Affiliate Payout Threshold: What It Is and What to Set
Written by Joran Hofman, Founder of ReditusWhat a payout threshold is
A payout threshold is the minimum an affiliate has to earn in your program before they are paid. Below it, their commissions keep adding up, month after month, until they pass it.
On Reditus each program has its own threshold. New programs start at $100, and you can change it in your program settings. Affiliates see your threshold on your program's landing page.
Our advice: paid after two to three commissions
Set the threshold so an affiliate is paid after two to three commissions. A threshold that looks modest to you can mean a long wait for an affiliate: with an average commission of $20, it takes three commissions to reach a $50 threshold, five to reach $100 and ten to reach $200.
Affiliates refer to earn money, so that wait matters. One of the biggest mistakes is a threshold that suits the company and forgets the affiliate: $200 or $500 is too high, and even $100 often means five to ten commissions before the first payout. When companies migrate to Reditus, we often ask them to lower their threshold.
How to work out your number
- Take your average commission: your average monthly price times your commission percentage. For example, 20% of a $100 per month plan is $20 per payment.
- Multiply it by two or three. In that example, a threshold of $40 to $60 pays an affiliate after two to three commissions.
- Set it in your program settings. Affiliates see it on your program's landing page.
How the threshold works with payouts
- Commissions earned in a month go into a payout on the 1st of the following month, for every affiliate whose commissions in your program passed the threshold.
- Reditus pays those affiliates for you on every plan: you pay one monthly overview plus the payout fee (5% by credit card, 2% by invoice). See how to pay out your affiliates.
- The threshold counts per program: an affiliate's earnings in other programs on Reditus don't count toward yours.
Frequently asked questions
What is an affiliate payout threshold?
The minimum an affiliate has to earn in your program before they get a payout. On Reditus new programs start at $100, and you can change it in your program settings.
What payout threshold should a SaaS affiliate program set?
Set it so an affiliate gets paid after two to three commissions. A $100 threshold looks modest from the company's side, but for many programs it means five to ten commissions before the affiliate sees any money.
Does a lower payout threshold cost the SaaS company more?
Operationally, close to nothing. Reditus runs the payouts for you on every plan, and the payout fee is a percentage of the commissions paid out (5% by credit card, 2% by invoice), however many payouts that takes.
Do an affiliate's earnings in other programs count toward my threshold?
No. Each program has its own threshold and its own payout, and earnings from different programs are not combined.
When is an affiliate paid after passing the threshold?
Commissions earned in a month go into a payout on the 1st of the following month. You pay the overview by the end of that month, and Reditus pays the affiliate once you have paid. Affiliates are told they are paid before the end of the month.