Frequently asked questions

Link Flow Affiliates is a performance-based affiliate marketing platform where brands list products and affiliates compete for tier positions on each product. Unlike traditional programs, top-tier affiliates earn their % on every single sale the brand makes for that product — regardless of who referred the customer. Brands fund a prepaid balance; commissions are calculated and deducted automatically when sales are tracked.

Traditional affiliate programs only pay you on sales you personally refer. Link Flow is different: affiliates ranked by personal referred sales claim tier slots on a competitive 10-tier ladder, and each tier holder earns their level percentage on every single sale the brand makes for that product — regardless of who referred the customer. Referring affiliates also receive a separate referral commission on conversions they personally bring in.

Brands that want motivated, competitive promotion of their products, and affiliates who want to build recurring tier commission income by climbing leaderboards — not just one-off referral commissions.

Affiliates can join for free, browse products, generate referral links, and compete for tier positions. Brands create an account to list products; you only pay commissions when tracked sales occur, funded from your prepaid balance.

Two ways: (1) Tier commission — hold a position in the top 10 and earn that level’s percentage on every single sale the brand makes for that product while you hold the slot — regardless of who referred the customer. (2) referral commission — earn an extra commission on sales you personally refer through your link or code. Many affiliates combine both by referring customers and climbing the leaderboard to claim a tier.

Each product has up to 10 tier slots (Level 1 is highest). Affiliates are ranked by personal referred sales on that product. The top-ranked affiliate holds Level 1, second holds Level 2, and so on. Rankings update when referred sales are recorded, so positions can change as affiliates compete.

Yes. Tier positions are competitive. If another affiliate surpasses you on referred sales, they can take your slot on the next ranking update. That is intentional — it keeps affiliates actively promoting.

Yes — that is the core advantage and the biggest difference from traditional affiliate programs. While you hold a tier position, you earn your level’s commission percentage on every single sale the brand makes for that product, regardless of who referred the customer. You share in all product sales, not just your own referrals.

After signing up, browse approved products in your affiliate dashboard, open a product, and generate a unique referral link or code. Share that link in your content, ads, or email. When someone purchases through your attribution path, the sale can credit your referral.

Commissions accrue in your account as sales are tracked. You can connect a Stripe account to receive payouts. Payout requests are processed according to platform rules; check your affiliate dashboard for balance, history, and payout status.

Sign up as a brand, add products with photos, pricing, and destination URLs, configure commission tiers (or use defaults), and submit for approval. Once live, affiliates can promote your products. Install the tracking snippet on your order confirmation page so completed purchases are recorded automatically.

Similar to ShareASale-style prepaid funding, brands deposit funds into a prepaid balance via Stripe. When a sale is tracked, commissions (tier position payouts, referral commissiones, and platform share) are deducted from that balance. This ensures affiliates are always funded and brands only pay for real results.

Your dashboard shows your prepaid balance and warns you when funds are low. Sales may be blocked if your balance cannot cover the commissions for a transaction. You can add funds anytime from the billing page, and optional auto-reload can top up your balance when it drops below a threshold you set.

Yes. Each product supports up to 10 tier levels with custom labels and percentages. Default tiers are provided out of the box, but you can adjust them when creating or editing a product to match your margins and promotion strategy.

Open Brand Setup and follow the guided wizard for your platform. First install the required site-wide header script (first-click attribution, 90 days), then paste the sale tracking code on your order confirmation / thank-you page with each order’s product ID and amount. That combination records sales and keeps affiliate credit reliable through checkout.

No, once tracking is installed sales are recorded automatically on the confirmation page. You can also use test mode during development to verify payloads in the browser console without affecting production data.

The default 10-tier commission ladder is: Level 1: 3.70%, Level 2: 2.20%, Level 3: 1.75%, Level 4: 1.45%, Level 5: 1.20%, Level 6: 1.05%, Level 7: 0.90%, Level 8: 0.75%, Level 9: 0.60%, Level 10: 0.45%. The default referral commission is 5.00% on sales an affiliate personally refers. Platform share is 1.00% per sale. When all 10 tiers are filled and a referral is attributed, total commission per sale is 20.05%.

Tier commission is paid to whoever holds each of the top 10 tier slots (L1–L10) on every single sale the brand makes for that product — regardless of who referred the customer. Referral commission is a separate commission paid only to the affiliate who referred that specific customer. A referring affiliate can earn both their referral commission and their tier commission if they also hold a tier position.

1.00% of each sale is reserved as platform share and included in the total commission calculation. It is part of the brand’s per-sale cost alongside affiliate commissions.

Commissions are calculated from the sale amount you pass in the tracking snippet (typically the order total for that product). Use the same value consistently in your checkout integration.

No. Each tier level has one slot per product, and an affiliate can only hold one tier position per product at a time. Competition is for individual levels on the leaderboard.

Link Flow uses first-click attribution with a 90-day cookie. The first affiliate link a shopper clicks is locked for 90 days; later affiliate links do not replace it until that window expires. Brands must install the required header persistence script plus thank-you page tracking so the first click is stored and sent with the sale. The referring affiliate then receives the referral commission and the sale can count toward their leaderboard ranking.

Yes. Without the site-wide header script, multi-step checkouts often drop the referral code before the thank-you page, so affiliates may not get credit. The script captures the first affiliate click and keeps it for 90 days. After 90 days, the next affiliate link clicked becomes the new referrer.

If cookies and browser storage are cleared, first-click memory is lost for that shopper and a later affiliate click (or none) may apply. Installing the required header script maximizes the chance attribution survives normal browsing and checkout; it cannot recover data the customer deliberately deleted.

Yes. Brands use one universal snippet on the confirmation page. You pass the product ID and order amount per transaction — the platform routes commissions to the correct product and tier holders automatically.

Enable Test Mode in Brand Setup. Snippets target your local environment, log payloads to the browser console, and prefix order IDs with test_ so test sales are distinguishable from production.

Accounts are role-based at signup (affiliate, brand, or admin). Use the login path that matches how you registered. If you need a different role, contact support or create a separate account with a different email.

New brand products are submitted as PENDING until reviewed. Approved products appear in the affiliate catalog; rejected or draft products are not publicly promotable.

Affiliates: start at For Affiliates and your dashboard product pages. Brands: see For Brands, Brand Setup (tracking code), and Billing (prepaid funds). Your dashboard surfaces the next steps after login.