<b>Hot reminder: vendors never volunteer their refund rate, and that's the number that owns your income</b>

<b>Hot reminder: vendors never volunteer their refund rate, and that's the number that owns your income</b>

Program pages shout the commission percentage. They go silent on the one figure that determines what you actually keep: refund/clawback rate.

Work the math:

— 30% commission sounds elite. At a 25% refund rate inside the clawback window, your <i>effective</i> rate is 22.5%, and that's before non-converting trials.
— Some categories (mass-market "productivity" and AI tools) run refund rates north of 30% because impulse buyers churn on sight.
— Clawbacks hit retroactively. You can have a great month on paper and a negative adjustment posted six weeks later.

Before joining, ask the affiliate manager directly: "What's the average clawback rate across affiliates?" Their dodge <i>is</i> the answer.

Verdict: the commission rate is the brochure; the refund rate is the bill.