<b>Q: Tiered commissions or one flat rate for my new program?</b>

<b>Q: Tiered commissions or one flat rate for my new program?</b>

Start flat. Add tiers only once you have data on what a 'good' partner volume looks like. New programs that launch with five tiers usually set the thresholds wrong and end up overpaying mid-tier affiliates who'd have stayed at base.

When you do tier, build it on this:

— Tier on net revenue or validated sales, never on raw clicks or leads
— Set the first jump where your top 20% of partners already land, so it rewards real performers, not aspiration
— Make tiers reset monthly, not lifetime, so a partner has to keep producing

A cleaner alternative to tiers is a performance bonus: flat base rate plus a one-time kicker when a partner crosses a volume target. It's easier to budget and you can sunset it without renegotiating everyone's rate.

Caveat: every tier you add is a line item your finance team has to reconcile. Complexity has a cost on your side too.

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