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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What's a typical affiliate commission rate for ecommerce?
Most DTC and ecommerce brands pay 10-15% commission to affiliates. Higher-margin categories (beauty, supplements) can pay 20-25%. Lower-margin (electronics, apparel) often pay 5-8%. Above 25% is rare and usually unprofitable after attribution overlap is factored in.
What is attribution overlap in affiliate marketing?
Attribution overlap is the percentage of "affiliate-attributed" sales that would have happened anyway via direct, organic search, or email. Affiliates often capture the last click on customers who were already converting, so paying commission represents pure margin loss on those orders. Typical overlap: 15-30%, depending on whether the affiliate is genuinely driving new traffic.
How do I measure if my affiliate program is truly incremental?
Run a holdout test: temporarily disable a specific affiliate or pause the program for 30 days and compare revenue to your baseline. Some platforms let you do A/B incrementality tests automatically. If revenue drops by 90% of attributed amount, overlap is 10%. If revenue drops by 50%, overlap is 50% and you're paying for theft.
How does Tapfiliate pricing compare to other platforms?
Tapfiliate has tiered pricing: Essential ($69/mo), Pro ($149/mo), Enterprise (custom). Refersion runs $89-499/mo. ShareASale takes a 20% override on commissions (no monthly fee but higher long-run cost). PartnerStack is enterprise-priced. For most growing brands, $69-150/mo is a fair starting point.
Should I offer different commission rates by affiliate tier?
Yes. Tiered structures protect margin while rewarding top performers. A common structure: 10% for new affiliates (months 1-3 trial), 15% for proven affiliates, 20% for top tier (50+ orders/month). This keeps program-wide commission rate around 12-13% blended.
Do affiliate sales hurt ROAS reporting in ad accounts?
Sometimes, yes. If affiliates promote your products through channels that overlap with paid traffic (e.g., influencer who also runs Meta ads), attribution gets muddled and your reported ROAS may understate paid performance. Best practice: report affiliate and paid separately and use a multi-touch model to understand true contribution.
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