What to Put in Your Affiliate Program Terms (A Merchant's Guide)
The clauses every affiliate agreement needs — commissions, attribution, prohibited conduct, disclosure, termination — explained in plain language, with the disputes each one prevents.
Affiliate program terms are the cheapest dispute-prevention tool you'll ever write. Every clause below exists because without it, a specific argument happens — usually about money, usually at the worst time. Here's what belongs in the document, and why. (This is a structural guide, not legal advice; have a lawyer adapt the result to your jurisdiction.)
1. The commercial core: what, when, how much
State the commission (rate or amount, and its base — order subtotal excluding shipping, taxes, and discounts), the attribution rules (cookie window, coupon-code attribution, and the tie-breaker when two affiliates touch one customer — last-click is the common answer), and the payment mechanics (schedule, method, minimum threshold, who bears payment fees and currency conversion).
Then the clause everyone forgets until it matters: maturity and reversals. Commissions become payable only after the refund window passes; refunded or fraudulent orders reverse their commissions. Without this sentence, clawing back a reversed commission is a fight; with it, it's bookkeeping. (Why the maturity window matters.)
2. Eligibility and the self-referral rule
Who can join (age, business status, geography if payouts constrain it) and whether the affiliate buying through their own link or code earns commission. Most programs say no — say it explicitly, because self-referrals are the most common gray-area dispute, and nearly every offender genuinely believed it was fine.
3. Prohibited conduct — the specific list
Generic "no fraud" clauses prevent nothing. Name the behaviors:
- Brand bidding: no paid-search ads on your brand name or misspellings (the single most contested rule in affiliate marketing — write it clearly)
- Cookie stuffing and any forced or deceptive click mechanics
- Coupon-site listing of codes, if you restrict it (or which codes may be listed where)
- Spam in any channel, and misrepresentation of the affiliate's relationship with you ("official partner", fake storefronts)
- Claims discipline: only product claims you've approved — their exaggeration is your liability
4. Disclosure compliance
Require clear, conspicuous disclosure of the material connection in every promotion, per the affiliate's local rules (FTC in the US, ASA/CMA in the UK, and equivalents). Provide the copy-paste wording in onboarding so compliance is the path of least resistance. The merchant's disclosure duties — having this clause is duty number one.
5. Program changes and termination
Reserve the right to change rates and terms prospectively with notice (30 days is respectful), never retroactively on referrals already earned — and hold yourself to it, because rate-change handling is a trust event. Define termination: either party, anytime; what happens to pending balances on good-faith exit (pay them out at the next cycle) versus termination for cause (violations may forfeit unpaid commissions — this is your only real lever against caught fraud). Add dormancy housekeeping if you want it (accounts with no activity for 12+ months may be closed after notice).
6. The boring-but-necessary tail
Relationship status (independent contractor — affiliates are not employees or agents), each party's tax responsibility (and your right to request tax details before paying above reporting thresholds), a limited license to use your brand assets as provided (no logo remixes, no registering domains containing your trademark), data handling in both directions (your privacy obligations and their obligation not to misuse customer data they encounter), liability limits, and governing law.
Writing it so people actually read it
The terms protect you best when partners genuinely understand them, so: plain language over legalese where possible, a short summary box at the top (rate, window, payout day, the three biggest don'ts), and a required checkbox at application referencing the full text. Keep versions dated; when you update, notify and record it — an audit trail of program events is the evidence layer under the whole document.
Put the finished page next to your application form, link it from every partner email, and enforce it evenly when tested. Terms that are visible, readable, and actually applied don't just win disputes — they quietly prevent the recruiting objection serious partners never say out loud: this program looks like it's run by amateurs.