How Affiliate Campaigns Work for You
No fee and no escrow, paid on results. The 35 day hold, the Stripe setup you need first, and why it is five to seven weeks.
What this guide covers
How this differs from a paid collaboration
No fee, no escrow, no deadline. You earn only if someone buys.
| Affiliate | Paid collaboration | |
|---|---|---|
| You are paid | A percentage of each sale you drive | A fixed fee agreed up front |
| Money held for you | None | The full price, before you start |
| When you are paid | Roughly five to seven weeks after the sale | On approval, then one to two weeks to withdraw |
| If nothing sells | You earn nothing | You are still paid |
| A deadline | None | Yes, and it refunds the brand if missed |
The honest trade: affiliate rewards reach and conversion, not effort. If your audience buys, it can outearn a fee many times over. If it does not, you have worked for nothing, which is why many creators prefer a fee plus commission rather than commission alone.
Setting up once, before anything else
Affiliate earnings run through Stripe Connect, not through your Ainfluencer wallet.
Connect Stripe first
Nothing can be paid to you until this exists. Do it before you promote anything.
Your Stripe country is fixed by your verified phone number
Once a Stripe account exists, its country cannot be changed. If it is wrong, support needs the dev team to remove the connection.
This is separate from collaboration payouts
Those are PayPal or crypto from your Ainfluencer wallet. Affiliate money never appears there.
Because it is a different system, a creator can have money waiting in both places at once and only notice one. Check the affiliate side separately.
Getting and using your links
You generate a tracking link per product. The link is what ties a sale to you.
Join the programme first
A partnership has to be approved before your links earn anything. Links made before approval do not count.
One link per product
Generate them from the product you are promoting, not a generic store link.
Coupon codes where offered
Some sellers give unique codes, which track the same way and often convert better.
Do not shorten or rewrite them
The tracking lives in the URL. Changing it breaks attribution and you lose the sale.
What you actually earn
A percentage of the product price, not of the order total.
| Included in the calculation | Not included |
|---|---|
| The product price | Shipping |
| After any discount code the buyer used | Tax |
| Platform fees |
So a $100 product with a 10% discount at 20% commission earns you $18, not $20.
Rates in use today run from 5% to 50% set per product, and sellers can agree a custom rate with you individually, which overrides it. Rates agreed that way currently run from 10% to 60%. If you drive real volume, ask. There is no automatic bonus that lifts your rate, so it only changes if someone changes it.
When the money actually arrives
Longer than almost anyone expects, and worth knowing before you plan around it.
A sale this week is money in your bank around week six.
A 35 day hold
A sale must be at least 35 days old before it can be billed. This covers the returns window.
Then the nightly billing run
The seller’s card is charged. If their card fails, every affiliate on that programme waits.
Then Stripe Connect to your bank
On Stripe’s own payout schedule for your account.
Roughly five to seven weeks in total
Sometimes more if the seller’s card has a problem.
Returns, reversals and missing commission
A sale that comes back takes the commission with it.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| The buyer returns the item | The commission reverses. Your pending balance drops |
| It was already paid out to you | It is clawed back from your next payout |
| The order was cancelled | Same as a return |
| Sales are over 40 days old and nothing has appeared | Worth raising. Check your Stripe is connected and then contact support |
Reversals sync automatically from Shopify and Amazon, so neither you nor the seller manages them by hand.
A high reversal rate on one programme usually says something about the product, the sizing or the shipping rather than about your audience. If one seller reverses far more than the others, that is a reason to promote something else.
From joining a programme to money in your bank
Every step, including the two long waits.
Want ongoing income rather than one-off fees?
Connect Stripe first, then browse the Affiliate tab in the app.
