Adjust affiliate commission when a discount code is used
Sometimes a customer uses a discount or coupon code, and the sale is credited to an affiliate. Without any rules, you'd pay the customer's discount and a full affiliate commission on the same order.
The Discount-based commission rules let you automatically reduce or remove the affiliate commission whenever a discount/coupon code is used on a transaction.
Typical uses:
- Pay 0% commission when a code is used on the customer's first order.
- Scale the commission down as the customer's discount gets bigger (e.g., small discount → full commission, big discount → no commission).
- Pay a reduced share (say 50%) of the normal commission on any discounted order
How it works
- When a sale comes in, Partnero records whether a discount/coupon code was applied and how big the discount was.
- If discount-based rules are enabled and a code was used, Partnero calculates the commission as normal, then applies your adjustment on top as a percentage.
- Everything is logged, so you can always see whether an adjustment was applied and why.
The adjustment is a percentage of the commission the affiliate would normally earn, not a percentage of the sale. So if the normal commission is $8 and your rule says "pay 50%", the affiliate gets $4.
How to set it up
To set up commission adjustment for discount codes:
- Go to Settings → Commissions and open Advanced commissions. If you already have advanced commissions in place, click Edit:
- Select the Discount-based tab.
- Turn on Adjust commission when a discount code is used.
- Choose an Adjustment type and a scope (details below).
- Click Save.
Adjustment type
Flat: pay a fixed percentage of the normal commission whenever a code is used.
0= pay no commission on discounted orders.50= pay half the normal commission.100= pay the full commission (effectively no reduction).
Tiered: pay less as the customer's discount grows. You define ranges based on the discount percentage of the order:
| If dicount is between | Pay (% of commission) |
|---|---|
| 0% – 10% | 100% |
| 10% – 25% | 50% |
| 25% – 100% | 0% |
For each order, Partnero finds the first range the discount falls into and applies that percentage. If the discount doesn't match any range, the normal commission is paid in full.
Apply this adjustment (scope)
- On every transaction with a code: the adjustment always applies when a code is used.
- Only on the customer's first transaction: the adjustment applies to the customer's first purchase; normal commissions resume afterward.
- Only during the first period: the adjustment applies for a set number of days or months, measured from either the customer's or the partner's start date. After the period ends, normal commissions resume.
Examples
Example 1: No commission on the first discounted order
Goal: When a customer uses an affiliate's code, they get the discount instead of the affiliate getting a commission, but only the first time.
- Adjustment type: Flat, pay 0%
- Apply (scope): Only on the customer's first transaction
Result: the first discounted order pays the affiliate nothing; every order after that pays the normal commission.
Example 2: Scale commission with the discount size
Goal: protect margins as discounts get larger.
- Adjustment type: Tiered
- 0–10% → pay 100%
- 10–25% → pay 50%
- 25%+ → pay 0%
- Apply (scope): On every transaction with a code
Result on a $40 order with a 20% off code (normal commission 20% = $8): the 20% discount lands in the 10–25% tier → affiliate is paid 50% → $4.
Example 3: Reduced commission for the first 3 months
- Adjustment type: Flat, pay 25%
- Apply: Only during the first period → First 3 months from customer creation
Result: discounted orders in the customer's first 3 months pay a quarter of the normal commission; after that, full commissions apply.
Integrations
Discount information is captured automatically; no changes are needed on your side for these integrations:
- Stripe: reads the discount from the invoice.
- Paddle: reads the discount from the transaction.
- WooCommerce: reads the order discount total.
- Shopify: reads the order discounts.
For manual/custom tracking (API or the JavaScript library), send the discount details with the transaction (see below).
Good to know
- Adjustments only apply when a discount/coupon code is actually used on the order. Full-price orders are never affected.
- The rule multiplies the final commission, so it works alongside your other rules (fixed, percentage, dynamic, product, and goal commissions) as well as currency conversion and maximum-commission caps.
- Turning the feature off restores normal commissions immediately for new transactions.
For developers: sending discount data (API & JS)
If you create transactions via the API or the JavaScript library, include these optional fields so discount-based rules can be applied:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
discount_amount |
number | The discount applied, in your currency's main units (e.g. 8.00). |
gross_amount |
number | The price before the discount. Optional — if omitted, it's assumed to be amount + discount_amount. |
discount_code |
string | The coupon/promo code used (optional). |
amount stays the net amount the customer actually paid (after the discount).
REST API
POST /v1/transactions
{
"key": "order_12345",
"amount": 32.00,
"amount_units": "USD",
"customer": { "key": "customer@example.com" },
"discount_amount": 8.00,
"gross_amount": 40.00,
"discount_code": "SAVE20"
}
Minimum needed to derive the discount percentage (gross is inferred as 32 + 8 = 40):
{
"key": "order_12345",
"amount": 32.00,
"customer": { "key": "customer@example.com" },
"discount_amount": 8.00
}<br>
The same fields are supported per item when creating transactions in bulk via the transactions array.
Javascript library
partnero('track', 'transaction', {
key: 'order_12345',
amount: 32.00, // net amount paid (after discount)
amount_units: 'USD',
customer: { key: 'customer@example.com' },
discount_amount: 8.00, // optional
gross_amount: 40.00, // optional; defaults to amount + discount_amount
discount_code: 'SAVE20' // optional
});<br>
If you don't send any discount fields, the transaction behaves exactly as before and no adjustment is applied.