Affiliate marketing 101 for athletes and creators

Affiliate marketing is how you earn money when people buy a product because you recommended it. You share a link for a brand you back, someone clicks it and buys, and the brand pays you a commission on that sale. No ad budget, no inventory, no chasing invoices.

This guide explains how that works for athletes and creators on Harmonia: how you earn, how to see exactly which brand paid you and when, how to create and share a tracking link, why a commission can sometimes reverse, and how to get in during the launch cohort. Every number here is the real one.

You earn the commission the brand sets, in full. The 20% platform fee is billed to the brand, so it is never taken out of your payout.

What affiliate marketing is, in plain English

Affiliate marketing is a simple deal between three people: a brand, you, and a customer.

• The brand sells a product and wants more sales from people who genuinely use and recommend it.
• You share a tracking link for that brand with your audience.
• The customer clicks your link and buys.

When the sale goes through, the brand pays you a commission for bringing the customer. You are not buying ads or holding stock. You are getting paid for the recommendation you were already making.

The word "affiliate" just means you have an approved relationship with the brand. On Harmonia we call you an athlete (creators are welcome too), and the brand's offer you join is called a program. For the exact definitions, see the glossary entries for affiliate marketing and commission.

Why it matters for athletes and creators

You already point people toward products you trust. Affiliate marketing turns that into income without changing what you recommend. The brands keep their full pricing because there is no discount code involved, and you keep the full commission because the platform fee is the brand's cost, not yours.

How athletes earn: commission per attributed sale

You earn a commission on each sale that is credited to you. The brand decides the commission when it launches the program, and it is one of two simple forms:

• A flat dollar amount per sale. For example, $10 per sale.
• A flat percentage of the sale. For example, 10% of the order.

There is no platform-wide rate. Each brand sets its own commission, so it can differ from one program to the next. Tiered rates, per-product rates, and retainers are not part of the launch; commission is one flat number per program.

$40athlete keeps on a $40 commission

The key fact: you keep 100% of the commission the brand sets. The 20% platform fee is added on top and billed to the brand, never deducted from you. Here is the math on a single sale.

So a $40 commission means $40 in your balance. The brand's cost is $48. The fee never touches your side of the ledger.

How a sale gets credited to you: attribution

For you to earn, the sale has to be matched to your link. That matching is called attribution, and Harmonia does it first-party and server-side through the brand's Shopify store. When someone clicks your tracking link and buys, the order is credited to you automatically. There is no discount code for the customer to enter and nothing for them to remember. Credit holds for the program's attribution window even if they come back and buy a few days later.

Because it is server-side, attribution survives ad blockers, private browsing, and switching from a phone to a laptop. The customer just buys at full price, and you still get credit.

Earnings clarity: which brand, how much, and when you get paid

The thing most affiliates struggle with is not earning; it is knowing what they made and when it lands. Harmonia rolls your earnings up per brand, not per post. You see which brand drove the earnings, how much is yours, and where it is in the payout path. You do not have to track which individual post or link drove which sale to know what you are owed.

Here is the full money path, so nothing is a surprise later.

A few details worth knowing up front:

• $25 minimum payout. Balances under $25 roll forward to the next payout rather than being lost.
• December 15 year-end pay. On December 15 we pay out any remaining balance regardless of the minimum, so nothing is stuck at year-end.
• You are paid after the brand pays. Your payout comes from the cleared commission once the brand's invoice clears. This is why timing depends on the brand's invoice, not the day of the sale.
• Automatic 1099-NEC. We issue your 1099-NEC automatically at year-end if your earnings clear the IRS threshold. Stripe handles your ID and bank details; we never see or store them.

Creating and sharing your tracked link

When a brand approves you and you accept the program, you get one tracking link for that brand, created in your athlete portal. It is a per-program link, not a per-product link, so you use the same link everywhere you talk about that brand.

You can share that link in three ways, and all three keep the same attribution:

• The link itself. Paste it in your bio, a post, a story, a newsletter, or a DM.
• A QR code. Generate a QR for the same link to use in person, on slides, or on printed material. It carries the same credit.
• An anchor tag. Add a tag to point people at a specific landing page on the brand's store while still crediting you.

You do not need a separate link per product or per post. One link per brand is enough, because attribution happens at the sale on the brand's store, not at the click.

For the click-by-click walkthrough, see creating and sharing your tracked link and the help article on link creation.

Why a commission can reverse, and what to do

Sometimes a commission you already earned is removed. There is one reason this happens: the customer got a refund within the brand's refund window.

• Full refund of the order. The whole commission for that sale reverses.
• Partial refund. Only the refunded part reverses, pro-rated to the amount returned.

The refund window is set per program and is separate from the attribution window. The attribution window is how long after a click a sale still counts as yours; the refund window is how long after a sale a refund can reverse the commission.

There is nothing you need to do when a commission reverses. It is normal; some share of sales get returned. For the full breakdown of timing and how reversals show in your balance, see why a commission can reverse.

Getting accepted: invite-only onboarding for the launch cohort

During the launch cohort, joining Harmonia is invite-only. The Harmonia team hand-picks the first athletes and emails each one a single-use invite link. There is no public signup form open yet.

A few things to know about the invite:

• It is tied to your email. Create your account with the same address we sent it to.
• It works once. Each link is single-use.
• It expires in 30 days. If yours has lapsed, reply to the invite email for a fresh one.

Once you redeem your invite and create your account, you can browse programs and apply right away. Approval is two-way: a brand approves you, and you accept the program. Either side can pass, so it is a real match.

Only one thing is gated behind verification: getting paid. Identity verification (KYC) runs through Stripe Connect the first time a brand approves you and you set up payouts, not at signup. Browsing and applying need no verification.

For the full onboarding picture, see getting accepted: invite-only onboarding and getting started as an athlete.

Keep reading: the full guide cluster

This page is the overview. Each guide below goes deeper on one part of how you earn:

• What affiliate marketing is for athletes: the model, in athlete terms.
• Understanding affiliate earnings: commission, the fee, and payout timing with worked examples.
• Creating and sharing your tracked link: the per-program link, QR codes, and anchor tags.
• Why a commission can reverse: refunds, the refund window, and how reversals show up.
• Getting accepted: invite-only onboarding: invites, two-way approval, and verification.

Already have an invite? Get started as an athlete.

FAQ

What is affiliate marketing and how do athletes earn?

Affiliate marketing is earning a commission when someone buys a product because you recommended it. On Harmonia, you share a tracking link for a brand you back. When someone clicks it and buys from the brand's Shopify store, the sale is credited to you and you earn the commission the brand set for that program, in full. The 20% platform fee is billed to the brand, so it is never taken out of your payout.

How do I create my tracking link?

You get one tracking link per brand you are approved for, created in your athlete portal. It is a per-program link, not a per-product link, so you share the same link everywhere for that brand. You can show it as a QR code or add an anchor tag to point people at a specific landing page; both keep the same attribution. See creating and sharing your tracked link for the steps.

Do I need a discount code to earn commission?

No. Harmonia uses first-party, server-side attribution through the brand's Shopify store. When someone clicks your tracking link and buys, the order is credited automatically. There is no discount code for the customer to enter and nothing for them to remember, so premium brands keep their pricing and you still get credit.

Why would a commission I already earned get removed?

A commission can reverse if the customer gets a refund within the brand's refund window. If they return the whole order, the full commission reverses; if they return part of it, only that part reverses, pro-rated. The refund window is set per program and is separate from the attribution window. You do not owe anything out of pocket; the amount is just deducted from your balance.

How do I become a Harmonia athlete?

During the launch cohort, onboarding is invite-only. The Harmonia team hand-picks the first athletes and emails each one a single-use invite link that is tied to your email and expires in 30 days. There is no public signup form open yet. Once you redeem your invite, you can browse programs and apply right away; only getting paid is gated by identity verification, and that step comes later.