Simply stated, Affiliate programs working is as follows:
There are merchants (sellers) who have products and services to sell; they hire people – the affiliates. Affiliates sell the merchants’ products/services to the customers (net users).
For that purpose and work, the merchants are ready to share a profit (commission) with the affiliates.
Taking an example, you have clothes to sell, you hire someone (affiliates) to promote and sell them for you. For every sale generated by the affiliate, you give a commission as agreed. The commission is generally a fixed percent of the sale, which can be 25% to even 75% also.
Another way of explaning the above:
Being an affiliate is just a way of connecting buyers (searchers) with sellers (merchants). In exchange for giving over space on your website or sending a promotion to your mailing list, you earn a commission.
The relationship between the customers, affiliates and merchants can be illustrated as follows:
Customers/Buyer/Searchers -> Affiliate -> Sellers/Merchants
OR
Customers -> Affiliates/Publishers -> Merchants/Advertisers
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