<b>Q: How do I write a clawback policy affiliates won't revolt against?</b>

<b>Q: How do I write a clawback policy affiliates won't revolt against?</b>

Make clawbacks automatic and reason-coded, never discretionary. The fight isn't usually about losing a refunded commission. It's about a silent balance drop they can't reconcile.

A policy that holds up:

— Only claw back for refunds, chargebacks, and confirmed fraud. Not 'low quality', not 'we changed our mind'.
— Attach the order ID and reason to every reversal so the affiliate can audit it.
— Cap clawbacks to a rolling window (say 90 days). Reversing a sale from eight months ago reads as theft.

Caveat: if one affiliate's refund rate is structurally high, that's a traffic-quality conversation, not a clawback. Fix it with a stricter approval rule or a per-affiliate validation hold, not by silently shaving every commission. Clawbacks recover money; they don't fix sourcing. Keep the two levers separate.

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