Recurring commission
Pay on month one. And month twelve.
A recurring commission pays the affiliate on every payment a referred customer makes, not only the first. On a $99 monthly subscription at 20%, the affiliate earns $19.80 in month one and again in month two, for as long as the plan allows. Most programs cap it by number of payments or by months.
- Recalculated on every charge
- Cap by payments or months
- Step down instead of stopping
How recurring commission is calculated
Every charge triggers a fresh calculation. That one fact is why subscription businesses can afford aggressive headline rates.
A percentage follows the money
Upgrades raise the commission automatically. Downgrades lower it.
A flat rate ignores it
Same figure every payment. Simpler to explain, worse at tracking value.
It buys you retention
A partner paid on renewals cares whether the customer stays. A one-time partner does not.
In Referly
Recurring, capped, stepped down
One plan holds the rate, whether it repeats, how long it repeats for, and what it drops to afterwards. Zero in either cap field means it never stops.
See commission plansTry it
Two years of one referred customer
One-time instead
$19.80
Month 1 only
Recurring total
$356
Over 24 months
15.0% of the $2,376 that customer pays you over two years.
| Customer upgrades | A percentage rate follows the new amount from the next charge. |
|---|---|
| Customer churns | Payments stop. Commission already earned on collected payments is kept. |
| Payment is refunded | Detected from the provider, the sale is marked refunded and the commission reverses. |
Caps and step-downs
A cap ends the earning. A step-down lowers it and keeps going. The second one is easier to recruit against, because nobody is told their income stops.
- Cap by payments
- 12 payments, then stop
- Cap by months
- 12 months, then stop
- Step-down
- 20% for 12 payments, then 10%
Zero means unlimited. The plan editor calls it exactly that.
Whichever limit comes first applies.
The rate drops instead of ending, for as long as the customer stays.
What happens on churn, upgrade and refund
The three events every recurring plan has to answer for. Two are simple. The third is why the holding period exists.
Churn: payments stop
Commission already earned on collected payments stays earned.
Upgrade: the rate follows
A percentage plan tracks the new amount from the next charge.
Refund: automatic reversal
Referly detects it from the payment provider and takes the commission back off the books.
Payments or months
Cap by
Zero in either field means no limit.
Scheduled
Step-downs
The rate drops after a set period instead of ending.
Reversed
On refund
Detected from the payment provider, on every plan.
The team is very proactive in developing it and adding new features. But the customer support? Outstanding. I love the openness and the willingness to help even with little things.
Hilmee
Founder
Related terms
All ten termsEPC (earnings per click)
Earnings per click: what one click on a partner's link is worth, on average.
Net 30 payout
Commission is paid 30 days after it is approved, so refunds can surface first.
Cookie window
How long after a click a sale still counts for the affiliate who sent it.
Referral program
A program that rewards your existing customers for bringing you new ones.