start your Affiliate program, you'll select the feature in your sidebar menu.
On the page, click the blue button Enable affiliate program. This will take you to configure your settings.
Your Affiliate program settings will have three main parts:
After saving these settings, your program will be enabled and people can apply. If you're not ready for anyone to join but want to keep your progress, please use the switch under Save settings to disable it, before saving.
Cookie or Partner link tracking
When your affiliate program partner shares their unique link with potential customers and it's clicked, we'll track whether a sale happens after that click. This is how you know that the sale came from this partner, that they've earned commission, and how much.
Sometimes potential customers click on the link but don't purchase right away. They may purchase days later. Does the partner still earn a commission for this sale? You'll decide.
By setting the cookie length, or the duration of time tracked after the link is clicked, you'll set the window of time that partners can earn a commission in. If a sale happens during the time that you've set, your partner will earn a commission. 30 days is a very commonly used time period, but you can decide if you'd like to offer more or less time than this.
Required payout minimum
Commissions will be calculated for you once a month. You'll receive a payout report at the beginning of each month with the details of who needs to be paid what amount. Read more on this here.
In order to avoid many small minimal payments, you can set a required amount that partners must earn before they receive a payout. Once you set this amount, your partners will see it in their accounts.
Commissions will continue to add up until they've earned enough for payout.
Commission rates for products
Commissions can only be configured as a percentage of the product price and will be the same for all of your partners. Despite what the order total may be, the commission rate will be calculated from the product price you've set for each product.
You can set one rate or commission percentage for all of your products. This will also apply to the first payment of subscription products. You can use this setting alone or in combination with specific rates per product.
You can set commission rates for specific products by enabling the setting below. You can use this section to exclude products by setting a rate to zero.
We mention being cautious in setting commission rates for print on demand products since you'll have a fixed profit margin and a cost on those products. If we detect that your commission percentage may be too high on one of these products, we'll flag it for you to take a second look.
Inviting applicants
Once your affiliate program has been enabled, people can apply to join.
You can copy and share the link from your Settings or they can visit your store to create an account. You can see more about the account creation process here. You can also share this article as a resource: Affiliate account
In their account, they'll select Affiliate program from the menu and fill out the application shown there.
The application text is automatically generated and isn't able to be customized at this time.
Reviewing applicants
After people have filled out the application we'll notify you by email that you have applicants waiting for your review.
Note: To see or edit the automated emails that go to your applicants and partners, go to Email settings
To review, you'll go to Partners and select an applicant with a pending status. You'll be able to see the application they submitted and approve or decline. Once you approve, they'll be a partner.
Don't want to go over each application? In Settings, you can enable auto-approve for applicants, under Save.
Managing your partners
By going to Partners, you can view all of your applicants and partners in one place.
Click on any one partner to see their stats and information. You'll be able to view their account info, commissions, and the orders that they've contributed to.
If you have concerns about a certain partner, you may block them from earning commissions through your program. Any previously shared links will still redirect to the store, but any sales made won't result in commissions. Partners can be unblocked later on.
What does my partner's account look like?
Your approved partners will have a store account with a small menu. The style and color of the account will match your store theme.
They'll have a Dashboard with statistics and helpful information.
There is a section showing which Products they can earn commission on, as well as links for each product.
These links can be copied and shared. Alternatively, they can embed products on their website rather than pasting each product link. But, to do this, you'll need to provide them with your Sellfy embed code. You'd then modify this code by adding their unique affiliate code. Here are the steps:
- Select an embed option from the Embed section and copy the code (you can allow your partners to embed a simple Buy Now button, a single product or all products)
- Provide the code to your partner and instruct them to find their unique affiliate code.
Your affiliate partner can find their unique affiliate code under Affiliate program > Settings in their store account. It's also visible in your Partners list.
Note: Partners have the option to update or change this code, as long as it's unique among your partners. But, if it is changed, they do need to update the code or links that have been already shared or placed.
- Now your partner needs to modify the code by combining their unique affiliate code with the embed URL you provided (for the embed to work properly, they need to make sure to include everything as shown in the screenshot below).
- Your partner can now paste this code (a combination Sellfy's embed code you provided and their unique affiliate code) into their website code.
Here is an example code:
<iframe src="https://highlifesamples.sellfy.store/embed/store/?a=unique-affiliate-code" width="100%" height="365" allowtransparency="true" style="border: none;"></iframe>
<script src="https://sellfy.com/js/api_buttons.js"></script>
Once your partner embeds the code into their website, all purchases made through it will count towards commission for them.
Your partner will also have a section showing them Payouts. This will show any unpaid commissions they've earned, the minimum for payout, and allow them to see any payment history.
The final section of their account is Settings. This will be where they can manage the email address they use to log in, the email address on file for PayPal payments, and their unique affiliate code.
Making payouts
Payout reports are calculated and provided for you at the beginning of each month.
They'll include the commission payment amount and information for each partner that's reached the payout minimum you set.
Payout will be done manually by you, through PayPal. You can download the report and make payments to each partner individually.
Or, if you have a Business PayPal account, we'd highly recommend using the mass payout tool to pay all commissions at once. The file we provide is ready to be uploaded into PayPal.
To make a mass payout:
- Log in to your PayPal account.
- Click Pay & Get Paid.
- Under “Make payments,” click Payouts.
You can read more about how to make mass payouts here.
FAQ
Q: I don't want to pay partners through PayPal. Is there another method?
A: Unfortunately, your partners are only able to give their PayPal email addresses for payouts.
Q: Can I change the cookie length?
A: Yes! You can set any number of days.
Q: Why don't I see the option for mass payouts?
A: The option will only be shown for Business accounts. If you do have a Business account but the option isn't shown, please contact PayPal support for assistance.
Q: Is there an automated way to pay partners?
A: As of now, payments will need to be done manually.
Q: Can I edit the application for my affiliate program?
A: Not at this time, but we do plan to allow customization in the future.