If a collab partner buys through their own link, we don't award a commission
The commission would otherwise go right back to the buyer, turning the partnership into a self-discount funded by your commission budget. Withholding it on those orders keeps the system fair for everyone.
📝 The short version: When someone from a team that promotes your offers buys through their own collab link, we suppress the commission on that order so your full revenue stays with you.
Why we do this
Collabs work because commissions reward genuine promotion to new audiences. When a partner buys their own link, that isn't promotion. It's a self-discount on you.
By withholding the commission in those cases, we keep two things intact:
Your commission budget goes to honest affiliates who actually bring you customers.
Affiliates competing for the same offer don't have to race against partners gaming the system.
💡 The trade we're protecting on every order: fair commissions, healthy partnerships, no surprises.
What you'll see on the order
When we detect a self-purchase, the order page in your dashboard shows a small notice at the top:
Order placed by one of your collab partners Pickleball Heaven, so no commission was awarded. Learn more
You'll also see:
$0.00 commission on the order's earnings breakdown. Your full revenue stays with you.
A
self_purchaseblock on the order in any webhooks you've configured, so your downstream systems know why the commission line is zero.
How we detect it
We check the buyer's email against the members of every team in the commission chain (the immediate promoter team plus any second- or third-tier affiliate above them). The check excludes platform-agent shells like Zapier service accounts. Email variants that route to the same inbox are treated as the same person:
Gmail
+tagaliases ([email protected]matches[email protected])Dots in the local part of Gmail addresses (
[email protected]matches[email protected])googlemail.comis treated asgmail.com
📝 Note: If the buyer matches a member of any team in the chain, every commission on that order is withheld, not just the matching tier's. A clean chain stays clean; a contaminated chain pays nothing.
What if a commission was withheld by mistake?
If a real customer was flagged as a self-purchase by mistake, message us through the chat with:
The order number
The email used at checkout
The affiliate's team or profile link
We'll review and, if it was a false positive, restore the commission.
A note for affiliates and creators
You can't purchase through your own affiliate or collab link as a way to get a discount. We won't award a commission on those orders, and the order will be visibly flagged to the merchant. There's no penalty if it happens by accident. You just won't see a commission for the purchase.
⚠️ Important: Deliberate attempts to circumvent this policy are considered abuse of the platform. This includes using different email addresses, alternate payment methods, or other tactics to mask self-purchases as legitimate orders. We may suspend your earnings, terminate your account, or both, depending on the pattern. We monitor for this actively to keep the marketplace healthy for everyone who participates in good faith.
Questions?
Message us through the chat and we'll get back to you.
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