Affiliate Commission Calculator
Set an affiliate commission that survives arithmetic: the ceiling is your contribution margin, the floor is what the best affiliate actually earns elsewhere, and incrementality decides what the channel truly costs per customer.
Affiliate Commission Calculator
Results recalculate instantly on every keystroke. Nothing you type is transmitted.
What this result does not account for
- No network fees, fraud costs or clawback mechanics.
- Incrementality is an input — measure it, do not hope it.
- One rate for all partners; tiered structures need per-partner runs.
In short: 1,000 clicks at 2.6% CVR and a 128.00 AOV earn an affiliate 0.26624 EPC at 8% — and cost you 10.24 of the 53.76 contribution per order. The ceiling is 42%, a 20% rate eats 47.62% of the margin, and at 70% incrementality the true CAC is 14.63, about a fifth of paid.
Formula
commission per order = AOV × rate
net per order = contribution − commission
affiliate EPC = rate × AOV × CVR
true CAC = (AOV × rate) ÷ incremental share
[('ceiling', 'the contribution margin — never a convention'), ('EPC', 'what the affiliate earns per click'), ('incrementality', 'the share of orders you actually created'), ('true CAC', 'commission per incremental order')]
Worked Example
- Convert the rate into currency per order on the AOV.
- Subtract from per-order contribution for your net.
- Multiply rate × AOV × CVR for the affiliate's EPC.
- Discount by incrementality for the true cost per customer.
- Compare the rate against the margin ceiling, not against folklore.
26 orders from 1,000 clicks at 2.6%. Commission at 8% of a 128.00 AOV is 10.24 per order against 53.76 of contribution: 43.52 net per order, 1,131.52 of monthly net, and a 0.26624 EPC for the affiliate. At 70% incrementality the true CAC is 14.6286 — 18.81% of the 77.7650 paid CAC. A 20% rate would take 25.60 per order and eat 47.62% of the margin; 42% is the ceiling where net reaches zero.
Strengths & Limits Of This Model
Where this engine is strong
- Prints the margin ceiling beside the live rate
- Splits headline CAC into incremental truth
- Same EPC on both sides of the negotiation
Where it stops
- One rate, one partner shape
- No returns clawback modelling
Practical Use Cases
Program design
A ceiling and an EPC before the first conversation.
Rate negotiations
Pay for incrementality, not for last touch.
Coupon-site audits
Pricing the demand that was already yours.
Affiliate recruitment
An EPC you can prove to a professional.
Margin reviews
Commission drift checked against the ceiling.
Methodology & Editorial Standards
Commission is a percentage of order value, so per-order cost is AOV times rate and your net is contribution minus that line. The ceiling printed next to the rate is the contribution margin itself, expressed both as a percentage and as the rate at which net reaches zero. EPC is rate times AOV times CVR — identical by construction to program A on the affiliate-side comparison page. True CAC divides commission per order by the incremental share, the only version of the number that can be compared with paid acquisition honestly.
Computation runs in IEEE-754 double precision at full internal precision; rounding to two decimal places occurs strictly at the display layer, so no cumulative drift enters the result. All monetary outputs use accounting presentation — grouped thousands, two decimals, negatives in parentheses — so figures can be transcribed directly into a model or working paper. Division-by-zero and out-of-domain inputs return an em-dash rather than a misleading number.
This engine was reconciled against an independent reference implementation and hand-verified for the worked example above before release. Our full five-stage review process is published on the About Us page.
Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for informational and modelling purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Verify all figures with a qualified professional before acting on them.
Affiliate Commission Calculator — 10 Expert FAQs
10 analyst-written answers to the questions practitioners actually ask — optimised for voice and answer-engine retrieval.
What commission rate should an ecommerce store pay?
Whatever leaves a positive net over contribution — physical-goods programs commonly sit at 5–15% of revenue, but the binding constraint is arithmetic, not convention: rate times AOV must stay inside the contribution line, with room for network fees and fraud on top.
Is paying commission on all affiliate orders wrong?
It is the industry default and it overpays: coupon and cashback placements largely capture existing demand. The defensible structure pays full commission on incremental orders and treats the rest as a targeted discount you approve deliberately.
How does the affiliate's EPC affect my program?
Professionals allocate traffic by EPC — earnings per click. A program whose EPC trails the alternatives is demoted regardless of relationship, so the rate you set is also a bidding tool for someone else's audience.
Should commission be a percentage or a flat fee?
Percentage tracks order value and needs no renegotiation as the AOV moves; flat fees are simpler and predictable on narrow catalogues. The ceiling test applies to both: convert whatever structure you choose into currency per order and compare it with contribution.
Does commission apply to shipping and tax?
Define the base. Revenue including shipping and tax pays the affiliate on money you partly never keep; most mature programs define the base as product revenue net of tax, and the strictest net it against returns.
How does returns volume change the arithmetic?
A returned order paid full commission is a pure loss plus processing. Net the commission base against refunds, or fund a clawback window — the rate on paper and the rate realised differ by exactly the return rate.
What incrementality should I assume for coupon sites?
Low, and falling with brand strength — their traffic arrives holding your URL. Measure with a de-listing test if the relationship is large enough to matter; assume the harvest case until proven otherwise.
Can commission exceed the margin briefly?
Deliberately, as a launch incentive, with a sunset date. The danger is drift: emergency rates quietly become the standing program, which is why this page prints the ceiling next to the current rate as a ratio.
How is this different from the EPC comparison page?
That page is the affiliate's seat: choosing between programs by earnings per click. This one is the merchant's seat: setting the rate, the ceiling and the true cost per customer. The EPC figure on both pages is the same number by construction.
Do I pay commission on the discount or the pre-discount price?
On what the customer actually paid, unless you intend to subsidise discounting twice. Commission on list price during a 20%-off promotion hands the affiliate a raise precisely when your margin is thinnest.