Affiliates bring customers through a link of their own and earn commission on the sales that result.
A click is not a commission
When someone follows an affiliate link, only a temporary marker is stored. No commission is created at that moment.
A commission is recorded when the purchase actually settles. An abandoned basket, an unpaid order and a cancelled order all earn nothing.
The referral marker expires
That temporary marker does not last forever. If the visitor buys after it expires, the purchase is credited to nobody.
That is a decision of the programme, not a fault: the referral window is how long an affiliate gets credit for having brought that person.
A purchase counts once
An order can carry only one referral. If the same person follows several links, their purchase is not recorded again for each affiliate.
Three separate things get approved
- The affiliate is created as pending and is not active until you approve them.
- The commission is also created pending; you approve or reject it.
- The payout is the third stage: approved commissions are gathered into one payment.
So "a commission was recorded" means no money has been paid. Until a payout happens, nothing has left your account.
Rejecting is reversible — paying is not
A rejected commission can be looked at again. Once a payout has been paid, its record stays for accounting and is not removed.