"What does an affiliate sale actually cost us after refunds, fees and repeat purchases?" For many prop firms, a typical planning range is 20% to 40% of net collected challenge revenue for affiliate revenue share, or a fixed acquisition fee agreed in advance. The right figure depends on contribution after discounts, payment costs, refunds and trader payouts, not on the commission rate alone.
Affiliate and introducing broker, or IB, programmes can look similar in a tracking dashboard. Their commercial roles often differ. Affiliates usually send traffic or buyers in return for a commission. IBs may manage a local community, support traders or recruit sub-affiliates, and may expect recurring commission or territory-specific terms. Treat both as acquisition channels with their own costs, controls and cohort performance.
Decide what the programme is buying
Start with the commercial outcome. A click, email signup or challenge purchase is not the same as a retained, eligible funded trader.
If the partner is paid for a sale, the contract should define a valid sale and the period in which it can be reversed. If the partner is paid for a funded account, define what qualifies, including any minimum activity period and rule breaches.
Challenge sales are often the easiest event to track. But paying on the first purchase can reward low-quality traffic that arrives through a discount code, buys the cheapest evaluation and never engages again. Paying on funded status can reduce that risk, but partners may reject long delays, subjective decisions or conditions the firm controls.
- Revenue share: A percentage of eligible revenue. It aligns payout with sale value, but requires an exact definition of revenue and treatment of refunds, discounts and repeat purchases.
- CPA: A fixed payment for a validated action, such as a first challenge purchase. It makes spend easier to forecast, but the firm carries more downside if buyer quality drops.
- Hybrid: A smaller CPA plus revenue share, or a sale commission plus a quality bonus. This can balance partner cash flow with trader quality, though it adds tracking and reconciliation work.
For IBs, be explicit about whether compensation covers only directly referred traders or also a partner's sub-network. A multi-level arrangement can expand reach, but it creates another layer of cost and makes fraud, disclosure and payment oversight harder. Avoid paying an IB both for a direct sale and for a sub-affiliate sale unless the contract says which attribution rule wins.
Build the cost model before setting rates
Use net collected revenue as the starting base
Set a consistent commission base. A practical definition is money collected for eligible challenge purchases, less discounts, refunds and chargebacks. State whether taxes, payment processing fees, reset purchases and repeat challenges count. Gross checkout value can overstate the money available to share, particularly where discount codes are common.
Use the table as a starting point for planning, not as audited results for any named firm. These are typical market ranges and commercial conventions vary by geography, traffic source and partner bargaining power. Test rates against your own cohort data before committing to them.
| Cost or term | Typical affiliate range | Typical IB range | What to define |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue-share commission | 20% to 40% of eligible net sales | 10% to 25% of eligible net sales | Whether the rate applies to first sales, repeat purchases or both |
| Fixed CPA | $50 to $150 per validated first buyer | Negotiated, often tied to volume or quality | Validation period, refunds and duplicate customers |
| Attribution window | 30 to 90 days is a common planning range | 30 to 90 days, sometimes code-led | Click, code, last eligible referral and cross-device rules |
| Tracking costs | $100 to $500 monthly for basic software, or a network fee | Similar software costs, plus possible partner support | Whether network fees are fixed or a share of commission |
For example, 500 eligible purchases at an average net collected value of $120 produce $60,000 in sales. At a 30% revenue share, the commission is $18,000 before tracking, management and payment costs. If the firm also pays a network fee of 10% of commission, that adds $1,800. These figures are an illustration, not a performance benchmark.
Then compare the channel with other acquisition costs using the same definition of a buyer. A $60 affiliate cost per first purchase is not directly comparable with paid media cost per checkout if one figure excludes refunds and the other includes them. Calculate net contribution per referred buyer after commission, payment costs, discounts, customer support and the expected cost of any funded-trader payouts.
Model the second purchase and the funded cohort
Repeat purchases can change the economics quickly. If commission continues on resets or new challenges, estimate the frequency and margin of those purchases by referral cohort.
If the contract pays only on the first sale, say so clearly. Do not assume that a trader who buys several challenges is automatically more valuable: include refunds, abuse, support load and the probability of progressing to a funded account.
For funded traders, measure cohort contribution at 30, 90 and 180 days. Track eligible payouts, rule breaches, inactivity and retention alongside challenge revenue. Set a separate ceiling for partner acquisition cost if the expected liability or payout profile is materially different from the average buyer. A high-volume partner can have attractive sales numbers and poor contribution after funded-trader costs.
Set partner terms and controls before launch
Write attribution and payment rules in plain language
Partners need predictable terms. The firm needs records that can be checked later. Document the attribution window, referral-code priority, cookie rules, cross-device treatment, commission currency, minimum payout and payout schedule. A 14 to 30 day validation period is a common operational choice where firms need time to identify refunds or suspicious orders, but publish the rule and apply it consistently.
Agree how to handle these cases before traffic starts:
- A buyer clicks one partner's link, then uses another partner's discount code.
- A trader purchases through a referral link but already has an account.
- A sale is refunded, charged back or found to involve a prohibited payment method.
- An IB claims a sub-affiliate or regional relationship that is not recorded in the tracking system.
- A partner uses paid search, brand terms, email or coupon sites in ways that overlap with the firm's own campaigns.
Keep the rule set short enough to operate. Overly broad discretion to withhold commissions can damage partner trust.
Instead, define specific grounds for review, keep evidence and give partners a route to query a calculation. For reporting, reconcile the partner dashboard against payment processor records and internal customer IDs rather than treating clicks as proof of a payable sale.
Control quality, claims and channel overlap
Set written restrictions on misleading earnings claims, unauthorised creative, impersonation, spam, brand bidding and unapproved sub-affiliates. Require disclosure of paid promotion where applicable, and check local advertising and financial-promotion rules with qualified counsel. The firm remains exposed to reputational and compliance risk even when a partner created the content.
Use a small test group before opening recruitment widely. Review traffic source, conversion to first purchase, refund and chargeback rates, repeat purchase behaviour, funded conversion and net contribution. Put partners into tiers only when the evidence supports a different rate. For instance, a higher rate might require consistent sales volume and acceptable quality over a defined review period, not a promise of future volume.
For teams that need support planning and producing partner campaign material, prop-firm.ai lists its AI marketing agent at $99 a month. That is a separate operating cost, not a substitute for tracking, partner vetting or compliance review.
Review contribution, then decide where to scale
Review affiliate and IB performance monthly, but avoid changing terms on a handful of sales. Compare partners by cohort and acquisition route, then separate incremental customers from buyers who would likely have purchased anyway through branded search, email or a direct visit.
Coupon-code attribution can over-credit partners who intercepted existing demand, while last-click tracking can miss earlier influence. Use tagged links, codes and customer-level checks together, and record the limits of each.
A useful partner scorecard includes:
- Eligible net sales and commission payable.
- New-customer share, refund rate and chargebacks.
- Challenge progression and funded-trader conversion.
- 90-day contribution after commissions, discounts and servicing costs.
- Policy breaches, support effort and any overlap with paid or owned channels.
Scale only when the additional volume keeps acceptable contribution and operational quality. A partner with lower sales but clean referrals may be more valuable than a large account that depends on steep discounts or repeated manual intervention. The right rate is the highest rate the cohort economics can support, with enough margin left for the firm to manage funded traders responsibly.
What should the next team meeting test first: the commission rate, the attribution rules, or the contribution of each partner's funded-trader cohort?
Frequently Asked Questions
What commission should a prop firm pay affiliates?
Typical planning ranges are 20% to 40% of eligible net sales for revenue share, or $50 to $150 per validated first buyer for a fixed CPA. The viable rate depends on discounts, refunds, payment costs and the value of later challenge purchases.
How is an IB programme different from an affiliate programme?
Affiliates typically refer buyers for commission. IBs may also manage a trading community, support a region or recruit sub-affiliates, so their terms can include recurring revenue share and extra oversight.
How should a prop firm attribute affiliate sales?
Define the attribution window and precedence rules for links, codes and existing customers before launch. Reconcile tracking data against customer and payment records, and document how refunds, duplicate accounts and chargebacks affect commission.
