The sub-affiliate pyramid that paid $0 by month 4

The sub-affiliate pyramid that paid $0 by month 4

Everyone loves "earn on your referrals' referrals." Watch what happens when you do.

An affiliate recruited 40 sub-affiliates on a 2-tier SaaS program, projecting passive override income. Reality over four months:

— 31 of 40 never drove a single sale (typical: 70–80% of recruited affiliates are dead weight).
— 6 drove one or two referrals each, mostly self-buys that clawed back.
— 3 were real. Their volume generated $220 in override.
— Their own active-referral commissions, meanwhile, stayed at $2,800.

The override they'd built a whole recruitment funnel for: $220, less than 8% of their direct earnings, and front-loaded with refunds.

Two-tier looks like leverage. In practice it's you doing 100% of the work to split a rounding error among ghosts.

Build the direct line. Skip the pyramid cosplay.