What makes the affiliate model distinctive is that most of the cost arises when a sale happens: you pay commission only on orders that sell. That lowers your risk, but it also changes the calculation, because the investment line is not an upfront budget but commission expense plus program management and platform fees. That is why our tool shows gross revenue, commission expense and total cost per sale separately.
Set your commission rate against your profit margin: 15% commission on a product with a 20% margin can produce a loss once the other costs are added. To keep the program healthy you need to deduct return rates from the commission calculation, clarify your attribution rules against last-click hijacking (coupon sites claiming a customer who was already at the checkout), and audit partner quality regularly. A well-structured affiliate program has the most predictable cost structure among the paid channels.
