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Cashback site

Also called cashback portal, cashback website, loyalty affiliate, rebate site.

Short answer

A cashback site is an affiliate that passes part of its own commission on to the user as cash. The user logs in, clicks through to the store via the site, and gets an agreed share of the order back once the sale is approved.

Definition of Cashback site.

The business model is a split. The cashback site receives commission from the store on the same terms as any other affiliate and pays part of the amount to the user who placed the order. The difference between the commission the site receives and the cashback it promises the user is the site’s earnings. If the site passes on 60 % of a commission of 8 % of the order, it keeps 3.2 percentage points.

The payout to the user depends on the store approving the sale. A cashback site cannot release money it has not received itself, so the user’s amount stays pending until the program’s approval period has expired. That is why cashback sites almost always show two statuses in the user’s account: tracked and confirmed.

The user is logged in, and that is the whole premise. The click is tied to an account on the cashback site so that a later conversion can be matched back to the right user. If the click is not recorded – because the user bypassed the link, picked up a code elsewhere or opened the store in a different browser – there is nothing to pay out.

Why stores are divided on cashback

The case for: a cashback site can win customers who would otherwise have abandoned the purchase, and it makes the price competitive without the store lowering its list price. The customer pays full price in the store, and the discount comes from a third party.

The case against is about incrementality. Part of the traffic comes from users who had already decided and simply took a detour via the cashback site to collect the last few percent. Last-click attribution gives the entire commission to the last click, and that click often belongs to the cashback site. If the store wants to know what the channel actually adds, it has to measure incrementality rather than the number of orders.

The decision belongs in the program terms before the program opens. Decide at the same time whether cashback may be combined with discount codes. Without a line about it, the question becomes a matter of interpretation after the sale.

Cashback site vs. coupon site

AspectCashback siteCoupon site
What the user getsmoney back after the purchasea code that lowers the price in the basket
What the user must dobe logged in and click through the sitejust use the code – the click is not always needed
When the value is releasedonce the store has approved the saleimmediately at checkout
The store’s costcommission on the full orderthe reduction in order value plus any commission

Both reach the customer at the moment of decision, but cashback costs the store commission on a full-price order, while a discount code costs order value straight away.

How it goes wrong

  • 01

    Cashback becomes a double discount

    If the user combines a discount code with cashback, the store pays both the price reduction and commission on the reduced order. Decide in advance whether codes and cashback may be stacked, and write it in the terms.

  • 02

    Commission is calculated on a different amount than the cashback

    Cashback sites settle with their users based on the order amount. If the store calculates commission excluding VAT and shipping, while the site promises a percentage of the displayed amount, a gap opens up that the user perceives as an error.

  • 03

    Rejections hit the user, not just the affiliate

    If a sale is rejected without a reason the user can understand, the case lands with the cashback site’s support. That makes the channel expensive to run and strains the site’s trust – and with it, its traffic.

At Affilyflow

Cashback site in practice

At Affilyflow, a cashback site is an affiliate like any other. The commission is locked the moment the click happens, so the rate cannot be changed afterwards, and the affiliate gets exactly the rate the program shows – our fee is part of the store’s total price. No conversion automatically credits a balance: everything is created as pending, the store has the program’s approval period (30–90 days) to reject, and a rejection requires a reason the affiliate can pass on to its user.

Frequently asked questions

How does a cashback site make money if it gives the money away?

A cashback site only passes on part of its commission. If it receives 8 % of the order in commission and pays 5 % to the user, it keeps 3 percentage points. The margin on each order is small, so the model relies on volume.

Why is my cashback still pending?

Cashback is only paid out once the store has approved the sale. The approval period covers the return period and disputes, and only after that does the cashback site itself receive its commission. If the order is returned, both the commission and your cashback lapse.

Can a store exclude cashback sites from its affiliate program?

Yes. The store decides which channels it wants to work with and can state in the program terms that cashback is not allowed. Write it before the program opens – rejecting a sale afterwards is a more expensive way to settle it.

Is cashback the same as a discount code?

No. A discount code lowers the price in the basket immediately and costs the store order value. Cashback is paid out after the purchase by the affiliate itself and costs the store commission. The customer pays full price in the store.

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