Affiliate Marketing Point Twenty-Four

Affiliate Marketing Point 24: Read The Terms and Conditions

This is where a lot of affiliates fail. They simply don’t take the time to read through the terms and conditions, as well as the affiliate agreement. This is often called ‘fine print.’ Even if you have to squint or use a magnifying glass, make sure you read and understand every part of each of these legal documents.

The terms and conditions will most likely let you know the company’s policy regarding spam and/or the use of spam to promote their products, their tracking system, their liabilities, and what they will not be held legally responsible for – such as failure of the tracking system to track a sale. It should also tell you under what conditions you will be removed from the program, and what would give them the right to not pay you commissions that you have earned.

In most cases, you don’t need a lawyer to interpret these things for you. You can read through the terms and conditions and make sure that it is at the very least ‘standard.’ If there is anything within the terms and conditions that you do not understand, you should contact the company for clarification before you promote the product.

The affiliate agreement, on the other hand, simply states that you agree to the terms and conditions and that you understand them. The commission structure may be part of either the affiliate agreement or the terms and conditions. You should also be able to find out how and when commissions are paid in this information as well.

In most cases, you will have to check a box stating that you have read and understand the terms and conditions, and possibly the agreement, and that your submission of the sign up form is evidence of that.

Things that you really want to watch out for in these legal documents is the information that tells you why the company may not pay you. Not paying for the first x number of sales should give you reason to pause. A sale is a sale, whether it is the first or the tenth, and you should be compensated for all of them.

If you see that the company will not pay you until you’ve earned a large amount in commissions, this is also a cause to pause. It is realistic for a company to hold your commissions until your sales reach $25 or even $50. It costs the company money to issue checks, and when you consider paying a payroll department, the cost of mailing the check, bank fees, and the cost of the check itself, it isn’t reasonable to issue a check that costs more to issue than the company earned from the sales you made. But to withhold commissions until you’ve reached $500 or $1000 in commissions isn’t reasonable.