MYTH: Your commission rate is locked once you join

MYTH: Your commission rate is locked once you join

Everyone signs up and assumes the rate on the page is permanent. It's a starting offer the vendor can rewrite the day after you rank.

Reality: nearly every affiliate agreement reserves the right to change terms "at any time with notice." The common playbook:

— You spend six months building content that ranks page one for the tool.
— The vendor sees the channel is now load-bearing and cuts the rate 30% to 20%, or shortens the recurring duration.
— Your ranking is sunk cost; ripping out the links tanks your page, so you eat the cut.

This isn't betrayal, it's the structure. The more successful your content, the more leverage they gain to squeeze it.

Diversify across programs so no single rate cut owns your income, and screenshot the original terms.

Verdict: the rate is a promise made in pencil.