How to run an affiliate program for a research supply brand

Pay on attributed sales, never per post

Run your affiliate program on commission only: a partner earns a percentage of orders their link or code brought in, and nothing for posting. That is the model we recommend to every Torva merchant, and it is the one this guide assumes.

The reasons are practical. Commission aligns cost with revenue, so the program cannot lose money on partners who sell nothing. You never pay for a post that reached people who were never going to buy. And because every payment traces back to an order, you have a natural moment to review what the partner published before money moves.

Flat per-post fees push the other way. They reward reach, they are paid before you know whether the content worked, and they make it harder to walk away from a partner whose content does not meet your rules because you have already paid for it.

• Commission base: merchandise after discounts, excluding shipping and tax.
• Eligible orders: paid, not cancelled, not refunded within the return window.
• No payment for clicks, sign-ups, impressions or posts.
• One partner credited per order.

Set the rate from margin, not from a competitor

Pick the rate by working backwards from contribution margin, the money left after the costs that scale with each order. The worked example below is illustrative; replace every number with your own.

Aster Research sells a kit at $120. An affiliate code gives the customer 10% off, so merchandise is $108. Product and packaging cost $30, processor fees at roughly 3% are $3.24, the shipping subsidy is $5 and packing labor is $2. Before commission, contribution is $67.76.

Attribution: links, codes and windows

Use both tracked links and personal coupon codes, and write down which wins when they disagree. Links work for readers who click; codes work for podcasts, video and conversations where nobody clicks anything.

A link sets an attribution window, commonly 30 days, during which an order from that browser credits the partner. Shorter windows under-credit partners whose audience researches before buying. Longer windows over-credit partners for customers who would have come back anyway.

The usual tiebreak is that a code entered at checkout beats an earlier link, because the customer deliberately named the partner. Whatever you choose, state it in the terms. The foundations of that document are in write the affiliate rules before sharing the first link.

Hold commission until returns are settled

A commission should move through clear states, and only one of them means money can leave. Paying on the order date means reversing payments later, which damages partner trust more than a short wait does.

Set the payable delay to your return window plus a buffer. With a 30-day return policy, a 35-day hold is reasonable. Pay on a fixed schedule, such as monthly, and include only commission that has already cleared.

Recruit partners who already have buyers

The best affiliates are usually people already talking to your buyers. Start with the smallest, warmest groups and only then look for audiences.

• Existing customers with repeat orders. They know the product, the COA pages and the shipping times first-hand.
• Research communities and newsletters where your brand is already mentioned. Offer a code rather than asking for a sponsored post.
• Content creators who cover laboratory research, analytical testing or sourcing. Review their existing content before inviting them, not after.
• Partners in adjacent supply, such as lab equipment or documentation services, whose buyers overlap with yours.

Write content rules and enforce them

Your brand is responsible for affiliate claims. Treat anything a partner publishes to earn your commission as if your own team wrote it, because processors, platforms and regulators often will. This is general information, not legal advice; check the rules in your jurisdiction and with your processor.

Give every partner written terms before their first link, get their agreement on record, and remove partners who will not correct a violation. A removal is cheaper than a processor review.

• No health, efficacy or human-use claims about any product.
• No dosing, administration or reconstitution directions.
• No prescription drug brand names or comparisons to medicines.
• Describe products as supplied for laboratory research use only.
• No before-and-after content, personal-use stories or testimonials about effects.
• Disclose the affiliate relationship in every post.
• No bidding on your brand name in search ads unless you allow it in writing.

Watch activation and fraud

Most people who join an affiliate program never send a sale. That is normal, so measure the program by active partners, the ones with at least one qualified order in the last 60 days, rather than by sign-ups.

Check active partners monthly. A partner with sudden volume deserves a look at where the orders came from before the commission becomes payable.

1. List partners with a qualified order in the last 60 days and their order count.
2. Check for self-referral: orders where the buyer’s name, email, shipping address or payment matches the partner.
3. Search the partner’s code on coupon and deal sites; a leaked code credits a partner for customers they never met.
4. Compare new versus returning customers per partner; a partner crediting mostly existing customers may be intercepting sales rather than creating them.
5. Replace leaked codes, reverse fraudulent commission before it becomes payable and record why.

How Torva handles this

Affiliates are part of Command. Each partner gets tracked links and coupon codes, and every attributed order creates a commission that moves from pending to qualified to payable after your return window, then to paid. Refunded orders reverse, and questioned entries can be marked disputed. Payout runs include only payable commission. See affiliates and affiliate commissions in the help center.

Command adds commission tiers, bonus rules and payout records for programs that have outgrown one flat rate. Torva recommends commission-only programs, and none of the tools are built around per-post fees. Content review is still your job: Torva records the attribution, it does not approve what a partner publishes.

Plans are listed on pricing and apply when public activation opens; until then you can preview a store free, no card needed.