How Much Can You Earn?
There is no definitive answer. What you’ll earn depends on:
- What product(s) you promote
- What the commission rate is
- How you promote the product
- How often you promote the product
How Will You'll Get Paid?
Keep in mind that there are several ways a company can pay. Some are recurring, meaning you get paid monthly because the subscriber pays them monthly. It could be a percentage of the monthly sale or simply a flat fee.
Example #1: Company X charges their customer $100/month to use their product. They pay you 40% ($40). Every month their customer pays the monthly fee, they pay you the 40%. This could be for a certain amount of time (1-2 years) or for the lifetime of the customer’s account.
Example #2: Company X charges their customer $100/month to use their product. They pay you a flat rate of $90. But every month their customer pays them, they pay you a lower percentage, like 10% ($10). This scenario is usually seen in high-ticket items (products that cost thousands or products that the company knows their customer won’t cancel anytime soon).
Example #3: Company X charges their customer $100 for an item. Every time someone purchases the item through your link, you get paid a flat fee. This is usually a percentage of the sale and can range anywhere from 5% – 40%, based on the price of the merchandise. High-end designers (Gucci, Coach, H & M, Hermes, etc.) usually pay between 1% – 5%.
How Will They Pay You?
You might as well set up a business PayPal account (you’ll need an EIN). If you don’t have one (read bottom of the ‘Home‘ page first). At least 60% + of companies will pay you through PayPal. Other ways are Direct Deposit, Stripe, Bank Transfer, Wire, Check, Payoneer, ACH transfer, Eurotransfer, and a few others. We like PayPal and/or Stripe because these companies act as a buffer between the company and your bank and that’s why we use them.
When Do You Get Paid?
Most companies pay out monthly, some every 6 months, and some on the 1st and the 15th. There are even a few that pay daily and some yearly. Make sure you keep track of when your money should hit your bank account.
Use the spread sheet that we provided as a bonus when you purchased a Niche Sheet.
Minimum (threshold)
This varies from company to company. This is the minimal amount of money you have to earn before you can withdraw your funds. For example, WIX says you have to have $300 in their “bank” before they’ll pay you. Which means you’ll have to earned at least $300 in commissions before WIX will pay you. But don’t stress. This happens faster than you think.
Some companies use the threshold differently. They’ll state that you must have $100 in their “bank” before you can request payment. BUT, you can only withdraw anything over the $100. So if you actually have $150 in their “bank”, they will pay you the $50 difference. You get the $100 when you notify the company that you no longer wish to be their affiliate and close out your account.
All the major affiliate network companies (CJ, Impact, ShareASale, etc.) have a minimal threshold. This is their policy and not the company they are representing. For example: CJ requires a $50 threshold if you want to get paid by direct deposit and $100 if you want a check. But they don’t have a minimum if you want to get paid using Payoneer (they don’t use PayPal). Impact’s minimum is $10 regardless of the payment method you choose. ShareASale is similar to CJ. They have a $50 minimum plus an additional $29 if you want your payment wired.
Some companies don’t have a threshold but they do have a timer. This is especially true for companies that have physical products. You’ll have to wait until the company’s return policy time has lapsed before they’ll pay you. Which means if a customer has 30 days to return an item, you can’t get paid until after the 30 days has passed to ensure that the customer didn’t return the item and wants a refund. Amazon uses this method.
All in all, minimums should never discourage you. If you promote well, you’ll meet that minimum on your first go at it.
What are payment models?
How much the affiliate makes depends on their niche and the affiliate network they use. For example, Amazon’s affiliate program offers commissions ranging from 1% to 20%.
There are a few different payment models:
- Per sale: The affiliate gets paid for each purchase made through their affiliate link.
- Per lead: The affiliate gets paid for each customer who signs up for something, such as a newsletter, that will move them through the company’s sales funnel.
- Per click: The affiliate gets paid for each click to the company’s website, helping the company to increase their traffic.
- Per action: The affiliate gets paid for each customer who performs a specific action, like a form submission or purchase.
- Per install: The affiliate gets paid for each installation of software or an application.