How to set custom commission rates for affiliates

Decide whether you are paying a percentage of each sale or a fixed amount. Also decide whether the rate applies to every affiliate, a group of affiliates, a product, or a particular affiliate selling a particular product.

Write down the priority you expect when rules overlap. For example, a storewide 10% rate might be the fallback, while selected products or affiliates receive a higher rate.

Open your affiliate plugin’s commission settings and set the default referral rate. Choose a percentage or flat amount, enter the value, and save the settings. In AffiliateWP, this is under AffiliateWP > Settings > Commissions. The default applies when no more specific rule exists.

Check how a flat rate is calculated. Depending on the integration, it may apply per product sold or once per order, which can produce very different payouts on larger orders.

To give one affiliate a different rate across their referrals, go to the affiliate list, open that affiliate’s profile, enter the custom referral rate, and save. This is useful for negotiated partnerships or affiliates who consistently deliver higher-value customers.

Remember that an individual rate can affect all products unless a more specific product-and-affiliate rule is configured. Record the agreement outside WordPress so you know why the rate was changed.

If only certain products should pay differently, edit the product in your ecommerce system and look for the affiliate settings in the product data area. In the WooCommerce integration, you can choose a percentage or flat rate and enter the product’s commission value. The product rate replaces the default rate for that product.

This manual route is fine when every affiliate gets the same rate for a product. It becomes difficult to manage when several affiliates need different rates for the same product.

The standard settings do not normally provide a separate rate for every affiliate-and-product combination. To set, for example, 10% for Affiliate A on Product 1 but 20% for Affiliate B on that same product, you need an extension that adds per-affiliate product rates.

With AffiliateWP Product Rates, activate the add-on, open AffiliateWP > Affiliates, edit the affiliate, and use the Product Rates section. Select one or more products, choose Percentage or Flat Rate, enter the amount, and update the affiliate. The custom rule then applies to that affiliate and those products.

Create a test order using the affiliate link or coupon and confirm the referral amount in your referrals report. Test a normal product, a product with a custom rate, and an order containing multiple products if you use flat commissions.

Watch for duplicate product rules. AffiliateWP documents that a product should not be added to more than one product-rate location, because the rate can be ignored when the same product is assigned more than once. Also check renewals, refunds, tax, shipping, and discounts before announcing the new rates.