By payout · Revenue share
Revenue Share
Affiliate Programs
A Percentage Means Nothing Until You Know What It Is a Percentage Of
Every other payout model tells you the amount at the moment the conversion fires. This one tells you a rate and leaves the amount to be worked out from somebody else's number. So the line that decides your earnings is not the percentage — it is the commission base, and the list of things that come out of it first.
- A percent, not a flat fee
- Nine things can come out first
- Hybrids pay on both
- What you are paid
- A percentage, not a fixed amount
- What decides it
- The base — what the percentage is taken from
- Read before the rate
- Which deductions come out first
- Hybrid
- A flat amount on one event, a share on the rest
Start here
Three things the word covers
“Revenue share” describes what the payout is calculated from. It says nothing about how often you are paid — which is a separate property that travels with it often enough to get confused for it. Sort that out first.
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Meaning one
A share of one order
Paid once, worked out afterwards.
The percentage applies to a single purchase and the relationship ends there. It behaves like a pay-per-action campaign with the amount calculated after the fact rather than agreed in advance — which is exactly why the base below matters.
Used where order size varies too much for a flat amount.
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Meaning two
A share of each billing cycle
The subscription shape.
The percentage applies again every time the customer is billed, for however many cycles the brief names. Repetition is a subject of its own here — how many, what stops it, and what “lifetime” actually promises.
Covered in full on recurring commission programs.
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Meaning three
A share of ongoing spend
No fixed price to check it against.
Where what the customer pays moves period to period because their usage does, rather than sitting at a plan price. The base definition matters most in this shape, because there is no list price to measure the number you are shown against.
Read the base definition before the percentage.
A share of one order repeats zero times, and a flat amount can repeat every month — which is why the two properties are worth holding apart. Everything about repetition, including what “lifetime” actually promises and what stops a line, is on recurring commission programs. The three models set beside each other are on payout models, and the five questions to ask of any subscription brief are on SaaS and cloud campaigns. This page is the base.
The line that decides the rest
The rate is not the payout — the base is
The network's own description of this model is one sentence long and exact: the share is a percent, not a flat fee. Five things follow from that, and every publisher who has been surprised by a revenue share statement was surprised by one of them.
- 01
A percent is only half a term
The published description of this model is exact: the share is a percent, not a flat fee. Which makes the figure on the brief unreadable on its own — a fifth of the price the customer paid and a fifth of what the advertiser keeps are two different agreements wearing the same number.
- 02
The base is where campaigns actually differ
Two campaigns can print an identical percentage and pay very differently, because one applies it to the whole order and the other applies it once tax, shipping, discounts, fees and excluded lines have come out. The rate is the part everybody compares. The base is the part that decides.
- 03
You cannot audit the base yourself
With a flat amount you know what you earned the moment the conversion fires. With a share you are told what somebody else's number was. That is not a reason to avoid the model — it is a reason to read the definition before you apply, and to label placements so the report can be read against something.
- 04
What comes out later comes out of your share
A refund, a chargeback, a downgrade or a cancellation reduces what the customer spent, which reduces what the percentage was applied to. Refunds and traffic that fails review reverse a commission with the reason shown, so a reversal always says which campaign and why.
- 05
It starts small and compounds — or it does not
The published line is that this model starts small and compounds if your audience sticks around. Both halves are real. Read a share as a position that depends on retention you do not control, rather than as a larger version of a flat payout.
Rows one and five are quoted rather than paraphrased — both are published on payout models, along with the definition of a cycle. What a reversal looks like when it arrives, and the states a conversion passes through before it is yours, are on publisher payouts. Nothing on this page says which base is common or which model pays more: that would be a number nobody has measured, on a page arguing that you should read the definition instead of the number.
Before your percentage is applied
Nine things that can come out first
None of these is unfair and none of them is hidden — they are simply written in a different line from the rate. Read this column against the brief in front of you, because a campaign can apply all nine, none of them, or any mixture.
| What can come out | What it does to your share | Where it is written |
|---|---|---|
| Tax or VAT | Collected from the customer rather than earned by the advertiser. A base “net of tax” is smaller than the figure on the receipt by whatever the rate is in that market. | Commission base |
| Shipping and handling | Money collected and then handed to a carrier rather than kept. Whether it sits inside or outside the base is a line on the brief, not something to assume either way. | Commission base |
| Discount codes and promotions | The price actually paid rather than the price listed. A campaign that discounts itself heavily is quietly reducing every share it pays out. | Commission base |
| Payment processing fees | Taken by the processor before the advertiser sees the money. A base described as “net revenue” may or may not have these removed — the phrase alone does not say. | Commission base |
| Returns, refunds and chargebacks | Removed after the conversion has already been credited, which reverses the share with it. The reversal names its reason and the campaign it came from. | Validation rules |
| Excluded product lines | Some categories inside a catalogue sit outside the campaign entirely. A basket can be mostly excluded and still look large on the order confirmation. | Product scope |
| Renewal price versus first term | Where a subscription renews at a different price from the one it started on, the base moves with it and the share follows the new number rather than the old one. | Payout terms |
| Downgrades and seat reductions | The customer stays but spends less. On a repeating share the amount is recalculated rather than paused, so the line keeps paying at a smaller size. | Payout terms |
| Currency and conversion | Where the customer pays in one currency and your balance is held in another, the amount is converted somewhere. Which rate applies, and when, is worth asking rather than assuming. | Payout terms |
Two of the nine are not about the base at all: returns and excluded lines decide whether a conversion counts, which is the validation half of the same question. What every line of a brief decides is on affiliate programs, compared, and where a market is not listed a conversion is rejected rather than repriced — worth remembering on a model whose amount is already somebody else's arithmetic.
The third word
Hybrid: paid on both
A hybrid campaign pays a fixed amount on one event and a share on what follows. It solves a real problem for both sides — the advertiser wants the customer kept, you want something before the tail arrives — and it adds one line you have to read twice.
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Shape one
Flat on the first event, share on the rest
A fixed amount when the customer first converts, then a percentage of what they spend afterwards — the site's own wording for it is “a smaller one-off amount on the first event plus a share of what follows it”. You are paid something immediately and something later, which fills the gap a pure share leaves at the start.
Read both halves as one offer, not as a flat deal with a bonus.
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Shape two
Share on the order, flat bonus on a new customer
The retail arrangement: a percentage of the basket with a flat addition when the buyer is new to the advertiser. The word doing the work is “new” — it is the advertiser's definition of a first-time customer, and it is theirs rather than yours.
Find out what counts as new before you build a page around the bonus.
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Shape three
Flat up front, share for a named number of cycles
A fixed amount at the start and a share that runs for a stated term rather than indefinitely. It is the arrangement that looks weakest against a pure share and strongest against a pure flat, which is why it has to be judged across the whole period instead of at either end.
Judge it over the full term, never against one half of itself.
The first two shapes are the site's own wording, quoted from where they already appear: the one-off-plus-share arrangement on recurring commission programs, and the basket-plus-new-customer-bonus on e-commerce and retail campaigns. Nothing here says how many campaigns run a hybrid — the brief names the arrangement, and the campaign index is where availability lives.
How to choose
Comparing a share against a flat amount
Four steps, and no arithmetic you could get wrong. The point is to stop comparing two numbers that are not measuring the same thing — which is the mistake this model invites more than any other.
- 01
Find the base before the rate
On the brief the commission base is a line of its own. Read it first: a percentage with no base attached is not yet a number, and comparing two of them without their bases is comparing nothing.
- 02
Write down what comes out
Tax, shipping, discounts, processing fees, excluded lines. The nine above are the usual candidates and the brief names which of them apply to this campaign.
- 03
Put both offers on the same event
A flat amount and a share only compare when they are lined up against the same qualifying action. A share of a renewal set beside a flat amount on a signup tells you nothing at all.
- 04
Judge the tail, not the first payment
A share is a position rather than a transaction. Decide whether you believe your audience will still be there when the later cycles land, because that belief is the thing you are actually buying.
Step four is the only one that is a judgement rather than a reading task, and it is the one worth being honest with yourself about. Label every placement while you are at it: a share and a flat payout landing in the same balance cannot be told apart afterwards without sub IDs, and each link carries five slots you fill yourself — tracking links covers the anatomy and the test conversion.
Decide
Which instrument suits which publisher
Both columns are correct answers. Neither model is better in the abstract — they reward different things, and the difference is mostly about whether you will still be in touch with the reader a year from now.
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A share tends to suit
- An audience you own and stay in contact with
- Products where the order size varies a lot between buyers
- Subscriptions, and anything else with a renewal date
- Readers you expect to expand — more seats, larger plans, repeat orders
- A page you intend to keep accurate for years rather than months
- Patience: the first month on a share is the slow one
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A flat amount tends to suit
- Search traffic that converts once and moves on
- Paid traffic, where you need a known number to price a click against
- Products with a narrow and predictable order value
- A campaign whose base you cannot check and do not want to model
- Cash flow you need this quarter rather than next year
- Anything you plan to test quickly and drop if it does not work
You do not have to pick one: many publishers hold a flat campaign and a share campaign side by side, because one pays now and one pays later. Approval is granted per campaign, so nothing stops you running both — how approval works covers the review, and the payment schedule covers when either of them actually lands.
Questions
Revenue share questions
What publishers ask before committing traffic to a model where the amount is worked out after the conversion rather than before it.
What is a revenue share affiliate program?
One where you earn a share of what the customer spends rather than a fixed amount per conversion. The share is a percent, not a flat fee, which means the figure on the brief is only half the term — the other half is the commission base, the thing that percentage is applied to. Read them together or the number tells you nothing.
Is revenue share the same as recurring commission?
No, and confusing them costs money. Revenue share describes what the payout is calculated from — a percentage of somebody's spend. Recurring describes how many times you are paid. A share of a single order repeats zero times, and a flat amount can repeat every month. Repetition, including what “lifetime” actually promises, has a page of its own.
What is the commission base?
The amount your percentage is applied to, and it is a separate line on the brief from the rate. It might be the price on the receipt, or that price after tax, shipping, discount codes, processing fees and excluded product lines have come out. Two campaigns printing the same percentage can pay very differently for exactly this reason.
What is a hybrid affiliate program?
A campaign that pays a fixed amount on one event and a share on what follows. The common arrangements are a one-off amount on the first conversion plus a share of later spend, and a percentage of the basket with a flat bonus when the buyer is new to the advertiser. Judge a hybrid as a single offer across the whole period rather than as a flat deal with something attached.
Do revenue share campaigns pay forever?
They pay while the customer stays active. Each brief states the length of that window, and some run for a set term instead. “Lifetime” is not one thing either — it can mean the life of the account or lifetime attribution of that customer to you, which are different promises. The brief is the only place that settles which applies.
Does a refund take the share back?
Yes. Refunds and traffic that fails review reverse a commission, and the reversal shows its reason. On a share this cuts twice: the conversion is removed, and on a repeating line the base itself shrinks if the customer downgrades rather than leaves, so the line keeps paying at a smaller size.
Is revenue share better than a flat payout?
Neither is better as a rule — they are different instruments. A share rewards an audience you keep in touch with and products where order size varies; a flat amount rewards traffic that converts once and anything you need to price a click against. The honest comparison is both offers lined up on the same qualifying action, with the base written out.
Can I run a share campaign and a flat one at the same time?
Yes, and many publishers do — one pays now, one pays later. Approval is per campaign, so nothing stops you holding both. Label each placement in its own sub ID, because a share and a flat payout arriving in the same balance are impossible to tell apart otherwise.
Which traffic sources are accepted?
It is set per campaign and printed on the brief, and anything not marked allowed should be read as refused. Brand bidding is refused network-wide unless a campaign permits it, and incentivised clicks only count where the advertiser has tagged the campaign for them.
When does the money arrive?
A share is added once the advertiser confirms the amount for that period, sits pending while it validates, waits out the campaign's hold, and joins the next payment run after the balance clears the minimum. On a repeating line the first month is the slow one and every month after it stacks on the last.
Keep reading
- Payout models CPA, CPL and RevShare compared side by side in five rows
- Recurring commission programs How many times you are paid, and what “lifetime” covers
- CPA affiliate programs The flat instrument: what counts as the action, and what reverses it
- SaaS & cloud campaigns The five questions to ask of any subscription brief
- Publisher payouts Pending, approved, held — and what a reversal looks like
- Affiliate programs, compared What every line of a campaign brief decides
Read the base, then pick the campaign
Create your publisher account, then compare the share campaigns whose commission base, cycle terms and markets match the audience you already reach.