Definition
Multi-tier commission
A multi-tier commission pays an affiliate on the sales of the affiliates they recruited, on top of their own.
Marie recruits Paul into the program. Paul makes sales. Marie earns a percentage — much smaller — on what Paul generated. The essential point, often misunderstood: that share is paid by the merchant on top of Paul's commission, never taken out of it. Paul earns exactly what he would have earned without Marie.
The point is to turn your best affiliates into recruiters. Someone who knows the product and its ecosystem finds affiliates faster than a marketing team, and multi-tier gives them a reason to do it.
Two tiers is enough, and it is worth stopping there. Beyond that the structure starts to look like a pyramid compensation scheme, which serious affiliates spot immediately and avoid. The fraud angle is the same either way: someone creating a second account to recruit themselves earns twice on every sale, which is the same mechanism as self-referral.
At earnwithaffiliate
Available from the Launch plan, on two tiers. An affiliate whose account is blocked no longer earns anything for their referrer.
Related terms
Self-referral
Self-referral is placing your own order through your own affiliate link to give yourself a discount. It is the most common fraud in an affiliate program.
Lifetime commission
A lifetime commission keeps paying for as long as the referred customer pays, with no time limit. It is the most generous form of recurring commission.
Affiliate marketplace
An affiliate marketplace is a directory where programs and affiliates find each other, without cold outreach. It is the distribution side, not the tooling side.