Field notes.
What we are learning building the partner platform for US Health & Wellness: attribution, payouts, program design, and the economics of doing right by athletes.
How to Track Affiliate Sales Without Discount Codes (2026)
Credit affiliate sales server-side from a ?ref= Shopify cart attribute instead of a coupon, so attribution survives ad blockers and ITP and your full price stays intact.
The hidden cost of coupon-code affiliate programs
A coupon is a price cut stacked on top of commission. Here is what it costs a premium brand, and how to credit the right athlete at full price with no code.
When do affiliates get paid? A plain-English payout timeline
Your commission moves through four states, then pays out daily once the brand's invoice clears, with a $25 minimum and a December 15 year-end payout.
Do affiliates get a 1099? How creator taxes work
Clear the IRS threshold and Stripe issues your 1099-NEC automatically at year-end, reflecting the commission you were paid, with no paperwork from Harmonia.
Fee on top vs fee deducted: how platforms charge
Two ways platforms charge a fee, the worked math, and why fee-on-top keeps the athlete's commission whole.
Supplement Affiliate Commission Rates: 2026 Benchmarks
Supplement affiliate commission rates are brand-set per program — flat $ or flat %. Here are 2026 benchmark ranges and how to choose yours.
How to start a supplement affiliate program in 2026
The step-by-step path to launch a supplement affiliate program: connect Stripe, install the Shopify app, self-test tracking, set commission and windows, publish, and approve athletes.
First-Party vs Cookie-Based Affiliate Tracking: What Survives iOS & Ad Blockers
Why third-party affiliate cookies break on iOS and behind ad blockers, and how a ?ref= cart attribute matched server-side credits the sale anyway.
FTC Disclosure for Wellness Creators: A Practical Checklist
When a disclosure is required, how to make it clear and conspicuous on every platform, and a copy-paste checklist you can run before each post.
Why we curate: verified, scored athletes over open marketplaces
Why a curated, verified, quality-scored model fits a premium brand better than open mass-marketplaces — and why curated does not mean closed forever.
Attribution window vs refund window: two clocks
The attribution window decides how long after a click a purchase still counts; the refund window is the separate period a return can reverse the commission, pro-rated.
What a healthy click quality score looks like (and why it's not a gate)
The click quality score is a sortable signal for brands, never a gate or an automatic clawback; here is what it reads and what healthy traffic looks like.